§254.6. Compensation of off-duty law enforcement officers; mayor's court, town of Welsh

A. Any sheriff, deputy sheriff, city or state police officer, or other law enforcement officer subpoenaed to testify in a case before the mayor's court of Welsh on a date or at a time when such an officer is off duty shall be paid the sum of twenty-five dollars per case per day by the clerk of the town of Welsh. The clerk of the town of Welsh shall transmit the fees due under this Section to the law enforcement officer's employer within thirty days after the officer qualifies for the fee. The employer shall be responsible for calculating and withholding all requisite deductions for taxes and for transferring or remitting all sums of employee withholdings to the appropriate taxing authorities, on behalf of the law enforcement officer and, within thirty days after receipt of the funds, for making payment of the appropriate net amount to the law enforcement officer. Compensation allowed law enforcement officers as witnesses in accordance with the provisions of this Section shall not be deemed to be in lieu of, or to constitute any portion of, the salary or compensation paid to such law enforcement officers for the performance of the duties of their jobs, nor shall the payment of such witness fees be taken into consideration in determining the salary, any salary increase, or any supplemental pay by the state to which any law enforcement officer is or becomes entitled.

B.(1) The maximum allowable fee to be received by an officer on any given day when he is summoned in an off-duty status shall be seventy-five dollars per day, no matter how many summonses he receives per specific day. This fee shall be in addition to any other compensation the law enforcement officer is eligible to receive from his or her employer.

(2)(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S. 33:441(A), witness fees provided by this Subsection shall be paid from costs of court which shall be assessed and collected in individual cases in which there is a plea of guilty or a conviction, in accordance with a schedule of costs adopted by the mayor's court. The costs so collected shall be placed in a special fund maintained and administered by the clerk of the town of Welsh, and from which the governing authority shall pay the witness fees provided for herein.

(b) All unexpended and unencumbered funds remaining in the witness fee account at the end of each calendar year may be transferred by the clerk to the town's general fund for the purpose of paying for infrastructure improvements and equipment.

(3) The mayor's court of the town of Welsh may adjust the schedule of costs from time to time as the need for funds may require.

C. As a condition precedent to receipt of the compensation provided in this Section, the law enforcement officer and his superior shall be required to certify to the clerk of the town of Welsh that the officer was summoned to testify on a day while he was off duty and did in fact appear in court as commanded in the subpoena.

Acts 1995, No. 775, §1; Acts 2003, No. 464, §1, eff. June 20, 2003; Acts 2005, No. 96, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2006.