# Police jury

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Not to be confused with [Policy jury](/source/Policy_jury).

Form of local government in Louisiana

In the [U.S. state](/source/U.S._state) of [Louisiana](/source/Louisiana), the most common type of governing body for a [parish](/source/List_of_parishes_in_Louisiana) is the **police jury** ([French](/source/French_language): *le jury de police*). Louisiana is divided into parishes for units of local government, similar to the [counties](/source/County_(United_States)) in other states. Initially, all parishes used the police jury system. Many have transitioned to other forms of government, especially after the [1974 state constitution](/source/Constitution_of_Louisiana) granted the parishes more autonomy. In general, the more rural areas still use this older system.

The police jury is a [legislative](/source/Legislature) and [executive](/source/Executive_(government)) body. Parishes are divided into wards or districts. These each elect a "juror" to the [assembly](/source/Deliberative_assembly). The jurors elect a police jury president as their chairman. The president presides over the police jury and serves as the titular head of the parish government. Police juries range in size, depending on population, from three to over fifteen members. Wide latitude is given to organize and administer parish business.

## Etymology

A police jury was called a "police assembly" initially. A law passed on April 6, 1807, created groups in each parish to handle the "local police and administration of their parish".[1] Three years later, these were officially defined as "police juries" and given specific roles.[2] The name "jury" comes from two aspects of the original police juries. The groups were the same size as grand juries and were presided over by the parish judge.[1]

## History

The police jury system was introduced when the area was the [Territory of Orleans](/source/Territory_of_Orleans). Two years after the [Louisiana Purchase](/source/Louisiana_Purchase),[3] the newly formed legislative council divided the territory into 12 counties. These counties proved unmanageable, and the legislature reverted to using the smaller [Catholic parishes](/source/Parish_(Catholic_Church)), defined in 1762 as "the farthest area that the priest could ride on horseback, within reason, to go to the outlying churches to conduct a mass once a month".[2]

In 1810, the office of [sheriff](/source/Sheriffs_in_the_United_States#Louisiana) was created for each parish, and the police jury was officially defined one year later.[2] The original format had the [parish judge](/source/County_judge) presiding over the police jury, but this was quickly replaced with a police jury president, elected by the jurors from among their members.[4] In 1813, the parishes were subdivided into [wards](/source/Ward_(electoral_subdivision)), each electing one juror.[2]

The Territory of Orleans had a different cultural background than other states and no experience with representative government.[3] The juries started with limited powers and an explicit mandate to maintain and regulate [infrastructure](/source/Infrastructure), alcohol consumption, and [slavery](/source/History_of_slavery_in_Louisiana).[4][1] Their role would grow to encompass over fifty government functions.[3] The [1974 State Constitution](/source/Constitution_of_Louisiana) granted more autonomy to cities and parishes. This shifted from delegated authority where parishes could only do what was explicitly permitted, to "[home rule](/source/Home_rule_in_the_United_States)" where the local government could do anything not explicitly prohibited.[5] Many parishes chose to transition away and drafted home rule charters, defining the structure, powers, and limits of their local government.[5]

## Functions

[East Carroll Parish](/source/East_Carroll_Parish%2C_Louisiana) Police Jury office complex in [Lake Providence, Louisiana](/source/Lake_Providence%2C_Louisiana)

In Louisiana, the level of government between the city and state is the parish, comparable to the counties used by other US states.[3] The police jury handles the [executive](/source/Executive_(government)) and [legislative](/source/Legislature) functions of the parish government. The parishes are divided into wards or districts. These each elect a "juror" to the [assembly](/source/Deliberative_assembly).[5] The assembly's size varies depending on the population, from three members in some rural parishes to over fifteen. The jurors elect a "police jury president" from among their members.[4] Like other [elections in Louisiana](/source/Elections_in_Louisiana), parish elections typically occur in odd-numbered years and use the [open primary](/source/Nonpartisan_blanket_primary) system.[4]

St. Helena Parish Police Jury, maintenance department in background

While originally narrow in scope and only holding powers delegated by the state, modern police juries have broad authority to take actions approved by the voters. According to the Police Jury Association of Louisiana, responsibilities include road maintenance, construction of prisons, [waste disposal](/source/Waste_management), bridge construction, fire protection, maintaining the courts plus other parish offices, promoting tourism, and regulating local businesses. They can also create [ordinances](/source/Local_ordinance) and enforce them via fines in [civil court](/source/Civil_law_(common_law)).[4] To receive state funding, police juries are required to assign [road maintenance](/source/Roadworks) to a centralized program to prevent conflicts of interest.[5] Police juries also administer state and federal programs at the local level.[3]

## Forms of parish government

Map of Louisiana's 64 parishes

The police jury is the most common form of parish government in Louisiana.[6] Many parishes, especially those with large [municipalities](/source/Municipality) and suburban areas, have converted away from the system, although some parishes with large cities still use the police jury, including [Bossier](/source/Bossier_Parish%2C_Louisiana) ([Bossier City](/source/Bossier_City%2C_Louisiana)), [Calcasieu](/source/Calcasieu_Parish%2C_Louisiana) ([Lake Charles](/source/Lake_Charles%2C_Louisiana)), [Ouachita](/source/Ouachita_Parish%2C_Louisiana) ([Monroe](/source/Monroe%2C_Louisiana)) and [Rapides](/source/Rapides_Parish%2C_Louisiana) ([Alexandria](/source/Alexandria%2C_Louisiana)).[4]

Twenty-six Louisiana parishes are governed by [home rule](/source/Home_rule) charters that allow them to pick a different form of government.[6] These include council-president, council-manager, and consolidated parish/city.[4] Under a council-president system, voters elect an executive president and a legislative council separately. With the council-manager system, voters elect a parish council, which hires a professional manager to run the day-to-day government. A consolidated government combines the parish with the local city government, and voters typically elect a separate council and executive.[5] For example, since 1949 the [state's capital city](/source/Baton_Rouge%2C_Louisiana) and its [containing parish](/source/East_Baton_Rouge_Parish%2C_Louisiana) have used a consolidated government headed by a [mayor-president](/source/List_of_mayors_of_Baton_Rouge%2C_Louisiana).[7][8]

Local government of each parish Parish Type of government Acadia police jury Allen police jury Assumption police jury Avoyelles police jury Beauregard police jury Bienville police jury Bossier police jury Calcasieu police jury Caldwell police jury Cameron police jury Catahoula police jury Claiborne police jury Concordia police jury DeSoto police jury East Carroll police jury East Feliciana police jury Evangeline police jury Franklin police jury Grant police jury Jackson police jury Jefferson Davis police jury La Salle police jury Lincoln police jury Madison police jury Morehouse police jury Ouachita police jury Rapides police jury Red River police jury Richland police jury Sabine police jury St. Helena police jury Tensas police jury Union police jury Vermillion police jury Vernon police jury Webster police jury West Carroll police jury Winn police jury Ascension council-president Iberia council-president Iberville council-president Jefferson council-president Lafourche council-president Livingston council-president Natchitoches council-president Plaquemines council-president Pointe Coupee council-president St. Bernard council-president St. Charles council-president St. James council-president St. John the Baptist council-president St. Landry council-president St. Martin council-president St. Mary council-president St. Tammany council-president Tangipahoa council-president Washington council-president West Baton Rouge council-president West Feliciana council-president Orleans Parish & New Orleans consolidated East Baton Rouge Parish & Baton Rouge consolidated Lafayette Parish & Lafayette consolidated Terrebonne Parish & Houma consolidated Caddo Parish council manager

Sources: [6][4][5]

## See also

- [County commission](/source/County_commission)

- [County council](/source/County_council)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Calhoun1935_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Calhoun1935_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Calhoun1935_1-2) Calhoun, Robert Dabney (January 1935). Walter Prichard (ed.). "The Origins of County–Parish Government". *The Louisiana Historical Quarterly* (1969 AMS reprint ed.). Vol. 18, no. 1. pp. 93, 94, 120.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-KPLC2007_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-KPLC2007_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-KPLC2007_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-KPLC2007_2-3) KPLC (21 June 2007). ["History of Police Jury Government"](https://www.kplctv.com/story/6693865/history-of-police-jury-government/). *7KPLC News*. Lake Charles, Louisiana: KPLC.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Laver2008_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Laver2008_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Laver2008_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Laver2008_3-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Laver2008_3-4) Bourgeois, Andreé; Pino, Jennifer; and Laver, Tara (2005–2008). ["Biographical/Historical Note"](https://www.lib.lsu.edu/sites/default/files/sc/findaid/2984.pdf). *W.P.A. Collection Historical Records Survey Transcriptions of Louisiana Police Jury Records*. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: LSU Libraries.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Ouchley2021_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Ouchley2021_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Ouchley2021_4-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Ouchley2021_4-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Ouchley2021_4-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Ouchley2021_4-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Ouchley2021_4-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-Ouchley2021_4-7) Ouchley, Kelley (15 June 2021). ["Police Juries"](https://64parishes.org/entry/police-juries). *64 Parishes*. New Orleans: Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Hancock1998_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Hancock1998_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Hancock1998_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Hancock1998_5-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Hancock1998_5-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Hancock1998_5-5) Hancock, Harry J, ed. (1998). "Your Local Government." *[Your Louisiana Government: An Owner’s Manual](https://archive.org/details/yourlouisianagov0000unse)*. Baton Rouge: Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, 1998. Ch. 6, pp. 73–82.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-LPgov_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-LPgov_6-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-LPgov_6-2) McCreary St. Romain, Sunny, ed. (2019). ["Parish Government Structure"](https://www.lpgov.org/page/ParishGovStructure). *Police Jury Association of Louisiana*. Retrieved 11 October 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Baton_Rouge_State–Times_(sec._B,_p._25)_7-0)** [Higginbotham Makes History As First Mayor-President](http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/image/v2%3A138FFE8785E79426%40EANX-13D68F6955AEC7E9%402432918-13D3FC26F201DD80%4046-13D3FC26F201DD80%40?p=AMNEWS&hlterms=%22Higginbotham+Makes+History%22). 1 January 1949. *Baton Rouge State-Times*. § B, p. 25.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-BR200_8-0)** ["200 Years of Baton Rouge History: An Interactive Timeline"](https://www.ebrpl.com/bicentennial%20timeline/demo-future/BR200Timeline.html). 2017. *Baton Rouge 200*. East Baton Rouge Parish Library. § 1949.

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