Terrebonne council debates seeking separate legal counsel, considers requesting attorney general opinion

Council members debated whether the parish council can or should retain separate "special legal counsel" distinct from the parish attorney and whether to seek a new attorney general opinion clarifying the council's authority.

Councilman Steve Harding said he would be "willing to make a motion to actually request that Miss Neil contact the attorney general" for an opinion, describing persistent disputes over whether the council can select its own counsel. "I would be willing to make a motion to actually request that Miss Neil contact the attorney general," Harding said.

Parish legal staff (referred to in discussion as Miss Neil) told members special legal counsel is ordinarily hired for narrow expertise — for example, tax law or bond work — while the parish attorney serves as general counsel under the charter. "When the charter was set up for the legal department for the parish, the charter was set up in a manner where the one parish attorney would represent the whole department," she said, describing past uses of special counsel for complex tax or bond cases.

Members noted that attorney general opinions previously issued on the subject have come back consistently that the parish president appoints and the council ratifies the parish attorney, and that changing that arrangement likely requires a charter amendment and a public referendum. Several members suggested staff circulate prior AG opinions and that the council could, if it chooses, make a motion to request an AG opinion to resolve remaining questions.

The committee did not immediately adopt new counsel or change the charter; members asked staff to assemble prior legal opinions, clarify the ordinance/charter language cited on the agenda (chapter 2, article 3, section 2-55) and, if desired, return with a prepared motion or resolution to request a formal attorney general opinion.