3rd Circuit Court reverses district court decision on St. Martinville mayor veto power

Published 3:00 am Friday, March 25, 2022

The Louisiana 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal reversed a 16th Judicial District Court decision concerning whether the St. Martinville mayor has veto power.

On Thursday, Mayor Melinda Mitchell held a press conference regarding the appeal court’s decision, which reversed the district court’s previous ruling that the mayor does not have veto power.

“I thank God we have the tools we need to move the city forward,” Mitchell said at the press conference. “St. Martinville deserves a full-time mayor.”

Litigation concerning the mayor’s ability to veto came after the St. Martinville City Council voted in September of 2020 to make the mayor’s position a part-time job. Mitchell, who is serving her first term in office, made the decision to veto that decision despite the St. Martinville city charter having no language within it stating the mayor had that ability.

In the 3rd Circuit’s opinion released this week, a change made to the Lawrason Act in 2010 affected municipalities acting under a special legislative charter.

“The construction of La.R.S. 33:481 shows the legislature intended to change the existing law and wanted to make it clear that it recognized the distinction between a charter being silent on an issue versus conflicting with the Lawrason Act,” the court document read. “Therefore, the legislature specifies that if the charter is silent, the Lawrason Act applies, but if the charter merely conflicts with the Act, the charter applies,” the document continued.

Because St. Martinville’s charter does not mention mayors having the authority to veto, the authority is placed on the Lawrason Act, which does have a veto system in place.

Mitchell’s attorney John Milton said he considers the St. Martinville special charter, which was passed in 1898, a “prodigy of the Jim Crow system” and lauded the decision by the 3rd Circuit.

“I want to commend the mayor for her tenacity in standing up to a system and a longstanding process that allows the city of St. Martinville to be denied the true spirit of democracy and a balanced government,” Milton said.

The ruling also determined that the $5,213 in legal fees associated with the litigation would be paid by the City of St. Martinville.

It remains to be seen whether the City Council will seek to appeal the ruling by the Third Circuit and take the matter to the Louisiana Supreme Court. The makeup of the City Council is guaranteed to change following this Saturday’s election because several members of the current council are not seeking re-election.

Mitchell is seeking a second term in office and is facing several candidates for the position.