Legal Memorandum: Reduction of a Marshal's Budget in LA

Issue: Whether the city of Shreveport, Louisiana may force the marshal to reduce or eliminate services it performs for the city court by reducing his budget?

The City of Shreveport’s right to limit the marshal’s budget is limited:

In any case where the governing authority of any parish or municipality shall have created or established, or shall thereafter create or establish, any board, commission, agency, district, office, government, or any unit having governmental functions, power or authority, such governing authority is hereby authorized to abolish same, and where the creation or establishment required the concurrence of two or more governing authorities, the concurrence of all of them shall be necessary to exercise the authority afforded by this Section; provided, that where any indebtedness of any such board, commission, agency, district, office, government, or any entity whatever having governmental functions, is outstanding, the authority herein provided shall not be exercised until provision is made for the assumption of such indebtedness in the manner provided by law.  However, no parish or municipal authority shall abolish any entity pursuant to this Subsection if the creation of that entity is required by state law.  

La. Rev. Stat. § 1415(A) (emphasis added).  The office of the marshal of the city court is created by state law.  See La. Rev. Stat. § 13:1879.

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