CITY JUDGE SUES MAYOR OF BAKER

Demand For Drug Screen Leads To Dispute, Withheld Paycheck

A mayor's edict that new Baker City Judge Mark Plaisance submit to a drug
test before he gets his first paycheck has ignited a legal battle.

Plaisance sued Mayor Leroy Davis and members of a Davis' staff to force
them to release his paycheck.

"We're kind of scratching our heads over this one," John Olin Brown,
Plaisance's attorney, said Tuesday.

According to the lawsuit, Davis instructed the city treasurer to withhold
the check until Plaisance submits to a drug test, a requirement of Baker
municipal employees.

Davis said the policy of requiring pre-employment drug screens of all Baker
employees, including elected officials, began in 1995 under former Baker
Mayor Bobby Simpson.

Plaisance is the first to contest the policy, he said.

"The previous judge took the drug screen test," Davis said.

Plaisance argues in the lawsuit that under state law, elected officials are
not required to submit to drug-testing, and Davis has no authority to
withhold his paycheck.

Plaisance's lawsuit says Davis threatened to "reject (Plaisance's)
employment" if he refused to take to the test.

Brown said that, as an elected official, Plaisance is not an employee of
the city.

As a city judge, Plaisance answers to the Louisiana Supreme Court and the
Louisiana Judiciary Commission, not to the personnel rules of Baker, the
lawsuit says.

Plaisance's lawsuit also argues for the constitutional separation of powers
between branches of government.

"It's a matter of principle," Brown said.

Talks between the two sides have gone on for several days in an attempt to
forego the lawsuit, Brown said.

"We're sorry it had to come to this," he said.

The issue can be resolved if Davis agrees to pay Plaisance by Friday.

If not, Davis and Plaisance will go to court Tuesday to settle the matter
before state District Judge Tim Kelley.

Plaisance's lawsuit not only demands that Davis pay him, but it also
insists he be paid the right amount.

The lawsuit says a personnel form he received called for his pay to be set
at $15,792 a year.

The City Council raised that pay to $25,000 last summer.

Plaisance's lawsuit says Davis included the lower pay in his 2003 budget,
but the City Council overrode that budget and reinstated the $25,000 salary.

Brown said the Louisiana Constitution prohibits cutting the pay of sitting
judges during their terms in office. Plaisance's six-year term began this
month.

The council increased the pay on July 1, Davis said, adding that he thinks
the raise is too great.

"A $10,000 raise is a 67 percent increase," he said.

The city judge also gets about $33,000 from state government, Davis said.

Davis said the $48,000 paid to the previous city judge should be enough for
Plaisance for a job that requires only one or two days of work a week.

Plaisance declined comment Tuesday.