§306. General powers and duties of board

A. Each board of commissioners may buy and hold, sell and transfer, or exchange property, make and execute contracts, and do and perform any and all acts necessary to insure the thorough and adequate protection of the lands of the district from damage by flood, and, in the case of levee and drainage boards, for the adequate drainage control of the district.

B. The board of commissioners shall adopt bylaws for its own government and for the government of its officers and employees. It shall devise and adopt rules and regulations for the carrying into effect and perfecting of a comprehensive levee system, having for its object the protection of the entire district from overflow. The board shall keep a record of all its proceedings.

C. The board shall examine all of the accounts and operations of the board and determine in what manner work shall be undertaken. The board shall also be invested with the control of all public levees in the district, with authority to require the Department of Transportation and Development or the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board, if the area is located within the coastal area, as defined in R.S. 49:214.2, and involves integrated coastal protection, as defined in R.S. 49:214.2, to lay off, furnish estimates, and perform all engineering work necessary to the location, construction, and repairs of levees, reserving, however, the right to the parishes in which the levees are located, also to provide funds and to construct and repair levees and exercise the powers now conferred to it by law. All works shall be advertised in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 38:2211 et seq., to be let out by means of sealed proposals to the lowest responsible bidder, reserving to the board authority to reject all bids. In case of emergency as defined in R.S. 38:2211(A), the board may make contracts for the building and repair of and guarding the levees without advertisement or sealed proposals. It shall use all means at its command to strengthen, repair, or construct any portion of the levees that may demand attention.

D. The board of commissioners shall cause to be kept an exact and accurate statement of the work performed by the authority of the board, giving in detail the work done, the levees built or repaired, and all other work done or authorized to be done by the board. The board shall keep an accurate account of the finances of the levee district and annually cause to be made a statement showing the exact, accurate, and true condition of the finances of the district, showing specially the receipts and resources thereof in detail, the amount and character of each amount of money or assets received, whether in money, bills of exchange, bills receivable, property, or other things of value. The account shall show in detail the expenditures made by authority of the board, the costs of levees built or repaired, salaries paid, property purchased, costs of work done, other incidental expenditures not herein mentioned, and any and all expenditures made by authority of the board. It shall show the balances on hand, all details of the various money, money fines, or things of value at the time of the statement. The statement shall be made in triplicate, one copy of which shall be forwarded to the governor, one copy shall be forwarded to the legislative auditor, and one copy shall be kept on record in the files and records of the board. A representative of the Department of Transportation and Development shall attend each regular meeting of the levee board and such other meetings if requested by the board, and to report to and advise it as to the location, construction, and repairs of all levees in the district. The Department of Transportation and Development shall be responsible for locating all levees, furnishing estimates and specifications, and performing all engineering work required of them by the levee board or levee and drainage board.

E. The provisions of this Section shall apply to all boards of commissioners established under this Chapter, except for provisions specifically applicable to a particular board.

Acts 1985, No. 785, §1, eff. July 22, 1985; Acts 1999, No. 731, §1, eff. July 1, 1999; Acts 2012, No. 601, §1, eff. June 7, 2012; Acts 2012, No. 753, §5; Acts 2016, No. 430, §4.