The term of office of each member shall be six years, except the terms of the first three members. These terms shall be two years, three years, and four years, respectively, to be designated at the discretion of the mayor; at the expiration of these respective terms, the governing body of the city shall appoint the successor of the member appointed by it, and, in a municipality having a population of two hundred fifty thousand or more, the governor shall appoint the successors of the members appointed by him.
Each member of the commission shall serve until his successor has been appointed and qualified. Before entering on his duties, a commissioner shall take the oath of office, which shall include a statement of his belief in and desire to support the principles of the merit system.
A member of a commission in existence on the effective date of the Revised Statutes, under Act 171 of 1940, as amended, shall continue to serve until the expiration of the term for which he was appointed.
Any vacancy occurring in the commission shall be filled for the remainder of the term in the same manner as the preceding commissioner was selected and appointed. Within thirty days after the receipt of notice from any person of the occurrence of a vacancy in the commission or of the expiration of the term of a member of the commission, the governing body of the city or the governor, as the case may be, shall appoint the successor. If the governing body of a city fails to appoint one original commissioner or fails to appoint his successor within the time and in the manner herein provided, the governor shall select and appoint the commissioner in a municipality of two hundred fifty thousand or more.
La. R.S. § 33:2396