§1354. Parish custodian of voting machines; powers and duties; appointment of deputy custodians

A.(1) The clerk of the district court is ex officio parish custodian of voting machines in each parish, except that in any parish having a civil and a criminal district court the clerk of the criminal district court is ex officio parish custodian of voting machines. The parish custodian of each parish shall assist the secretary of state in the performance of his functions within the parish.

(2) The secretary of state may fix a monthly amount to be paid to parish custodians throughout the state as compensation for their duties in connection with elections. Any such amount fixed shall be in conformity with a uniform compensation schedule that the secretary of state shall adopt and that shall be based on the number of machines allocated to the various parishes. No parish custodian shall be paid more than two hundred dollars per month for such duties. Compensation so paid shall be paid monthly by the secretary of state from any funds appropriated to him for the purpose.

B. In addition to any other duties vested in him by law, the parish custodian shall:

(1) Provide for the instruction of election commissioners and the issuance of certificates of instruction as provided in R.S. 18:431 and 433.

(2) Notify the candidates in each election of the date and time when they may examine the voting machines as provided in R.S. 18:1373.

(3) Certify that the candidate counters, question counters, and public counters are set at zero on the machines, and certify to the number on the protective counter or device of the machines prior to the election, as provided in R.S. 18:1373.

(4) Supervise and have custody of the machines from the time they are taken from the warehouses or other central point for distribution to the polling places until the machines are turned over to the election commissioners, and from the time the machines are surrendered by the election commissioners until they are returned to the secretary of state at the place of storage.

(5) Be responsible for the trucking and delivery of the machines to the polling places. Where necessary, he shall provide guards for the machines in transit and at the polling places, and for this purpose, he may use local law enforcement officers. Upon the request of the parish custodian, the chief administrative officer of the police force shall furnish law enforcement officers for this purpose, and his failure to do so shall be punishable as provided in R.S. 18:1461.3.

(6) No later than the date of the election, notify the candidates of the date, hour, and place or places of the opening of the machines and supervise the opening of the machines.

(7) Receive from the registrar of voters the precinct register of every precinct and the computer voter lists or the duplicate poll lists, which shall be delivered by the contractors employed for the delivery of voting machines to the various precincts prior to the time fixed for opening the polls.

(8) Transmit the election results to the secretary of state in the manner directed by the secretary of state.

C. The parish custodian of voting machines may employ persons on a temporary basis, as needed, to assist him in the performance of his duties. He may appoint a deputy parish custodian of voting machines for any polling place he deems necessary. He may not appoint as deputy parish custodian of voting machines any person who has been convicted of a felony for which he has not been pardoned. The parish custodian shall not appoint a person who is a candidate or a member of a candidate's immediate family to serve in any polling location where the candidate's name appears on the ballot. The compensation of a deputy parish custodian shall be one hundred dollars for each election at which he serves. The deputy parish custodian shall deliver the key envelope and the supplemental list to the commissioner-in-charge at least one-half hour before the fixed time for the opening of the polls.

Acts 1976, No. 697, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978. Amended by Acts 1977, No. 523, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978; Amended by Acts 1979, No. 229, §1, eff. July 13, 1979; Acts 1981, No. 77, §1, eff. June 26, 1981; Acts 1983, No. 519, §1, eff. July 8, 1983; Acts 1983, No. 681, §1, eff. July 21, 1983; Acts 1985, No. 754, §1; Acts 1995, No. 300, §1, eff. June 15, 1995; Acts 1995, No. 310, §1; Acts 2001, No. 451, §6, eff. Jan. 12, 2004; Acts 2001, No. 1181, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2002; Acts 2002, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 130, §1, eff. April 23, 2002; Acts 2003, No. 1220, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2004; Acts 2004, No. 526, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2005; Acts 2016, No. 626, §1; Acts 2017, No. 176, §1, eff. June 14, 2017; Acts 2018, No. 584, §1, eff. May 28, 2018.