§1098.4. General authority

A.(1) The commission may purchase or otherwise acquire, construct, reconstruct, rehabilitate, improve, repair, operate, lease as lessor or lessee, manage, and administer, or enter into contracts for the management, administration, and operation of, a youth center useful, necessary, expedient, or convenient to carry out the plans and purposes of this Subpart. The center may include but is not limited to residential units, administration and social services building, cafeteria building, gymnasium and recreational building, education building, and other residential facilities for delinquent, neglected, or abused children or children in need of care or supervision, as well as for employees, patrons, visitors, and relatives of children who may enter the juvenile justice system or who are in need of care or supervision. In addition, the commission may lease, purchase, or acquire by donation or otherwise, any property, immovable or movable, corporeal or incorporeal, from any person, firm, or corporation, including the state and its agencies and political subdivisions.

(2) In connection with the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, and/or repair of a youth center and the equipping thereof, the parish shall comply, or cause to be complied, with the applicable provisions of R.S. 38:2211 et seq., the public bid law; however, the lease or lease-purchase contract need not additionally be advertised and bid by the parish, and to that extent the parish shall be exempt from the provisions of Chapter 10 of Title 41 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.

(3) The purchase, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, and/or repair of a youth center and the equipping thereof by the lessor shall be subject to only those state and local sales and use taxes which the parish would have been subject to if such purchase, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, repair, and/or equipping had been contracted for directly by the parish. If the parish is subject to sales and use taxes upon a direct contract for such purchase, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, repair, and/or equipping by the parish, the lessor shall be so subject; however, in such cases the parish shall not additionally be subject to a sales and use tax on the lease payments to the lessor under a lease or lease-purchase contract.

(4) The obligation to make payments under a lease-purchase contract and the obligation to pay other charges incident to any such contract shall not constitute or give rise to an indebtedness within the meaning of any constitutional, statutory, or home rule charter debt limitation. If the payments received from a lease or lease-purchase contract are security for any notes, certificates, bonds, or other similar instruments, the portion of such payments representing interest shall be exempt from all taxation by the state or any political subdivision thereof.

B. The commission may:

(1) Enter into a lease or lease-purchase contract with any person, public or private, for the acquisition of a youth center with a lease term not to exceed thirty years upon such terms and conditions as it shall deem proper; however, such contract shall contain the following annual appropriation dependency clause:

"The continuation of this contract is contingent upon the continuation of an appropriation of funds by the governing authority to fulfill the requirements of the contract. If the governing authority fails to appropriate sufficient monies to provide for the continuation of the contract or if such appropriation is reduced by any means provided in the appropriations ordinance to prevent the total appropriations for the year from exceeding revenues for that year or for any other lawful purpose and the effect of such reduction is to provide insufficient monies for the continuation of the contract, the contract shall terminate on the date of the beginning of the first fiscal year for which funds are not appropriated."

(2) Enter into a participation agreement with another parish or other entity subleasing a portion of the center, provided that no such sublease shall relieve the sublessor of obligations under its lease, and providing for the care and maintenance of juveniles from that parish at the center.

(3) Generally do all things lawful to provide temporary custodial care, supervision, and education of juveniles.

(4) Authorize and approve, upon such terms as it may deem advisable, contracts of employment for a superintendent or administrator and other necessary personnel and contracts for legal, financial, engineering, and other professional services necessary or expedient for the conduct of its affairs pursuant to this Subpart.

(5) Adopt rules and regulations for the operations and maintenance of the center.

(6) Accept available federal, state, or other public funds or private funds allocated for the purpose of establishing, improving, operating, or maintaining the center.

(7) Perform any function and exercise any power necessary, requisite, or proper for the administration and management of its affairs pursuant to this Subpart.

(8) Cooperate with juvenile courts and other courts and public agencies within St. James Parish and participating parishes.

(9) Create pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 2 of Title 12 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, entities that are necessary or desirable in order to effect the issuance of notes, bonds, or certificates which will be secured by lease, lease-purchase contract, or participation agreement payments authorized by this Subpart.

Acts 1989, No. 19, §1, eff. June 13, 1989.