§1456. Board of commissioners

            A.(1) If there are no participating parishes other than East Baton Rouge Parish, the system shall be governed by a board of commissioners comprised of ten members, with one member being a representative of the Amalgamated Transit Union.

            (2) The member from the Amalgamated Transit Union shall be the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1546 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, or his designee. The union representative shall be a retired union member and serve as a member of the board without voting privileges. The union representative shall not participate in any executive session involving personnel issues or collective bargaining agreements.

            B.(1) Effective January 1, 2009, and every three years thereafter, the board shall reapportion its membership to provide for representation of participating parishes as provided in this Subsection. Each such reapportionment shall be adopted by October first immediately prior to the January first on which it will become effective. For purposes of this Subsection, the year in which a reapportionment becomes effective shall be year one of a reapportionment cycle, the subsequent year shall be year two of a cycle, and the year in which a reapportionment is adopted shall be year three of a cycle.

            (2) Every participating parish shall appoint at least one member to the board.

            (3)(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Section, the total number of commissioners shall not exceed fifteen when a reapportionment, as provided for in Paragraphs (4) and (5) of this Subsection, is complete.

            (b) The nonvoting union representative shall not be counted in the total number of seats during a reapportionment period.

            (4) The membership on the board shall be reapportioned so that, to the extent possible, the ratio of the number of board members representing each participating parish to the total board membership shall be the same as the ratio of each parish's total financial contribution during year one and year two of the reapportionment cycle, as determined by the board, to the total of all participating parishes' contributions during those same two years. Contributions that were received during the two-year period but which were required by law, contract, or prior decision of the board to be paid prior to the two-year period shall not be considered.

            (5) At each reapportionment, the number of commissioners from East Baton Rouge Parish shall remain nine, and other participating parishes shall appoint a number of members based on financial contribution as provided in Paragraph (4) of this Subsection unless this would result in a total membership in excess of fifteen. The number of commissioners appointed from East Baton Rouge Parish, as any other participating parish, shall be reduced and shall also be calculated based on the proportion of financial contribution made to the system when such a reduction is necessary to prevent the total number of commissioners from exceeding fifteen, except as otherwise provided by this Section, at the time of a reapportionment.

            (6)(a) A parish which becomes a participating parish in year one or year two of a reapportionment cycle shall be immediately entitled to appoint one member of the board.

            (b) A parish which becomes a participating parish in year three of a reapportionment cycle shall not be considered in the reapportionment that year but shall be immediately entitled to appoint one member of the board.

            (c) Members appointed in accordance with Subparagraph (a) or (b) of this Paragraph may result in a total board membership in excess of fifteen until the subsequent reapportionment.

            (7) Whenever the number of board members representing a parish is to be reduced as a result of reapportionment, the reduction shall be accomplished by the termination of the board membership of the member or members representing that parish with the least time remaining in their terms. In the event a parish's members have equally short terms and a fewer number of board positions for that parish are to be eliminated, the governing authority of such parish shall determine which member's term or members' terms shall be eliminated.

            C.(1) The members from each participating parish, including East Baton Rouge Parish, shall be appointed by its governing authority in accordance with the procedures established by the governing authority. Except as provided in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, all terms shall end on the third December thirty-first following the appointment.

            (2) The initial members of the board of commissioners shall be the members serving as the board of directors of the Capital Area Transit System on the effective date of this Chapter. The three with the longest remaining terms on that board of directors shall serve an initial term lasting until December 31, 2008, the three with the shortest remaining terms shall serve an initial term lasting until December 31, 2006, and the other three shall serve an initial term lasting until December 31, 2007.

            D. Notwithstanding the expiration of their terms, members shall serve until their successors are appointed and qualified, unless removed for cause, which removal shall take immediate effect. The governing authority of the appointing parish shall appoint a temporary replacement to the board immediately upon removal or within fourteen days. However, if the member who is removed is the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1546 representative, then the international president of the Amalgamated Transit Union shall appoint the temporary replacement immediately or within fourteen days. The temporary appointee shall remain on the board until a successor is appointed and qualified. A temporary appointee is not eligible for reappointment for a term. All other appointed members are eligible for reappointment.

            E. A member may be removed only for cause determined by the governing body of the appointing parish. The board shall declare a member's office vacant upon the member's conviction of a felony or a plea of nolo contendere thereto. Further, a member shall be deemed to have abandoned his office upon failure to attend two of any three consecutive regularly scheduled meetings without an excuse approved by a resolution of the board at the next regular meeting, and a vacancy shall be deemed to exist in the member's office beginning at such time.

            Acts 2005, No. 463, §1, eff. Jan.1, 2006; Acts 2014, No. 584, §1, eff. June 9, 2014; Acts 2025, No. 391, §2, eff. June 20, 2025; Acts 2025, No. 487, §1.