§722. Commissioners: qualifications; salary and benefits; restrictions on employment; office space; supplies; equipment; employees

            A. The qualifications for the office of commissioner for the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court shall be the same as the qualifications for office for district court judges, however there shall be no requirement of prior residency within the district boundaries of the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court as a prerequisite to the office of commissioner.

            B. The salary of the commissioners shall be set by a majority of the elected judges of the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court and shall not exceed eighty-five percent of the salary of a district judge per annum. A commissioner may be a member of the Parochial Employees' Retirement System.

            C. A commissioner shall be a full-time employee of the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court. A commissioner shall not engage in any outside business, occupation, or employment that is inconsistent with the expeditious, proper, and impartial performance of the commissioner's duties as judicial officer, nor shall a commissioner engage in the practice of law. Any question regarding the conduct of any outside business, occupation, or employment by a commissioner shall be resolved by a majority of the elected judges of the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court. The provisions of this Subsection shall not abrogate or supersede any provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct applicable to attorneys or the Louisiana Code of Judicial Conduct applicable to judges.

            D. Office space for the commissioners may be provided by the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court, out of funds available to the court.

            E. Any employee of the offices of commissioner shall be hired only upon the prior approval of employment by a majority of the elected judges of the court pursuant to adopted rules or the specific order of the court and may be a member of the Parochial Employees' Retirement System.

            F. The salaries, related benefits, and expenses of the commissioners, and the salaries and related benefits of the employees of the commissioners, the costs of the equipment and supplies of the commissioners and their employees, and other costs of implementing this Section and R.S. 13:721 shall be paid from funds available to the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court.

            G. The sources of funding for the commissioners and their offices and employees shall include but shall not be limited to the following sources:

            (1) Subject to the other provisions of this Section, there is hereby imposed an additional fee on all persons convicted in the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court of felony, misdemeanor, and traffic offenses. The amount of the additional fees shall be set by the judges of the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court sitting en banc. The amount of the additional fee in felony cases shall not exceed one hundred dollars. The amount of the additional fee in misdemeanor and traffic cases shall not exceed seven dollars and fifty cents.

            (2) The additional fees created in this Section shall be collected by the sheriffs in the same manner as all other criminal court costs. All additional fees collected under this Section shall be remitted by the sheriffs to the governing authorities of the parishes of St. Tammany and Washington and deposited into special accounts. These funds are to be used by the parishes, only when authorized by court order from the chief judge of the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court, to defray the costs and expenses incurred pursuant to the provisions of this Section and other related judicial expenditures.

            (3) If any part of the provisions of this Section become dependent upon monies from the general fund of the respective parishes, the provisions of this Section and of R.S. 13:721 shall terminate if a parish governing authority fails to appropriate sufficient monies to provide for the continuation of the offices of commissioner for the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court.

            H. The commissioners shall use the title of commissioner in the performance of their duties under the provisions of this Section and R.S. 13:721.

            Acts 2002, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 28, §1, eff. Aug. 16, 2002; Acts 2022, No. 291, §1.