A Baton Rouge district judge has temporarily halted the Louisiana Board of Ethics’ search for a new ethics administrator. (Wesley Muller/Louisiana Illuminator)
A Baton Rouge judge has temporarily prevented the Louisiana Board of Ethics from moving forward with replacing the board’s top employee in response to a lawsuit brought by legislators.
Judge Kelly Balfour of the 19th Judicial District Court issued a temporary restraining order Friday evening that blocks the state ethics board from picking a new administrator.
The judge granted the stay at the request of Sens. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, and Stewart Cathey, R-Monroe. They are suing to halt the board from filling that position until Gov. Jeff Landry gains more control over the board in 2025.
Landry and lawmakers in both parties have had a fraught relationship with the ethics board in recent years. The board has reprimanded Landry multiple times for campaign finance and ethical violations over the years. Legislators have also complained that the board is being too aggressive regarding investigations into political action committees that lawmakers run.
Attorney Gray Sexton, who is representing the senators in the lawsuit, confirmed Monday that the court has issued the order. The stay is in place until Nov. 18, when Balfour has scheduled a hearing over the matter.
Sexton said the ethics board asked Balfour to delay the hearing another week so its attorneys can prepare for the case. The senators would agree to an extension, as long as the restraining order stays in place until the court appearance, he added.
Kathleen Allen, the current ethics board administrator, could not be reached Monday with state government offices closed for Veterans Day. Barrow and Cathey have not responded to several requests for comment since Friday.
In January, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry and conservative legislative leaders will take control over approximately half of the ethics board appointees. Until then, the board is made up entirely of members picked by former Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and Republican lawmakers who are no longer in office.
Current legislators balked at the existing board moving swiftly to put a new ethics administrator in place. Board members interviewed four candidates for the job last week, before the lawsuit was filed, and appeared on track to pick a new administrator in December.
The lawsuit from Barrow and Cathey alleges the board has moved too quickly to hire a new administrator, having only publicly solicited applications for the job from Oct. 15-25. The senators also alleged the board violated government transparency laws by talking about the hiring process during private meetings, when such discussions should have been public.
Allen said Friday she did not believe the board had violated the state’s open meetings law as the legislators alleged.
In addition to the lawsuit, Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, has requested Attorney General Liz Murrill investigate the ethics board for moving too quickly with its administrator hiring process.