§822. Members of board of trustees; appointment or election; terms of office; vacancies; compensation

A. The board shall consist of such trustees as follows:

(1) The state superintendent of education, ex officio, or his designee.

(2) One voting member representing the members paid by school food service funds shall be elected by a majority of the members for a four-year term.

(3) The state treasurer, ex officio, or his designee. Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S. 49:307.1, the treasurer may name any person as his designee to this board.

(4) The commissioner of administration, ex officio, or his designee.

(5) A member of the House Committee on Retirement appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, or the member's designee.

(6) The chairman of the Retirement Committee of the Senate of the Louisiana Legislature, ex officio, or his designee.

(7) One voting member representing the state colleges and universities at large shall be elected by a majority of the members of the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana employed by the colleges and universities of the state for a four-year term.

(8) One voting member from and to represent each of seven districts, to be elected by a majority of the members employed in the respective districts to a four-year term, except those members who are employed by the state colleges and universities and who elect a representative under Paragraph (7) of this Subsection and those members paid by school food service funds and who elect a representative under Paragraph (2) of this Subsection and who shall not be a parish or city superintendent of schools. The seven districts shall be composed of parishes as follows:

(a) District 1: Ascension, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard.

(b) District 2: Washington, St. Tammany, Orleans.

(c) District 3: East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Assumption, Lafourche, Terrebonne.

(d) District 4: Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Claiborne, DeSoto, Red River, Bienville, Lincoln, Sabine, Natchitoches.

(e) District 5: Union, Morehouse, West Carroll, East Carroll, Jackson, Ouachita, Richland, Madison, Caldwell, Franklin, Tensas, Catahoula, Concordia, West Feliciana, East Feliciana, St. Helena, Livingston, Tangipahoa.

(f) District 6: Winn, Grant, LaSalle, Vernon, Rapides, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Allen, Evangeline, St. Landry, Pointe Coupee, Jefferson Davis, St. Martin, West Baton Rouge.

(g) District 7: Calcasieu, Acadia, Cameron, Vermilion, Lafayette, Iberia, St. Mary.

(9) Two voting members to represent the retired teachers shall be elected by a majority of those voting retired members of the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana for a four-year term.

(10) One voting member, who shall be a parish or city superintendent of schools, shall be elected by all parish and city superintendents of schools in Louisiana, for a four-year term.

B. There shall be no restriction as to type of employment or position held as a qualification for any member seeking election under Paragraphs (A)(7) through (9) of this Section; however, an elected member of the board who has served at least twelve months of his term shall be eligible to continue as a member of the board following the effective date of his retirement from the system, until the expiration of the term for which he was elected; however, no elected member of the board shall be eligible to continue as a member of the board after December thirty-first following any change in his principal residence, employment, or status which would otherwise render him ineligible to become a candidate for the position to which he was previously elected.

C. If a vacancy occurs in the office of a trustee, the board of trustees may fill the vacancy by appointment of a person who is otherwise qualified and eligible to hold that particular office which is vacant. When a vacancy occurs in the office of a trustee and the unexpired portion of the term exceeds one year, the vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the board of trustees has adopted for regular elections, and the appointment shall be effective only until a successor takes office. Vacancies in ex officio positions shall be filled as required by law.

D. Members of the board of trustees shall receive for attendance at meetings of the board a per diem of fifty dollars plus the normal expense allowance allowed state employees by the division of administration provided funds are available for this purpose.

E. In order to be certified as a candidate for election to membership on the board of trustees, a member must qualify as a candidate prior to May first of the year in which the election is to be held to fill the position on the board and the qualification must be in compliance with the rules and regulations adopted by the board for qualifications. If the election is to fill an unexpired term on the board, the board of trustees may set any other date by which a person must qualify in order to be certified as a candidate for election to fill the unexpired term. At least thirty days before the election of trustees, the board of trustees shall cause to be transmitted to each member, election information which has been approved by the board of trustees and reviewed by the chairmen of the House of Representatives and Senate committees on retirement.

Acts 1964, No. 202, §1; Acts 1972, No. 144, §1; Acts 1975, Ex.Sess., No. 3, §2, eff. June 1, 1975; Acts 1977, No. 743, §1; Acts 1978, No. 648, §8, eff. July 13, 1978; Acts 1980, No. 176, §1; Acts 1981, No. 233, §1; Acts 1982, No. 718, §1; Acts 1986, No. 404, §1; Acts 1988, No. 141, §1; Acts 1989, No. 74, §1; Acts 1990, No. 631, §1, eff. July 1, 1990; Acts 1991, No. 73, §1, eff. Jan. 13, 1992; Redesignated from R.S. 17:652 by Acts 1991, No. 74, §3, eff. June 25, 1991; Acts 1993, No. 598, §1, eff. July 1, 1993; Acts 1993, No. 722, §1, eff. July 1, 1993; Acts 2003, No. 688, §1, eff. July 1, 2003; Acts 2003, No. 820, §1, eff. July 1, 2003; Acts 2012, No. 113, §1, eff. June 30, 2012; Acts 2016, No. 621, §1, eff. June 17, 2016.

{{NOTE: SEE §2 OF ACT 73 OF 1991.}}