Louisiana Revised Statutes 36:8.1 – Litigation oversight; reports to the legislature
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 36:8.1
- Agency: means and includes the boards, commissions, departments, agencies, offices, officers, and other instrumentalities, or any or all of these, within the executive branch of state government which are abolished by this Title or which are transferred and placed within departments of the state government created and established or continued by this Title or transferred to and placed within the office of the governor as provided by this Title. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 36:3
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
- Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
A.(1)(a) The head of each agency shall make and publish an annual report to the legislature containing a list of all civil actions brought in a court of law by the agency as a named party plaintiff.
(b) The attorney general shall make and publish an annual report to the legislature containing a list of all civil actions brought in a court of law by the state of Louisiana as a named party plaintiff.
(2) Each such report shall include all cases instituted, pending, or concluded during the preceding calendar year and shall:
(a) Contain the names of all parties appearing as plaintiffs at any time during the litigation and all parties named as defendants at any time during the litigation as they appear on the pleadings, the court that has jurisdiction over the matter, the docket number, the cause of action being averred, and the relief being sought.
(b) Indicate the current status of the case, including whether the case has been heard on the merits, whether there is a final judgment therein and, if so, an indication if the final judgment was determined on a procedural or substantive issue, whether the case has settled prior to any final judgment, and whether an appeal has been taken and, if so, if that appeal was initiated by the agency.
(c) List the name or names of all outside counsel representing the agency or the state and the agreement of the agency or the attorney general on behalf of the agency or the state, including the hourly rate of pay for the attorney or attorneys and paraprofessionals or the percentage of compensation or commission or any other arrangement relative to compensation, including payment of compensation by a defendant.
(3)(a) One week before the convening of each annual legislative session, a copy of the report shall be submitted by the head of each agency and the attorney general to the presiding officer of each house of the legislature and shall also be submitted in accordance with the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 24:772.
(b) The presiding officer shall refer the report to the appropriate committee having jurisdiction of the subject matter as provided in the rules of the respective house, and any legislative committee which receives a report may conduct a hearing thereon.
B.(1) In addition to the report required in Subsection A of this Section, the head of each agency and the attorney general shall submit a quarterly report listing every civil action instituted by the agency or the attorney general since the submission of the last quarterly report.
(2) The quarterly report shall be submitted in the form of an e-mail and shall be sent to the David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library on or before the fourth Monday of the month in which the report is due. The e-mail shall be captioned in the subject line “Litigation Disclosure” and shall include the name of the submitting agency. It shall also contain a uniform resource locator (URL) link to a copy of the original petition for each civil action listed. The e-mail shall clearly indicate the applicable reporting period and list the name and contact information of the person submitting the e-mail and the person responsible for maintaining the URL, which URL shall be maintained by the agency or the attorney general for a minimum of one year.
C. The provisions of this Section shall apply to any civil action filed by the following departments or offices, including offices and agencies thereof, collectively referred to in this Section as “agency”:
(1) Department of Agriculture and Forestry.
(2) Department of State Civil Service.
(3) Department of Economic Development.
(4) Department of Education.
(5) Department of Children and Family Services, except cases brought pursuant to the Children’s Code and Title 46 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.
(6) Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.
(7) Department of Environmental Quality.
(4) “Outside counsel” means any attorney, other than in-house counsel, who is being or has been paid by any agency or the state or who is entitled to or potentially entitled to compensation or a commission as a result of the legal proceeding. For purposes of this Paragraph, “in-house counsel” means any attorney employed by an agency, including the Department of Justice, who is eligible to participate in the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System by virtue of such employment.
Acts 2014, No. 204, §1, eff. July 1, 2014; Acts 2023, No. 150, §10, eff. Jan. 10, 2024.