§1872. City courts and judges; abolition of office of justice of the peace and constable; submission of proposition to electors; election and terms of office; Donaldsonville excepted; Houma City Court territorial jurisdiction

A.(1) In all wards where city courts exist and in wards containing cities of more than five thousand inhabitants, except in the city of Donaldsonville, the voters thereof shall elect a city judge, upon whose election the jurisdiction of justice of the peace and constable in that portion of the ward or wards in which the city is contained shall cease; however, in the parish of Terrebonne the offices of justice of the peace and constable shall not be abolished in a ward by reason of the election of a city judge in the ward if fifty percent or less of the population of the ward resides within the city limits, and in such case the justice of the peace court and the city court shall each have territorial jurisdiction throughout such ward, and any justice of the peace court heretofore operating in such a ward and the office of constable thereof are retained.

No city judge shall be elected in the city of Donaldsonville until after the question of creating the court shall have been submitted to the electors residing within the territorial jurisdiction of the proposed court for their approval or rejection in a special election. Such a special election shall be called by the board of supervisors of elections of the parish upon request of the governing authority of the city of Donaldsonville, and the governing authority shall request the calling of a special election upon its own motion or within fifteen days of the receipt of a petition requesting said election signed by twenty-five percent of the electors qualified to vote in such an election. Such election shall be called within ninety days of the receipt by the board of such a request, provided that no such proposition shall be submitted to the electors of the city of Donaldsonville more often than once in two years. The proposition upon the ballot shall be in substantially the following form: Shall the city court of Donaldsonville, parish of Ascension, be created having territorial jurisdiction over those portions of Wards 1, 2, 3, and 4 lying within the corporate limits of the city of Donaldsonville.

( ) YES

( ) NO

If a majority of the electors voting thereon shall vote for the proposition then the governor shall call a special election which shall be held within ninety days thereafter, at which there shall be elected a judge and marshal of the city court of Donaldsonville who shall serve for the remainder of the term of office of judges of city courts as provided by Subsection B of this Section, and whose successors shall thereafter be elected and shall serve for terms of office as provided in this Subpart of this Chapter.

(2) No such judge shall be elected in wards of more than 50,000 inhabitants containing cities of more than 5,000 inhabitants until after the question of creating the court shall have been submitted to the electors residing within the territorial jurisdiction of the proposed court for their approval or rejection in a special election. Such a special election shall be called by the board of supervisors of elections of the parish upon request of the governing authority of any city of over 5,000 inhabitants located in such a ward, such election to be called within ninety days of the receipt by the board of such a request, provided that no such proposition shall be submitted to the electors of the ward more often than once in two years. The proposition upon the ballot shall be in substantially the following form:

Shall the City Court of ____________ be created

having territorial jurisdiction over all of Wards(s)

( ) YES

__________ of the Parish of _______________

( ) NO

If a majority of the electors voting thereon shall vote for the proposition, then at the first congressional election thereafter there shall be elected a judge and marshal of the city court so created, who shall serve for the remainder of the term of office of judges of city courts as provided by Subsection B of this Section, and whose successors shall thereafter be elected and shall serve for terms of office as provided in this Sub-Part of this Chapter.

B. The judges of the city courts, whether these courts are presently in existence or are subsequently created, the judges of the city court of Baton Rouge excepted, shall be elected for terms of six years at the congressional election for representatives beginning with the judges elected at the congressional election for representatives in the year 1960.

C. The terms of office of city court judges, whether their respective offices are presently in existence or are subsequently created, the judges of the city court of Baton Rouge excepted, shall expire on the 31st day of December in the year 1966, and every six years thereafter.

D. The judges of the city court of Baton Rouge shall be elected for terms of four years at such times and in the manner provided in the applicable provisions of the plan of government for the parish of East Baton Rouge and the city of Baton Rouge. The first term of the additional judge provided for by Act 252 of 1958 shall commence on January 1, 1961 and shall terminate on December 31, 1964, unless otherwise provided in the applicable provisions of the plan of government for the parish of East Baton Rouge and the city of Baton Rouge.

E. The territorial jurisdiction of the city court of Houma shall extend throughout the parish of Terrebonne.

Acts 1960, No. 32, §3, eff. Jan. 1, 1961. Amended by Acts 1964, No. 130, §1; Acts 1970, No. 29, §1, emerg. eff. June 18, 1970, at 11:30 A.M.; Acts 1979, No. 727, §2; Acts 1980, No. 577, §1; Acts 1983, No. 169, §1.