SABINE POLICE JURY v. COM'R OF ALCOHOL

• Decision Date: 12 April 2005
• Docket Number: No. 2004-C-1833.,2004-C-1833.
• Citation: 898 So.2d 1244
• Parties: SABINE PARISH POLICE JURY v. COMMISSIONER OF ALCOHOL & TOBACCO CONTROL. Sabine Manufacturing, Inc. v. Sabine Parish Police Jury & Sheriff Guffey Pattison.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

898 So.2d 1244

SABINE PARISH POLICE JURY v. COMMISSIONER OF ALCOHOL & TOBACCO CONTROL.

Sabine Manufacturing, Inc. v. Sabine Parish Police Jury & Sheriff Guffey Pattison.

No. 2004-C-1833.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

April 12, 2005.

Hon. Don M. Burkett, District Attorney, Counsel for Applicant.

Kelly, Townsend & Thomas, Donald G. Kelly, Natchitoches, Celia R. Cangelosi, Baton Rouge, Counsel for Respondent.

TRAYLOR, Justice.

We are asked to determine the effect on a local option election previously held by a ward in Sabine Parish after the parish has restructured itself on an election district basis. In this case, a portion of the ward, which previously voted to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages, has become a part of an election district which has never voted to prevent the sale of alcoholic beverages. Finding that the provisions of La. R.S. 26:583 dictate that the portion of the ward included in the election district must take on the sales characteristics of the election district, we affirm the decision of the court of appeal.

FACTS

The pertinent facts of this matter are stipulated by the parties. Pursuant to a local option election held in Ward 3 of Sabine Parish and subsequent ordinance by the Sabine Parish Police Jury ("Police Jury") on March 16, 1977, Ward 3 was voted "dry"¹ by local option election.² Subsequently thereto, Sabine Parish restructured itself from a system in which its governing authority was elected by wards into a system where the police jurors are elected by election districts. Election District 6 in Sabine Parish is comprised of a portion of Ward 3 and a portion of Ward 5. Ward 5 previously held a local option election and voted itself "wet." There has never been a local option election in Election District 6. In 2003, Sabine Manufacturing, Inc. ("Sabine Manufacturing") sought to obtain state and local permits from the Commissioner of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, Department of Revenue, State of Louisiana ("Commissioner") and the Police Jury on behalf of two of its businesses, Toledo Town and Tackle and Mr. C's Café, in order "to sell, offer for sale, handle or distribute at retail, beverages of low and high alcoholic content, subject to state and local law."³ The parties stipulate that both of Sabine Manufacturing's businesses are located in the part of Ward 3 which became Election District 6.

On January 15, 2003, the Police Jury passed Resolution # 5151 "to oppose any Alcoholic Beverage Licenses being issued in Ward 3 of Sabine Parish Louisiana."⁴ The state issued a Class B permit to Toledo Town and Tackle on May 7, 2003, and a Class AR permit to Mr. C's Café on October 1, 2003. The Police Jury, acting through the sheriff, refused to issue local permits to either business. Moreover, on May 15, 2003, the Police Jury held a special meeting and passed Resolution # 5205, which directed the sheriff not to issue a local alcoholic beverage license on behalf of the Police Jury in any ward where a local option election had been held and the ward was voted "dry."

The Police Jury filed a petition in district court against the Commissioner, arguing that La. R.S. 26:81(B)(1)⁵ and La. R.S. 26:273(A)(1)⁶ prohibit the state from issuing a permit to sell alcohol in any subdivision of the state where the business has been prohibited by referendum vote pursuant to Title 26. Sabine Manufacturing filed two suits in district court against the Police Jury and the sheriff for denying the issuance of a local permit for each of its businesses, arguing that under the provisions of La. R.S. 26:583, the entirety of Election District 6 is "wet," and thus, the Police Jury and/or sheriff should have issued the local permits. The three cases were consolidated for trial, which was held on December 17, 2003.⁷ The testimony of one witness was adduced at trial, that of Ronald Busby, the secretary/treasurer of the Sabine Parish Police Jury since 1985. Mr. Busby testified that there are ten wards in Sabine Parish and nine election districts. There are also ten road districts with the same geographical boundaries as the ward lines. The wards are still used to collect road taxes and to hold stock law elections. In addition to road districts, there are three fire protection districts in Sabine Parish. One fire protection district encompasses Wards 1 and 2, another fire protection district encompasses Wards 3 and 4 and the other fire district encompasses Wards 5-10. Mr. Busby testified that the wards have never been abolished by an act of the Police Jury but admitted that the police jurors have been elected from the election districts, and not the wards, since the mid-1980's. He stated that none of the election districts comprising Sabine Parish had held local option elections. No other witness testified at trial. In addition to the stipulations and Mr. Busby's testimony, the parties presented several joint exhibits.

At the conclusion of the trial, the trial judge rendered a judgment in favor of the Commissioner and Sabine Manufacturing, relying upon the Second Circuit's reasoning and decision in King v. Caddo Parish Commission, 31,098 (La.App. 2 Cir.1998), 727 So.2d 545, to find that the entirety of Election District 6, including the portion of Ward 3, must permit the sale of alcoholic beverages. The trial judge ordered the Police Jury and the sheriff to issue the local liquor licenses to Sabine Manufacturing. The Police Jury and the sheriff appealed this ruling.

In a 2-1 decision, the appellate court affirmed the trial judge's ruling, relying on the reasoning in King.⁸ This court granted a writ to determine the correctness of that decision.⁹

LAW AND ANALYSIS

At issue is the proper interpretation to be given La. R.S. 26:583, its relationship to other local option laws, and its application to the facts of these consolidated cases. Questions of law, such as the proper interpretation of a statute, are reviewed by this court under the de novo standard of review. Cleco Evangeline v. Louisiana Tax Com'n, 2001-2162 (La.4/3/02), 813 So.2d 351, 353. After our review, we "render judgment on the record, without deference to the legal conclusions of the tribunals below. This court is the ultimate arbiter of the meaning of the laws of this state." Id.

La. R.S. 26:582(A)(1) authorizes the governing authority of a ward, election district or incorporated municipality to hold a local option or referendum election once every two years upon the petition of at least 25 percent of the qualified voters "to determine whether or not the business of selling alcoholic beverages shall be conducted and licensed therein."¹⁰ La. R.S. 26:583 explains the effect on previous local option elections when political subdivisions have been merged, and provides:

§ 583. Effect of merger

A. When a portion of a ward, election district, or municipality is annexed or made a part of another ward, election district, municipality, or city-parish government, the portion annexed or made a part of shall take on the legal sales characteristics, as provided in this Chapter, of the ward, election district, municipality, or city-parish government to which it is annexed or made a part of.

B. The provisions of this Section shall be applicable to any election previously called under this Title or any other local option law and to any territory covered by such election which has subsequently been merged with another ward, election district, incorporated municipality, or portion thereof or whose boundary has been changed, it being the intention of this Chapter that the sale of beverages covered by this Title be permitted or prohibited only in an entire ward, election district, or incorporated municipality and not in any portion thereof.

C. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsections A and B of this Section, any package house in existence and operating as such on August 15, 1995, in an area that is subsequently annexed into a ward, election district, municipality, or city-parish government that prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages shall be allowed to continue operation and shall not be subject to the provisions of Subsections A and B of this Section.

The crux of the argument of the Police Jury and the sheriff is their contention that Ward 3 of Sabine Parish has not been abolished and continues to serve several political functions. Thus, in their argument, Ward 3 has not been "merged" with Election District 6 such that La. R.S. 26:583 should apply. They claim the court of appeal's decision in this case misinterprets La. R.S. 26:583, fails to accord the vote of the people its due weight, fails to accord the police jury's interpretation of its own ordinance any weight whatsoever and is contrary to the clear language of other sections of the local option law, specifically La. R.S. 26:81(B)(1) and 26:273(A)(1).

Moreover, they believe, as did the court of appeal's dissent and the dissent in King, that the word "another" in La. R.S. 26:583, when used to describe the merger of one political body into another, cannot be applied to dissimilar entities. In other words, they believe that a ward cannot be merged into "another" election district. They believe the situation described by the legislature in this statute must relate to similarly situated political entities, i.e. when a ward is merged into "another" ward, an election district is merged into "another" election district, a municipality is merged into "another" municipality, or a city-parish government is merged into "another" city-parish government.

Relying on Blanchard v. Gauthier, 248 La. 1107, 184 So.2d 531 (1966) from this court and the appellate cases of Doughty v. Tullos, 425 So.2d 814 (La.App. 3 Cir.1982), and Hughes v. Parish Council of Parish of East Baton Rouge, 48 So.2d 823 (La.App. 1 Cir.1950), the Police Jury and sheriff argue that changes in boundaries, such as the re-arrangement of a parish from a ward system into an election district system for electing police jurors, does not change a...