Duhon v. Lafayette Consol. Government

• Decision Date: 30 December 2005
• Docket Number: No. 05-657.,05-657.
• Parties: John Aaron DUHON, et al. v. LAFAYETTE CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

918 So.2d 1114

John Aaron DUHON, et al. v. LAFAYETTE CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT.

No. 05-657.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 30, 2005.

Hawkins & Villemarette, L.L.C., Scott M. Hawkins, Chris Villemarette, Lafayette, Counsel for Plaintiffs/Appellants: John Aaron Duhon, et al.

Roy, Bivins, Judice, Roberts & Wartelle, Patrick M. Wartelle, Post Office Drawer Z, Lafayette, Counsel for Defendant/Appellee: Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government.

Court composed of SYLVIA R. COOKS, MICHAEL G. SULLIVAN, and JAMES T. GENOVESE, Judges.

COOKS, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

This case arises out of a political dispute between City-Parish Councilman Lenwood Broussard and Linda Navarre Duhon, one of the thirty-five plaintiffs in this suit. Mr. Broussard and Mrs. Duhon have traveled a long and litigious road together beginning in 1999 when Mrs. Duhon was a candidate for the council seat held by Mr. Broussard. The following is a brief legal history of this dispute.

In September 1999, Mr. Broussard filed an action in district court objecting to the candidacy of Mrs. Duhon. The issue in that suit was whether Mrs. Duhon was a resident of Lafayette Parish and, thereby, eligible to run as a candidate for the Lafayette City-Parish Council in the primary election on October 23, 1999. The district court found Mrs. Duhon's residence, located at 101 Adola Road, Maurice, Louisiana, was within the boundary of Vermilion Parish and, therefore, Mrs. Duhon was ineligible to run for a seat on the Lafayette City-Parish Council. The trial court relied on the testimony of the parish engineer for Vermilion Parish, the assistant director of Public Works for Lafayette Parish and a licensed land surveyor. These witnesses testified, based on parish maps, that 101 Adola Road was shown to be located within Vermilion Parish. This court affirmed, specifically leaving open the question as to the exact location of the boundary between the two parishes. This court stated:

Defendant also raised the exception of indispensable party arguing that the Lafayette Consolidated Government had an indispensable interest in the establishment of the boundary line between Lafayette and Vermilion Parishes. In the present case the trial court did not establish or change the parish boundary line, it merely made a factual determination based on expert testimony that Ms. Duhon's home was located in Vermilion Parish.

Broussard v. Duhon, 99-1426, p. 5 (La. App. 3 Cir. 9/21/99), 748 So.2d 14, 16, writ denied, 747 So.2d 1129 (La.1999).

Subsequent to the appellate court decision, the State Tax Commission deleted John Aaron and Linda Navarre Duhon's residence from the tax rolls of Lafayette Parish, indicating on the form the Duhon's property was located in Vermilion Parish. In response, Mr. Duhon, along with twenty-four of his neighbors, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Named as Defendants were members of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government, members of the Vermilion Parish Police Jury, the Vermilion and Lafayette Parish tax assessors and registrars of voters, the State Land Office, the State Attorney General, and the Louisiana Tax Commissioner. The Plaintiffs asserted federal question jurisdiction pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Specifically, the Plaintiffs alleged the Defendants violated their constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause by conspiring to change the boundary line between Lafayette and Vermilion Parishes, thereby "exiling" them from Lafayette Parish and removing their names from the tax assessment and voter registration rolls of Lafayette Parish. The Plaintiffs asserted an Equal Protection violation "in that they are now being treated as residents of Vermilion Parish because Linda Navarre Duhon exercised her constitutional right to run for elective office within Lafayette." Additionally, the Plaintiffs alleged a violation of their First Amendment "rights to freedom of association within the political process and the school system of Lafayette Parish." The Plaintiffs alleged their "exile" was "for purely political reasons" and was done "in direct contravention of Louisiana statutes and constitutional provisions which establish substantive and procedural rights respecting the change of parish boundaries, and is a response to the qualification of Linda Duhon." The Plaintiffs requested injunctive relief and damages and sought to have their names reinstated on the Lafayette Parish tax assessment and voter registration rolls. The Defendants argued neither the Constitution nor any federal statutes were violated, and therefore, the federal court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. The federal court agreed and dismissed the lawsuit, stating:

Plaintiffs' allegations of constitutional violations of due process, equal protection and freedom of association are without merit. Because the plaintiffs have not alleged specific facts which constitute either a violation of clearly established constitutional rights under current law or under the law as clearly established at the time of the events in question, this Court has no subject matter jurisdiction.

Duhon v. Consolidated Government of Lafayette, et al., Docket No. 00-CV-1690 (W.D.La.3/27/01).

A judgment was signed in accordance with the decision dismissing with prejudice the Plaintiffs' claims under Title 42 § 1983 and dismissing without prejudice the Plaintiffs' state law claims. The judgment of the federal district court was affirmed on appeal. Duhon v. Consolidated Government of Lafayette, 31 Fed.Appx. 838, 2002 WL 261446, C.A. 5(La.), 2002, cert. denied, 536 U.S. 940, 122 S.Ct. 2621, 153 L.Ed.2d 804. Despite the lack of subject matter jurisdiction, the federal court opinion discussed in detail one of the issues raised by Plaintiffs, namely whether the Lafayette Consolidated Government followed the requirements of state law in establishing the boundary. This argument would be raised later in the Plaintiffs' state court suit for an injunction and declaratory judgment.

The Plaintiffs asserted two state statutes were at issue, La.R.S. 33:141 and La.R.S. 50:221. Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:141 mandates the procedure when a parish is changing an existing boundary, while Louisiana Revised Statutes 50:221-224 mandates the procedure when a parish is merely seeking to clarify an already existing boundary.

Louisiana Revised Statutes 33:141 provides, in relevant part:

Whenever the police jury of any parish passes an ordinance changing a boundary line between it and any adjoining parish, it shall serve the president of the police jury of the adjoining parish with a copy of the ordinance. If the police jury of the second parish concurs in the object and purposes of the ordinance, both police juries shall pass ordinances providing for special elections to be held in both parishes within 60 days from the passage of the ordinances.

Louisiana Revised Statutes 50:221 provides, in relevant part:

Whenever the governing authority of any parish desires to ascertain and fix the boundary line of any adjoining parish, it shall pass an ordinance to that effect fixing the time and place for starting the running of the boundary. It shall then serve the presiding officer of the governing authority of the adjoining parish with a copy of the ordinance and with notice, at lease six months in advance, of the time and place of starting the running of the boundary.

The federal court found La.R.S. 33:141 was inapplicable because the boundary between the parishes was never established by ground survey and the two parishes were seeking to clarify the boundary rather than change an existing boundary. Therefore, the court found Lafayette Parish and Vermilion Parish complied with the requirements of La.R.S.50:221. However, since the federal court ultimately found it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to hear the case, any discussion relative to this issue is non-binding dicta.

On April 16, 2002, Ordinance No. 088-2002 was adopted by the Lafayette Consolidated Government, (Vermilion Parish adopted similar ordinance on May 6, 2002) authorizing the State Land Office to re-establish the location of the parish boundary. In the ordinance, Lafayette Parish agreed to accept the findings of the State Land Office's survey and both parishes agreed to appropriate funds to pay for the survey. Additionally, the ordinance authorized the City-Parish President to enter into a Joint Cooperative Endeavor Agreement and Intergovernmental Agreement with the State Division of Administration State Land Office and the Vermilion Parish Police Jury for the surveying and re-establishing of the boundary line. On April 19, 2002, a Joint Cooperative Endeavor Agreement and Intergovernmental Agreement was signed by Walter Comeaux of Lafayette Parish and Edval Simon of Vermilion Parish.

Upon completion of the survey by the State Land Office, on December 16, 2003, the Lafayette City-Parish Government, adopted Ordinance No. 0-307-2003. This ordinance accepted the findings and survey of the State Land Office which placed Adola Road within Vermilion Parish and directed the city-parish president to sign any documents finalizing the boundary.

On December 15, 2003, the Plaintiffs filed a Petition for Injunctive Relief in the Fifteenth Judicial District Court for the Parish of Lafayette, Docket Number 2003-6593, seeking to prohibit the Lafayette City-Parish Council from voting on and approving the State Land Office survey which re-established the boundary between Lafayette and Vermilion Parishes. The petition alleged: "On Tuesday, December 16, 2003, the Lafayette City-Parish Council is scheduled to vote and approve ordinance number 0-307-2003 which would move the boundary or as stated in the ordinance `re-establish' the boundary between Lafayette and Vermilion Parish such that these petitioners would be permanently exiled from Lafayette Parish." Further, the...