Parish Council, once again, attempts to circumvent the advice of their parish attorney and the parish district attorney. Jim Norred, councilman that represents the Watson area, has sponsored the agenda item “Resolution expediting payment of special legal counsel Charles Schutte” for this upcoming Livingston Parish Council meeting on Thursday, July 24th, 2014 at 6 pm. This resolution to expedite the payment of special legal counsel Charles Schutte would in fact go against the opinion of the Parish’s legal attorney, Chris Moody and go against the opinion of our district attorney, Scott Perrilloux. Charles Schutte is the attorney hired by Cindy Wale and Marshall Harris to represent them in their personal lawsuit defense. Cindy Wale and Marshall Harris are both being sued in their individual capacity and not in the official capacity as parish council members. Last spring, March 2013 two lawsuits were filed: the first suit was filed by attorney Estes, AFA vs Marshall Harris and Cindy Wale and the second suit was filed by attorney Koch, Mrs. Kistler vs Marshall Harris and Cindy Wale. Both suits allege that Harris (was current council chairman) and Wale (chairman in 2012) made false accusations to damage the reputation of the engineering firm and Mrs. Kistler. Mrs. Kistler’s lawsuit contends that the council members falsely accused Kistler of “improper conduct, which resulted in the parish being overcharged by $ 31,000 and paying for work the council never authorized.” BUT, in reality, the Council had, in fact, unanimously approved paying up to $ 35,000 for a study of possible improvements on Duff Road, while the bill turned out to be only $ 31,000, which was under the cost that was approved unanimously by the parish council. “Both of the defendants (Harris and Wale), who more recently made false statements claiming that the council never approved this work, actually voted FOR the work themselves,” the suit states. Kistler’s lawsuit noted that she is not seeking judgment against the parish “because she does not wish to burden this parish’s taxpayers with the expenses…” AFA’s attorney, Mr. Estes, filed a Stipulation document on November 20th, 2013 that AFA irrevocably stipulates that it will NOT hold the parish responsible for any of the statements by Harris and Wale. The document releases the parish from all liability associated with the statements by Harris and Wale. In an article written in the Livingston Parish Newspaper by Mike Dowty back in April 4th, 2013 it states, “After 21st Judicial District Attorney Scott Perrilloux declined to represent Marshall Harris and Cindy Wales in their capacity as public officials, the defendants retained Baton Rouge attorney Charles Schutte.” Perrilloux said the comments both (Cindy Wale and Marshall Harris) made for a WBRZ Channel 2 investigative story do not qualify for a taxpayer-funded defense. “They were named in their individual capacity, which under some Attorney General’s opinions means we are prohibited from representing them,” Perrilloux said. After digging further into the petitions filed against Marshall Harris and Cindy Wale, it was very evident that both petitions very concisely state that their claim is not against the Parish and they are not attempting to collect any money from the taxpayers of Livingston Parish. Their claims are against the individual Councilmen for actions they claim were taken in their individual capacities and not in their official capacities. There is no statutory basis or case law extending the authority of the District Attorney to represent council members on an individual basis for personal liability. Attorney General’s opinion 89-401 says it was determined that a public official acting beyond the course and scope of his duties is not entitled to attorneys fees for the defense of civil or criminal actions brought against him/her. The Attorney General’s opinion 10-0099 said this: “Based on the facts you presented, specifically, that litigation is ongoing, it would not be proper for your office to pay for or reimburse the legal fees incurred by an elected official at this time. This is consistent with past opinions of this office which concluded that before a local official can be reimbursed for the legal expenses incurred in defending himself from charges stemming from the performance of his official functions, the local official must first be found not guilty/liable.” The Attorney General’s opinions have been consistent by stating it is allowable to reimburse a local official for any actions arising out of these official duties, IF his/her case were successful and they were found not guilty/liable. Chris Moody, Parish Attorney, recommended that “Councilmen Wale and Harris could engage their own attorney to represent them and if they are successful in the defense of the case, submit the matter for reimbursement of their reasonable attorney’s fees. If the Council is satisfied that the actions they were sued over constituted their “official actions,” then we think it could be defensible to pay their fees.” Parish Attorney, Chris Moody, has stated many times at various parish council meetings that his opinion is concurrent w/ District Attorney Scott Perriloux and they both have researched Attorney General Opinion’s on this matter and it is not allowable to use taxpayer’s money to pay for attorney fees for local officials on an ongoing case but the case must play out in the court of law and then if the local official is found not guilty/liable, then the local official can be reimbursed for reasonable attorney’s fees. Furthermore, Parish President Layton Ricks has stated on numerous occasions, he would like these lawsuits to go through the court system first and once the outcome is announced and if those two council members are found not guilty/liable, then he has no problem with reimbursement of their reasonable attorney’s fees. Jim Norred, parish councilman that represents the Watson area, continues to bring this matter up on the agenda. Jim is in full support of asking for council approval to vote and use the taxpayer’s money to defend Marshall Harris and Cindy Wale in their personal lawsuit. Tomorrow night, let’s patiently wait and see exactly which parish council members vote in support of using your money (the taxpayers of Livingston Parish) to pay for Cindy Wale and Marshall Harris’ personal lawsuits after the district attorney and parish attorney have both advised against doing so. It is up to you, a citizen of Livingston Parish, to decide whether you are in agreement with using your money to pay for the defense of two parish council members personal lawsuits or better yet, next fall during re-election time, you can make your opinion known loud and clear then.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 16:53:59 +0000
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