§2396. City civil service commission

A. The city civil service commission shall be composed of three electors of the city in which they serve. No member of the commission shall be a candidate for nomination or election to public office or hold any other public office or position of public employment, the office of notary public or a military or naval office excepted, nor shall any member of the commission be or have been, during the period of six months immediately preceding his appointment, a member of any local, state, or national committee of a political party, or an officer or member of a committee of any factional or political club or organization.

B. One member of the commission shall be appointed by the governing body of the city, and, in a municipality of two hundred fifty thousand or over, two members shall be appointed by the governor. The first three members of the commission shall be appointed within thirty days after this Part takes effect in a city under R.S. 33:2391, Sub-section A.

The term of office of each member shall be six years, except the terms of the first three members. These terms shall be two years, three years, and four years, respectively, to be designated at the discretion of the mayor; at the expiration of these respective terms, the governing body of the city shall appoint the successor of the member appointed by it, and, in a municipality having a population of two hundred fifty thousand or more, the governor shall appoint the successors of the members appointed by him.

Each member of the commission shall serve until his successor has been appointed and qualified. Before entering on his duties, a commissioner shall take the oath of office, which shall include a statement of his belief in and desire to support the principles of the merit system.

A member of a commission in existence on the effective date of the Revised Statutes, under Act 171 of 1940, as amended, shall continue to serve until the expiration of the term for which he was appointed.

Any vacancy occurring in the commission shall be filled for the remainder of the term in the same manner as the preceding commissioner was selected and appointed. Within thirty days after the receipt of notice from any person of the occurrence of a vacancy in the commission or of the expiration of the term of a member of the commission, the governing body of the city or the governor, as the case may be, shall appoint the successor. If the governing body of a city fails to appoint one original commissioner or fails to appoint his successor within the time and in the manner herein provided, the governor shall select and appoint the commissioner in a municipality of two hundred fifty thousand or more.

C. A member of the commission shall be removable only for cause by the mayor upon recommendation of a committee composed of the city attorney and presiding or senior district judge, after being given a copy of charges against him and an opportunity to be heard publicly on such charges. A copy of the charges and a transcript of the record of the hearing shall be filed with the Secretary of State.

D. Members of the commission shall each be paid twenty-five dollars for each day devoted to the work of the commission, but not more than two thousand dollars each in any year. They also shall be entitled to reimbursement for necessary traveling and other expenses.

E. The commission annually shall elect one of its members chairman. It shall maintain its principal office in space provided for it by the proper city officials, shall maintain its records at that principal office, and shall hold its regular meetings there. At least one regular meeting shall be held in each month, except in the months of July and August. Special meetings may be held at times and places specified by call of the chairman or mayor. Notice of the time and place of all meetings shall be given in writing to each member by the director. Meetings of the commission shall be open to the public. Two members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The director shall act as secretary of the commission, and shall keep adequate records and minutes of its business and official actions. The officer charged by law with the custody of the city buildings shall assign suitable office space to the commission for executing the duties charged to it and to the director.