AG: Waitz office deal above board

Approval of the State Bond Commission is not required for the 32nd Judicial District Attorney to enter into a lease agreement for additional office space.

Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Huxen authored the opinion, pursuant to a request from District Attorney Joseph Waltz Jr.

Under both state statute and the Louisiana Constitution, no bonds or other obligations shall be issued or sold by the state or any political subdivision without prior approval of the bond commission.

“We have previously interpreted that section to require approval for leases that span more than one fiscal year and do not contain a non-appropriation clause,” Huxen said. “Conversely, this office has consistently opined that lease-purchase agreements containing a ‘non-funding’ or a ‘non-appropriation’ clause in favor of the public entity do not constitute incurring debt requiring State Bond Commission approval.”

Waltz, in his request for the opinion, said that the proposed lease agreement contained language similar to a ‘non-appropriation clause,’ under which lease payments are subject to inclusion in the district attorney’s budget.

Accordingly, Huxen said, “it is the opinion of this office that the approval of the State Bond Commission is not needed in order for a district attorney to enter into a lease agreement for additional office space.”