| Advisory Opinion Request regarding an Arcadia Councilman sitting on the Board of a bank that transacts business with the Town of Arcadia. |
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Rita Desai is running for a position on the Arcadia City Council, District 5, in Bienville Parish. She is on the Louisiana National Bank Board and would like to know if there is an issue with running in
the November 8th election. The town of Arcadia currently banks with Louisiana National Bank where Ms. Desai is on the Board.
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La. R. S. 42:1111C(2)(d) provides that no public servant and no legal entity in which the public servant exercises control or owns an interest in excess of twenty- five percent, shall receive any thing of economic value for or in consideration of services rendered, or to be rendered, to or for any person during his public service unless such services are neither performed for nor compensated by any person from who such public servant would be prohibited by R.S. 42:1115A(1) or (B) from receiving a gift.
La. R.S. 42:1115A(1) provides that no public servant shall solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any thing of economic value as a gift or gratuity from any person or from any officer, director, agent, or employee of such person, if such public servant knows or reasonably should know that such person has or is seeking to obtain contractual or other business or financial relationships with the public servant' s agency.
La. R.S. 39:1233.1 provides that notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 15 of Title 42 of the Revised Statutes of 1950 or any other law to the contrary, any member of a local depositing authority, including the chief executive officer thereof, may serve as an officer, director, or employee, whether compensated or not, of any national or state bank; provided that he shall recuse himself from voting in favor of any such bank and shall disclose the reason for such recusal by filing same into the minutes or record of the local depositing authority and by forwarding a disclosure form to the Board of Ethics.
La. R.S. 42:1112B(3) prohibits a public servant from participating in a governmental transaction in which any person of which he is an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee has a substantial economic interest.
La. R.S. 42:1114A provides that other than a legislator, each public servant and each member of his immediate family who derives any thing of economic value, directly, through any transaction involving the agency of such public servant or who derives any thing of economic value of which he may be reasonably expected to know through a person which (1) is regulated by the agency of such public servant, or (2) has bid on or entered into or is in any way financially interested in any contract, subcontract, or any transaction under the supervision or jurisdiction of the agency of such public servant shall disclose the following: (1) The amount of income or value of any thing of economic value derived; (2) The nature of the business activity; (3) Name and address, and relationship to the public servant, if applicable; and, (4) The name and business address of the legal entity, if applicable.
Ethics Board Docket No. 2019-561: The Board rendered an opinion applying the exception in R.S. 29:1233.1 to a member of a Parish Police Jury who was employed with a local depositing authority of the Parish.
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Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Mallory Guillot |
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