Twenty-First Judicial Dist. Court v. State Through Guste

• Decision Date: 30 May 1990
• Docket Number: TWENTY-FIRST,No. CA,CA
• Citation: 563 So.2d 1185
• Parties: Kenneth J. Fogg; Bruce C. Bennett; Robert H. Morrison, III; Leon Ford, III; Edward B. Dufreche; Joseph E. Anzalone, Jr.; Judges of the Twenty-First Judicial District Court; and Residents of the Twenty-First Judicial District v. STATE of Louisiana, Through the Honorable William GUSTE, Attorney General; Honorable "Buddy" Roemer, as Governor and Chief Executive Officer of The State of Louisiana; Honorable Jimmy Dimos as Speaker of the House of Representatives and Presiding Officer of that Body; Honorable Allan Bares as President of the Senate and Presiding Officer of That Body; Tangipahoa Parish Council, Gordon Burgess as President; R.D. Watson; Dewayne Grace; Varry Paul Francois; Carlo S. Bruno; H.G. "Buddy" Ridgel; Erwin H. Jenkins; William Fleet; Charles "Buddy" Rogers; Wallace "Sonny" Wells; and Troy Davis, in Their Capacity as Tangipahoa Parish Council Members. 89 1937. 563 So.2d 1185 Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Page 1185

563 So.2d 1185

TWENTY-FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT; Kenneth J. Fogg Bruce C. Bennett; Robert H. Morrison, III; Leon Ford, III Edward B. Dufreche; Joseph E. Anzalone, Jr.; Judges of the Twenty-First Judicial District Court; and Residents of the Twenty-First Judicial District v. STATE of Louisiana, Through the Honorable William GUSTE Attorney General; Honorable "Buddy" Roemer, as Governor and Chief Executive Officer of The State of Louisiana Honorable Jimmy Dimos as Speaker of the House of Representatives and Presiding Officer of that Body; Honorable Allan Bares as President of the Senate and Presiding Officer of That Body; Tangipahoa Parish Council, Gordon Burgess as President; R.D. Watson; Dewayne Grace; Varry Paul Francois; Carlo S. Bruno; H.G. "Buddy" Ridgel; Erwin H. Jenkins; William Fleet; Charles "Buddy" Rogers; Wallace "Sonny" Wells; and Troy Davis, in Their Capacity as Tangipahoa Parish Council Members.

No. CA 89 1937.

563 So.2d 1185

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

May 30, 1990.

Tom McFerrin, Greensburg, for Judges of 21st JDC.

Ron S. Macaluso, Hammond, for City Court of Hammond.

William J. Doran, Baton Rouge, for Police Jury Ass'n.

Charles J. Yeager, Baton Rouge, for Atty. Gen. and Governor.

Dickie Patterson, Hammond, for Tangipahoa Parish Council.

Timothy F. Averill, New Orleans, for Supreme Court of La.

Before EDWARDS, LANIER and FOIL, JJ.

LANIER, Judge.

This action is a suit by the 21st Judicial District Court (21st JDC) against the State of Louisiana, the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Tangipahoa Parish Council and its President, the Judicial Budgetary Control Board and the Louisiana Supreme Court. The 21st JDC seeks (1) a declaratory judgment that the statutes which require local governments (the Tangipahoa Parish Council) to fund part of the district court's operating expenses (La.R.S. 13:961[E] and 33:4713), are an unconstitutional delegation of the State's obligation to fund the judicial branch of state government, and (2) an appropriate writ of mandamus to compel the State to provide the necessary and essential funding for the 21st JDC. The Judge of the Seventh Ward Court of Tangipahoa Parish (City Court of Hammond), hereinafter referred to as the City Judge, intervened on the side of the 21st JDC. Declinatory, dilatory and peremptory exceptions were filed by various parties defendant. The trial court referred all exceptions to the merits. ¹ The trial court rendered judgment denying the relief requested by the plaintiffs. In reasons for judgment, the trial court ruled the plaintiffs were not entitled to mandamus because (1) the legislative branch of State government has discretion to determine how the branches of State government shall be funded and (2) the financial circumstances of Tangipahoa Parish "are not such that the Courts cannot function as they have in the past". The trial court also ruled the plaintiffs were not entitled to declaratory relief because they "have failed to show a justiciable controversy" and "a judgment or decree would not terminate the uncertainty or controversy giving rise to these proceedings." The 21st JDC and the City Judge took this appeal. ²

FACTS

The parishes of Tangipahoa, Livingston and St. Helena compose the Twenty-First Judicial District. La.R.S. 13:477. The 21st JDC has six judges. La.R.S. 13:621.21. As a district court, it has original jurisdiction over civil, juvenile and criminal matters. La.Const. of 1974, art. V, Secs. 16 and 19; La.C.J.P. art. 14(B). The current scheme for funding the operations of the 21st JDC is comprised of (1) state funds, (2) special funds (such as the Criminal Court Fund, La.R.S. 15:571.11, and the Judicial Expense Fund, La.R.S. 13:996.6 and 996.7) and (3) local government funds. The payment of local government funds are mandated by La.R.S. 13:961(E) and 33:4713. La.R.S. 13:961(E) provides as follows:

Each of the official court reporters provided for in R.S. 13:961A, shall receive a monthly salary to be fixed and determined by the judge making the appointment. The salaries shall be paid out of the general fund of the parish or parishes comprising the judicial district for which the appointment is made. In districts which comprise more than one parish the amount to be paid by each of the parishes comprising the district is to be in the proportion that the assessed value of each parish bears to the total assessed value of all the parishes comprising the district. The police jury of each parish shall budget the salary or the pro rata part of its share of the salary of the official court reporters in its budget of annual expenses.

La.R.S. 33:4713 provides as follows:

Each parish shall provide and bear the expense of a suitable building and requisite furniture for the sitting of the district and circuit courts and such offices, furniture and equipment as may be needed by the clerks and recorders of the parish for the proper conduct of their offices and shall provide such other offices as may be needed by the sheriffs of these courts and by the tax collectors and assessors of the parish and shall provide the necessary heat and illumination therefor.

The cost of such furniture and equipment, supplies and maps, as may be needed by the tax collector and assessors of each parish shall be borne proportionately by all tax recipient bodies in the parish in the proportion of the amount received from such tax monies by each recipient body in the parish.

The police jury or other governing authority shall make these purchases and then bill the other tax recipients for their proportionate share.

Further, La.R.S. 33:2922(A) provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

The annual revenues of any political subdivision (which term shall mean those units of local government listed in Subsection 2 of Section 44 of Article VI of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974) shall be dedicated as follows: first, all statutory charges shall be paid from the respective funds upon which they are imposed; second, all charges for services rendered annually under time contracts; third, all necessary and usual charges provided for by ordinance or resolution.

The Seventh Ward Court has territorial jurisdiction throughout the City of Hammond and the Tangipahoa Parish wards (apparently 6th and 7th) wherein the City of Hammond is located. La.R.S. 13:1952(10). The Seventh Ward Court has original jurisdiction over civil, juvenile and criminal matters within the limits provided by law. La.R.S. 13:1891; La.C.C.P. art. 4831 et seq.; La.R.S. 13:1894; La.C.J.P. art. 14(D). The current scheme for funding the operations of the Seventh Ward Court is comprised of: (1) state funds, (2) Tangipahoa Parish funds and (3) City of Hammond funds. La.R.S. 13:1874, 1883, 1888, 1889 and 1899(C).

CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE PRESENT FUNDING SCHEMES FOR THE

21ST JDC AND THE SEVENTH WARD COURT

The 21st JDC asserts the legislature's present method of funding the district court is unconstitutional for the following reasons:

1. Statutes enacted by the legislature that place the burden of financing state district courts upon local governing authorities constitutes an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority, duty and responsibilities.

2. Statutes enacted by the legislature that place the burden of financing state district court upon local governing authorities, if constitutional on their face, are unconstitutional in their application to the Twenty-First Judicial District Court.

3. The entire funding scheme for financing state district court operation, due to its lack of uniformity and its creation of a hodge-podge funding source is unconstitutional.

The City Judge also asserts these arguments.

Applicable Law

In Board of Directors of Louisiana Recovery District v. All Taxpayers, Property Owners, and Citizens of State of Louisiana, 529 So.2d 384, 387-388 (La.1988) appears the following:

1. A person attacking the constitutionality of a statute of public purpose must show clearly the constitutional aim to deny the Legislature the power to enact the legislation.

The legislative power of the state is vested in the Legislature. La.Const.1974, Art. III, Sec. 1. Except as expressly provided by the constitution, no other branch of government, nor any persons holding office in one of them, may exercise the legislative power. La.Const.1974, Art. II, Secs. 1 and 2. Furthermore, it is a general principle of judicial interpretation that, unlike the federal constitution, a state constitution's provisions are not grants of power but instead are limitations on the otherwise plenary power of the people of a state exercised through its Legislature. In its exercise of the entire legislative power of the state, the Legislature may enact any legislation that the state constitution does not prohibit. Thus, to hold legislation invalid under the constitution, it is necessary to rely on some particular constitutional provision that limits the power of the Legislature to enact such a statute.... ("Except as limited by the constitution its power is plenary"); Swift v. State, 342 So.2d 191, 194 (La.1977) ("Unlike Congress, our State Legislature has all powers of legislation not specifically denied it by the Louisiana Constitution").

Unless the fundamental rights, privileges and immunities of a person are involved, there is a strong presumption that the Legislature in adopting a statute has acted within its constitutional powers.... The presumption is especially forceful in the case of statutes enacted to promote a public purpose, such as statutes relating to taxation and public finance.... The party attacking such a statute has the burden of showing clearly that the legislation is invalid or unconstitutional, and any doubt as to the legislation's constitutionality must be resolved in its favor.... In an attack upon a legislative act as falling within an exception to the Legislature's otherwise plenary...