Meetings
 
Agenda Item
Docket No. 22-463
 
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RE:
A Request for an Advisory Opinion, submitted by Donald G. Womack, regarding whether the Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics ("Code") would prohibit Top Hand Oilfield Services ("Top Hand") and Womack Brothers, LLC ("Womack Brothers") from being inspected by the Louisiana Department of Conservation ("LDC") as long as other Conservation Enforcement Agents perform the required inspections.
Facts:
Mr. Womack is employed by the Office of Conversation within the LDC as a Conservation Enforcement Agent. He is employed in the Engineering Division of the Office of Conservation. The Engineering Division is broken down into Districts. Mr. Womack is employed in the Monroe District as a Conservation Enforcement Agent. His duties include inspecting closed wells in order to determine if the wells were closed and abandoned in accordance with applicable regulations. He is assigned to specific areas of the state by the office's district manager.

Mr. Womack's sons (David Hays Womack and Benjamin Taylor Womack) own Top Hand in Richland Parish, Louisiana. Their services include down hole work such as plugging and abandoning closed wells for operators. Top Hand and Womack Brothers also bid on Act 404 projects to service abandoned wells taken over by the State of Louisiana, as part of the Oilfield Site Restoration Program ("OSR Program"). When Top Hand or Womack Brothers does any oilfield services in Mr. Womack's territory, another Conservation Enforcement Agent has handled the compliance inspection and report. This is how LDC has been handling such matters since 2011 and how it plans to handle this matter in the future.

The OSR Program is domiciled within the Engineering Division of the Office of Conversation of the Department of Natural Resources. Oversight of the Program is provided by an Oilfield Site Restoration Commission, which consists of ten members, with the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources serving as chairman of the Commission. Projects through the OSR Program are awarded to approved OSR contractors. Projects are awarded through a competitive sealed bid process. Sealed bids are evaluated by the OSR Program staff; the staff recommends the winning bid proposal and the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources awards the bid.

Comments:
Mallory Guillot met with Jonathan Rice (Senior attorney), Houston Holley (Attorney), Chris Sanders (Engineering Regulatory Division Director), and Roby Faulkerson (OSR Supervisor) to discuss the OSR Program.
Law:
La. R.S. 42:1112(B)(1) states that no public servant shall participate in a transaction involving the governmental entity in which, to his actual knowledge, any member of his immediate family has a substantial economic interest.

La. R.S. 42:1113A(1)(a) states that no public servant, excluding any legislator and any appointed member of any board or commission and any member of a governing authority of a parish with a population of ten thousand or less, or member of such a public servant's immediate family, or legal entity in which he has a controlling interest shall bid on or enter into any contract, subcontract, or other transaction that is under the supervision or jurisdiction of the agency of such public servant.



La. R.S. 42:1114A. 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.

Recommendations:
Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
Assigned Attorney: Mallory Guillot
 
 
ATTACHMENTS:
Description:
2022-463 - AO request
2022-463- Department of Natural Resources Directory
2022-463- Monroe_District_Office_Directory
2022-463- OSR Program Background
2022-463- OSR Program FAQ
2022-463 - Advisory Opinion Draft - Womack