Types of Parish Government in Louisiana.First off, a parish is...

Types of Parish Government in Louisiana.

First off, a parish is like a county to everyone else. Secondly, a police jury is not a jury and it doesn’t consist of policemen.

Police Jury: similar to the traditional Commission form of government in other states. The police jury is the governing body and possesses both legislative and administrative authority for enacting ordinances, establishing programs and setting policy, preparing the budget, hiring of personnel, and other powers. The police jury may contain from five to fifteen members by law, with historical and population provisions for variations, and is elected from single-member districts. Administrative structures vary widely among the police juries.

The jury is authorized to create the positions of parish manager and administrator to exercise supervision over all administration and serve as head of all departments. (these are “Police Jury with administrator” parishes)

Council-President: Home Rule charter. Provides for a council and a full-time president elected at large. Most presidents have strong administrative and veto powers, and serve as the administrative manager as well as chief executive officer. The President-Council parishes have clearly defined legislative and administrative functions.

Council-Administrator: Home Rule charter. Only Caddo Parish. Utilizes an administrator appointed by the council who acts as the sole initiator in administrative affairs.

Consolidated City-Parish: The major city government and parish government have been combined. These are Lafayette with Lafayette Parish, Houma with Terrebonne Parish, Baton Rouge with East Baton Rouge Parish, and New Orleans with Orleans Parish.

from Planet GS via John Jason Fallows on Inoreader http://ift.tt/1FIQfrq