Bossier Jury makes excuses rather than follow law

It would be so easy to defuse the controversy if the Bossier Parish Police Jury would just do a few easy, simple things to follow the law.

Jurors apparently were not pleased with a recent post here (remarks reiterating that also were delivered during public comment period at the Jan. 14 Jury meeting) that pointed out deficiencies in it following the law concerning the parish’s Library Board of Control. In at least five ways, the Jury violates the law in the composition and operation — really, non-operation — of the Board.

In response, the Jury dispatched the 26^th Judicial District assistant district attorney seconded to it for its legal affairs Patrick Jackson to defend it in print. The effort fell flat, as the rejoinder didn’t address the Jury’s actions required under law but merely tried to provide justification for the Jury to operate as the Board given past Board actions that jurors alleged were insufficient.

There doesn’t have to be such a contretemps. If the Jury wanted to put all of this behind it by following the letter of the law, it could keep the Board stocked with all jurors (even as no other known board in the state is doing that) and merely additionally would have to do the following:

Appoint members to empty seats. Board members by law serve five-year terms, rotating, which as statute sets membership at five to seven means as most parishes set membership at the minimum one a year rotates off (and can be reappointed; statute places no term limitation). At present, theoretically Bossier’s has two vacancies. At the Nov. 15, 2023 meeting the jury attempted to appoint all 12 of its members to the Board, despite a claim at the Oct. 18 meeting that the ordinance creating the Board had been suspended, which is contrary to statute that a parish must have a board, with the mass juror appointment also contrary to statute due to excess numbers.

As best can be figured out from parish web site information, the last known legal configuration of the board listed was Republican Juror Julianna Parks with a term expiring in 2024, Republican former Juror Bob Brotherton with a term expiring in 2025 but who died prior to that, Democrat former Juror Charles Gray in 2026 who lost reelection in 2023 but who can serve as a private citizen, Republican Juror Glenn Benton in 2027, and Republican Juror Doug Rimmer in 2028.

In other words, jurors Benton and Rimmer were appointed and still serve as does private citizen Gray. Two slots are empty, as terms ran out. (Maybe. The Mar. 20, 2024 Jury minutes mention approving minutes of a Feb. 21, 2024 Board meeting, but these are not listed on the Board web site. Possibly the Jury selected a replacement for Parks at this missing meeting, but could not have for Brotherton who still was alive at the time.)

So, appoint two members; jurors, if they like. If the really want to go hardcore, wait until October to let Gray’s term expire, then appoint another juror in his place. It even can create two extra seats and put on two more, plus the president serves ex oficio, which makes eight with one nonvoting. But it can’t have all twelve.

Meet. Statute is very lenient on this, a board by implication must meet only once a year. That’s because …

Select officers. One statutory duty is to select officers annually and …

Pass a budget. Another is to approve a budget for the upcoming fiscal year and send it to the Jury.

 That’s it. All the Jury need do is register appointments, of themselves if it likes (although no more than seven voting members), then meet just once, maybe in October where at this meeting they could elect officers and spit out a budget, and then fold up tents for another year. A Jury motion for appointments plus a quickie Board meeting might take 10 minutes total, plus a few minutes to spit out notice of the Board meeting at least 24 hours prior to its meeting. If you want to rig a Board with all jurors and have it perform its statutory duty, it takes little effort to do it legally, yet the Jury can’t even bring itself to do that. Of course, better would live up to the spirit of the law with non-jurors serving with monthly meetings, but if the Jury is involved you can’t expect miracles.

 As can be seen, it wouldn’t take much for the Jury to start following the law. What’s the holdup?