RÉSUMÉ DIGEST
HB 577 2015 Regular Session Jackson
Present law provides relative to annexation by municipalities. Authorizes the governing
body of any municipality other than the city of New Orleans to, by ordinance, enlarge the
boundaries of the municipality to include territory within which all of the land is owned by
a state agency, political subdivision, or public body. Provides that such an annexation
requires petition of the governing body of the agency, political subdivision, or public body
owning the land which is to be so included. Proposed law would have specified that only the
state agency, political subdivision, or public body that owns the land subject to such a
municipal annexation could have challenged or otherwise sought to invalidate an ordinance
to enlarge the boundaries of the municipality. Also would have required that proposed law
be given prospective application only.
(Proposed to add R.S. 33:180(D))
VETO MESSAGE: "House Bill No. 577 significantly limits the private property rights of
Louisiana residents by prohibiting them from challenging, as an interested third party, the
annexation of publicly owned property by a municipality. This bill applies to all
municipality annexations throughout the state, and is not limited to the specific municipality
for which the legislation was intended. If this bill were to become law, property owners who
do not own the public property to be annexed, but have a real and actual personal stake in the
outcome of the annexation, will no longer have the legal standing necessary to challenge that
annexation currently established under R.S. 33:174. Further, I have received veto requests
from legislators, concerned constituents and the Louisiana REALTORS.
For these reasons, I have vetoed House Bill No. 577 and hereby return it to the House of
Representatives."