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. |
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
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Assigned Attorney: |
Mallory Guillot |
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