§2500. Powers of judges, clerks, and court reporters

A. The judges of the Municipal and Traffic Court of New Orleans and their clerks and court reporters may administer oaths and the judges may compel witnesses to appear and testify.

B. The court shall possess inherently all powers necessary for the exercise of its jurisdiction and the enforcement of its lawful orders including the authority to issue such writs and orders as may become necessary and the court has the power to punish for contempt, as provided in Code of Criminal Procedure Articles 20 through 25 as the same may from time to time be amended, which articles define contempt and prescribe the penalties therefor.

C.(1) The penalty which may be imposed for each violation of a municipal ordinance shall not exceed five hundred dollars or six months in jail, or both at the discretion of the court, and in default of the payment of the fine said violator may be sentenced to serve a period in jail for a term not to exceed an additional thirty days.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, the penalty which may be imposed for each violation of a parish or municipal ordinance prohibiting the dumping of trash, debris, refuse, garbage, other solid and liquid waste, greases, and oils, such as but not limited to cooking oil and fats, motor oil, antifreeze, truck and automotive fluids, paint, paint thinners, and gasoline into drainage culverts, lines, or canals, upon any public place within the parish, upon private property within the parish not owned by the person accused of the violation, upon property owned or controlled by the parish, or in or on the waters within the parish, whether from a vehicle or otherwise, including but not limited to any public highway, public park, beach, campground, forestland, recreational area, trailer park, highway, road, street, or alley, shall not exceed one thousand dollars, or a greater amount if a state statute authorizes a greater penalty for the violation of such parish or municipal ordinances, or six months in jail, or both at the discretion of the court, and in default of the payment of the fine said violator may be sentenced to serve a period in jail for a term not to exceed an additional thirty days.

Amended by Acts 1978, No. 760, §1, eff. July 17, 1978; Acts 1979, No. 268, §1, eff. July 10, 1979; Acts 1992, No. 1070, §1; Acts 2004, No. 834, §1, eff. July 12, 2004; Acts 2014, No. 845, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017.