Opinion
No. CA 84 1445.
February 14, 1985.
APPEAL FROM 22ND JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, PARISH OF ST. TAMMANY, STATE OF LOUISIANA, HONORABLE THOMAS W. TANNER, J.
Edward J. Cloos, III, New Orleans, for plaintiff, appellee.
Christopher Moody, Hammond, for defendant, appellant.
Before GROVER L. COVINGTON, C.J., and LOTTINGER and JOHN S. COVINGTON, JJ.
Plaintiff-appellee, Clarence Tillman, filed a motion to dismiss the defendant-appellant's suspensive appeal and convert same into a devolutive appeal because an appeal bond was not filed.
Plaintiff-appellee contends that La.R.S. 13:4581 is applicable to municipal boards and commissions only and not to the municipalities themselves.
La.R.S. 13:4581 provides: State, parish and municipal boards or commissions exercising public power and functions shall not be required to furnish any appeal bond; or any other bond whatsoever in any judicial proceedings instituted by or against them.
Though La.R.S. 13:4581 only refers to boards and commissions, this statute has been given a broad interpretation so as to include public bodies generally. See City of Lake Charles v. Lake Charles Ry., Light Waterworks Co., 144 La. 217, 80 So. 260 (1918); Lambert v. Labruyere, 151 So.2d 377 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1963).
Therefore, for the above and foregoing reasons, the defendant-appellant, City of Slidell, is exempt under La.R.S. 13:4581 from furnishing a suspensive appeal bond, and plaintiff-appellee's motion to dismiss this appeal is denied at plaintiff's costs.
DENIED