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Eunice council debates whether appointed officials should report to city manager or to mayor and council
Summary
Councilors clashed March 9 over whether appointed municipal officers should report to the city manager or directly to the mayor and council. Advocates cited state statute; others urged legal review and League/DOJ guidance. No ordinance change was approved; the item will be researched further.
On March 9, 2026, Eunice City Councilors spent a sustained portion of their meeting debating whether certain appointed municipal officials — such as the police and fire chiefs and the city clerk — should report to the city manager or to the mayor and council.
Councilor Curtis Rouse said the change is needed to align the city with state law. “The state statue says the appointment officials cannot report to the city manager. That they are to report to the mayor and the council,” Rouse said, urging the council to review statutes and attorney-general guidance he circulated.
Councilor Steve Almager echoed that position and said the city’s current language creates legal exposure: “If the statute is clear, we should conform the code so we’re not exposed,” he said. Both Rouse and Almager asked the manager to bring revised language for council consideration.
City Manager Shannon Cummins and other councilors recommended caution. Cummins told the council she had consulted the Municipal League and said the league’s guidance differed from the interpretations offered at the meeting; she proposed seeking additional clarification from the League and from the Department of Justice at an upcoming meeting. Councilor Erica Jones and Councilor Ty Chanley said they found the legal guidance conflicting in their preliminary checks and urged formal research before changing the city code.
Mayor John Dean Davis said the council would consider recommendations from the League but noted the city must follow state law. The discussion produced no vote to change city code on the spot; several councilors asked staff to research the state statutes and municipal-league guidance and return with proposed language and legal citations.
The council agreed to obtain clearer legal advice and indicated the matter will return to a future agenda for possible action after review. No formal appointment or code amendment was adopted at the March 9 meeting.
