§ 2.03. Composition, Election, and Compensation.

(A)

1.

There shall be a Council consisting of seven members, two of whom shall be elected at large, and one each from and by each Council district. Except as provided in Paragraph 3 herein, a Council member shall be a qualified elector of the parish and shall have been legally domiciled and have actually resided in the parish for at least one year immediately preceding the time of qualifying for office in an area which, at the time of qualification, is within the district. The Council members elected from the Parish at large shall be designated as Councilmember-at-Large, Division A and Councilmember-at-Large, Division B. A candidate for the office of Councilmember-at-Large shall, at the time of his filing as a candidate, designate the one division of the two Councilmember-at-Large divisions for which he is a candidate.

2.

A Council member shall continue to be legally domiciled and to actually reside within the district from which elected during the term of office. Should the legal domicile and/or actual residence of a Council member change from the district from which elected, unless changed by reapportionment, the office shall automatically become vacant, which vacancy shall be filled as provided in this Charter.

3.

An elector may qualify as a candidate from any district created in whole or in part from a district existing prior to reapportionment if domiciled in that prior district for at least one year immediately preceding qualification.

4.

A Council member shall hold no other elected public office, nor any other compensated office or employment with the parish government during the term for which elected to the Council. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a Council member from serving as a member of a Charter commission, constitutional convention or political party committee.

(B)

Beginning in 1960 and every four years thereafter members of the Council shall be elected at the state general election in accordance with the election laws of the State. Upon receipt of their commission to office in accordance with the election laws of the state, members of the Council shall take their oath of office and assume the duties of their office even if the terms of office of incumbent councilmen are reduced to less than a full four (4) years.

(C)

The salary of Council members shall be determined by ordinance, provided that no ordinance changing the salaries of Council members shall be passed during the last year of the term and that a salary change shall not become effective during the current term of the Council members adopting the ordinance. The Council members shall not be entitled to sick leave or annual leave benefits.

(D)

A Council member who has served as a district Council member more than one and one-half terms in two consecutive terms shall not be eligible to qualify as a candidate for Council member for a district for the succeeding term.

A Council member who has served as a Councilmember-at-Large more than one and one-half terms in two consecutive terms shall not be eligible to qualify as a candidate for Council member elected at large for the succeeding term.

(Ord. No. 19100, 6-8-94; Ord. No. 21621, §§ 4, 6, 7-17-02; Ord. No. 24820 , § 2, 9-3-14)

Annotation—Five (5) days limitation on objections to a candidate is not an unconstitutional limitation on the Charter since fact that there are residence requirements in the Charter suggests that there must be same method available for challenging candidacy of person who does not possess such qualifications. Heaslip v. Treen, 318 So. 2d 95 (La. app. 4th Cir. 1975).