§572.1.  Board of Pardons; membership; domicile; session; quorum

A.(1)(a)  The Board of Pardons shall consist of five members, who shall be appointed by the governor to serve terms concurrent with the governor making the appointments, or until their successors are appointed and take office.

(b)  Beginning with appointments made to the board, or appointments to fill a vacancy on the board, which occur after August 15, 2010, at least one of the members shall be appointed from a list of names submitted by any victim's rights advocacy organization which is recognized as a nonprofit with the Internal Revenue Service, incorporated or organized in the state of Louisiana and in good standing, and does not engage in political activity, with each organization submitting a list of three names; however, no person nominated by any victim's rights advocacy organization shall be appointed to serve as a member of the board who has previously been confirmed by the Senate and has served as a member of the board.

(c)   Beginning with appointments made to the board, or appointments to fill a vacancy on the board, which occur after August 1, 2014, all members, except for the ex officio member, shall have not less than a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, and shall possess not less than five years actual experience in the field of penology, corrections, law enforcement, sociology, law, education, social work, medicine, psychology, psychiatry, or a combination thereof.  If a member does not have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, he shall have no less than seven years experience in a field listed in this Subparagraph.  The provisions of this Subparagraph shall not apply to any person serving as a member of the board on August 1, 2012.

(d)  All appointments shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate.  The governor shall designate the chairman of the board.

(2)  In addition to the five members appointed by the governor, an ex officio member shall serve on the board pursuant to Subsection G of this Section.

B.  The domicile of the board shall be in the city of Baton Rouge, and the board shall establish its office at its domicile, but may hold meetings at other places within the state.

C.  The board shall meet on regularly scheduled dates determined by it, and at such other times as the chairman may determine are necessary for the purpose of reviewing and taking action on applications for pardons pending before it and to transact such other business as it deems necessary.

D.  The board shall select a vice chairman from its membership and shall select and fix the salary of an executive secretary, who need not be a member of the board, and who shall serve at the pleasure of the board.  All meetings of the board shall be open to the public.

E.  Four members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and all actions of the board shall require the favorable vote of at least four members of the board.

F.  Each member of the board, except for the ex officio member, shall devote full time to the duties of his office, and shall be prohibited from holding any elective, appointive, or public employment; or from engaging in any private business or employment which is in conflict with his duties as a member of the board.

G.(1)  If a clemency applicant is incarcerated at the time of his application for pardon or commutation of sentence, the warden, or in his absence the deputy warden, of the correctional facility in which the offender is incarcerated shall be an ex officio member of the board.  When the offender is housed in a local correctional facility and the warden or deputy warden of that facility is not able to attend the offender's pardon hearing, the warden, or in his absence the deputy warden, of the state correctional facility with regional responsibility for the local correctional facility where the offender is housed may serve as an ex officio member.

(2)  The ex officio member shall not be a voting member and shall not be counted or permitted to be counted for purposes of the number of members necessary to take board action or the number of members necessary to establish a quorum.

Amended by Acts 1968, No. 190, §1; Acts 1975, No. 593, §1, eff. July 1, 1975; Acts 1979, No. 490, §1; Acts 1995, No. 1150, §1; Acts 1997, No. 828, §1; Acts 2008, No. 182, §1; Acts 2010, No. 961, §1; Acts 2011, No. 153, §1; Acts 2012, No. 714, §1; Acts 2014, No. 305, §1.