La. Admin. Code tit. 52 § I-1102

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section I-1102 - Motions and Exceptions

A. Motions and exceptions may be made before, during, or after a public hearing.

B. Motions and exceptions made before or after the public hearing shall be filed with the appropriate panel of the Ethics Adjudicatory Board. Contradictory motions and exceptions shall be accompanied by a memorandum which shall set forth a concise statement of the grounds upon which the relief sought is based and the legal authority therefore.

C. A motion for summary judgment may be filed by either the respondent or the trial attorney(s)

C. Motion for Summary Judgment; Procedure before the Ethics Adjudicatory Board

1. A motion for summary judgment may be filed by the Louisiana Board of Ethics or the respondent without leave of the Ethics Adjudicatory Board and without an agreement by any other party to the use of summary judgment procedure, at any time before, during or after a public hearing on the merits.

2. The summary judgment procedure is designed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action. This procedure is favored and shall be construed to accomplish these ends.

3. Motions for summary judgment before the Ethics Adjudicatory Board shall be solely governed by the Louisiana Code of Governmental Ethics, the Rules for the Louisiana Board of Ethics and the Administrative Procedure Act.

4. After an opportunity for adequate discovery, a motion for summary judgment shall be granted if the motion, memorandum, and supporting documents show that there is no genuine issue as to a material fact and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

5. Documents that may be filed in support of or in opposition to the motion are:

a. pleadings;

b. memorandum;

c. affidavits;

d. depositions;

e. answers to interrogatories;

f. written stipulations;

g. admissions;

h. the Louisiana Board of Ethics investigative file;

i. all records and documents in the possession of the Louisiana Board of Ethics, which may be received in the form of copies or excerpts or by incorporation by reference, which shall be made available to the respondent prior to the hearing on the motion for summary judgement for examination; and

j. any other documents that give probative value commonly accepted by reasonably prudent men in the conduct of their affairs.

6. The Ethics Adjudicatory Board may exclude incompetent, irrelevant, or immaterial, and unduly repetitious evidence.

7. All objections to evidentiary offers may be made and shall be noted in the record. When an objection to an evidentiary offer is sustained by the Ethics Adjudicatory Board, the subject evidence shall be considered proffered into the record with or without a motion.

8. The burden of proof rests with the mover.

a. Nevertheless, if the mover will not bear the burden of proof at the public hearing on the merits on the issue before the Ethics Adjudicatory Board on motion for summary judgment, the movers burden on the motion does not require him to negate all essential elements of the adverse partys claim, action, or defense, but rather to point out to the court the absence of factual support for one or more elements essential to the adverse partys claim, action, or defense.

b. The burden is on the adverse party to produce factual support sufficient to establish the existence of a genuine issue of material fact or that the mover is not entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

9. The Ethics Adjudicatory Board may render summary judgment dispositive of a particular issue or defense in favor of one or more parties even though the granting of the summary judgment does not dispose of the entire case as to that party or parties.

10. The Ethics Adjudicatory Board may render or affirm summary judgment only as to those issues set forth in the motion under consideration by the board at that time.

11. Notice of the hearing on the Motion for Summary Judgment shall be transmitted to the Louisiana Board of Ethics through the secured electronic file transfer system and to the Respondent through his counsel of record, or if no counsel of record, to the Respondent, by either email or regular mail to last known email or mailing address provided by the Respondents counsel of record or Respondent to the Ethics Adjudicatory Board.

La. Admin. Code tit. 52, § I-1102

Promulgated by the Department of Civil Service, Board of Ethics, LR 23:1297 (October 1997), amended LR 39:1419 (June 2013), Amended LR 46314 (3/1/2020).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 42:1134(A).