| Request for an advisory opinion regarding whether members of the Louisiana Water Resources Commission are required to file annual personal financial disclosure statements. |
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The Louisiana Water Resources Commission was created by La. R.S. 38:3097.4. The Commission is mainly an advisory body to the Department of Natural Resources, Office of Conservation. The Commission does not have any fiscal authority to expend, disburse or invest $10,000 or more in funds in a fiscal year.
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La. R.S. 42:1124.2.1 requires financial disclosure for each member and designee of a board or commission which has the authority to expend, disburse or invest $10,000 or more of funds in a fiscal year on or before May 15th of each year during which the person holds office and the year following termination of the holding of such office.
La. R.S. 42:1124.2.1(D)(1)(a)defines a board or commission as (i) each board, commission, and like entity created by law or executive order that is made a part of the executive branch of state government by the provisions of Title 36 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, or that is placed in an executive branch department or in the office of the governor or lieutenant governor by law or executive order, or that exercises any authority or performs any function of the executive branch of state government; (ii) each board, commission, and like entity created by the constitution, by law, by a political subdivision, except as provided in Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph, or jointly by two or more political subdivisions as a governing authority of a political subdivision of the state or of a local government.
La. R.S. 42:1124.2.1D(1)(b) states that a "board or commission" shall not mean (i) the governing authority of a parish, (ii) any board or commission or like entity that governs a political subdivision created by a single parish governing authority of a parish with a population of two hundred thousand or less, or any subdistrict of such a political subdivision, (iii) the governing authority of a municipality, (iv) any board or commission or like entity that governs a political subdivision created by a single municipal governing authority of a municipality with a population of twenty-five thousand or less, or any subdistrict of such a political subdivision, (v) a board of directors of a private nonprofit corporation that is not specifically created by law, (vi) any board or commission that does not have the authority to expend, disburse, or invest more than fifty thousand dollars of funds in a fiscal year and whose members are not eligible to receive any compensation, per diem, or reimbursement of expenses for services on the board or commission, or (vii) any board or commission that is the governing authority of a special district established by Chapter 29 of Title 33 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 or pursuant to Chapter 30-A of Title 33 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 for the purpose of improvement or beatification of the district or promoting and adding to the security of district residents, provided that the boundaries of the special district are not conterminous with the boundaries of a parish or municipality and provided that the board or commission does not have the authority to collect, expend, disperse, or invest more than five hundred thousand dollars of funds in a fiscal year.
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Advise the members of the Louisiana Water Resources Commission that they are not required to file disclosures pursuant to La. R.S. 42:1124.2.1.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Tracy Barker |
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