On the ballot November 3, 2026 · Effective January 1, 2029
Seventy-seven years ago, they locked Baton Rouge into a government that wasn't its own. It's time to turn the key.
One city. One voice. One vote that finally counts for itself.
How we got here
The Metropolitan Council was not handed down from God. It was built — by specific people, in a specific era, for specific reasons. And the reasons were not good.
Before Baton Rouge ever consolidated, Zachary left. Incorporated as its own city on August 2, 1889, with its own mayor, its own council, and its own tax base. The pattern that would define the next hundred and thirty-five years was already set in the first step: a piece of East Baton Rouge Parish could govern itself if it wanted to, keep whatever parish-wide services it needed, and never send a dime back. Zachary would eventually add its own school district in 2003, doubling the walkout. It has never paid a general fund dollar toward the parish offices that serve its residents.
Three years before the Plan of Government was even drafted, Baker incorporated as a village. When Baton Rouge consolidated in 1947, Baker was already gone — and the charter drafters carved it out. Baker graduated to town status in 1952 and city status in 1962, building its own municipal government on top of a walkout the parish had already ratified. Same pattern as Zachary: own mayor, own council, every parish-wide service on the parish's dime, nothing contributed back.
The voters of East Baton Rouge Parish approved the original Plan of Government — the first home-rule charter in Louisiana history — folding the City and Parish into a single consolidated framework. It took effect January 1, 1949. This was four years before Brown v. Board of Education. Seventeen years before the Voting Rights Act. In an era when segregationists across the South were watching the Black population of American cities rise and scrambling for ways to keep political power concentrated in white hands, consolidation was a tool of choice. Baton Rouge was the first in Louisiana to adopt it. It was not the last. And the men who drafted it did not draft it by accident. Zachary was already out. Baker was already out. Consolidation was never a merger of the whole parish. It was a merger of what was left.
Thirty-three years after the original consolidation, voters approved the amendment that created the Metropolitan Council as it exists today — twelve members, all sitting together, voting on city matters and parish matters on the same night with the same twelve votes. The 1949 consolidation had kept a separate City Council and Parish Council. The 1982 amendment abolished them both and replaced them with a single body that has governed the city of Baton Rouge, without Baton Rouge having its own council, for forty-four years.
Sixty-one years after Baker, the third walkout. The city of Central incorporated as a separate municipality, pulling its tax base and its own government out of the consolidated structure. It kept the benefits of parish-wide services — courts, sheriff, coroner, prison — and stopped contributing most of its own tax revenue to those services. Central added its own school district too, following the Zachary model. The precedent was now codified three times over: inside East Baton Rouge Parish, if you could incorporate your own city, you could have your cake and eat it too. In 2016, a Central candidate took 48.2% of the vote for Mayor-President — a near-miss for the job of running a city that Central had walked out of eleven years earlier.
A federal judge ruled that the Metro Council violated the First Amendment rights of Baton Rouge residents when it had Black attendees forcibly removed from a 2017 public hearing for bringing up the killing of Alton Sterling. The room could not even tolerate its own constituents speaking the name of a man killed by its own police force.
The 2020 Census showed what everyone already knew: Black residents are now a plurality in East Baton Rouge Parish — 46% of the population versus 42% white. The population trend over the preceding decade: Black population up 5%, white population down 9%. The Metro Council voted 7 to 5 along racial and partisan lines to keep a map that packs 68.5% of the parish's Black registered voters into five districts so that the remaining seven stay white. Council member Cleve Dunn Jr. called it "the modern manifestation of Jim Crow policies and systemic racism of the past."
In June 2024, five Black Metro Council members — Chauna Banks, Lamont Cole, Carolyn Coleman, Cleve Dunn Jr., and Darryl Hurst — along with former NAACP Baton Rouge president Eugene Collins and former Zachary council member Lael Montgomery, filed a federal Voting Rights Act lawsuit against the 7–5 map. Mayor-President Broome endorsed the lawsuit from the podium. The city's own representation on the council was now a matter of federal court record.
Nineteen years after Central, the biggest walkout yet. The Louisiana Supreme Court cleared the way for the City of St. George to incorporate — Louisiana's fifth-largest city, carved out of the southeast parish, taking a 2% sales tax and roughly $48 million in annual revenue with it. Same playbook as the three before it: own mayor, own council, every parish service kept, nothing contributed back. St. George's own mayor, Dustin Yates, said it plainly on the record: "This isn't a St. George problem. It's a parish problem." He was right. The problem wasn't St. George. It was the pattern.
The fourth walkout finally forced the arithmetic into the open. The city-parish lost approximately $48 million in annual sales tax revenue to St. George. Departments were ordered to prepare for cuts of 10% to 20%. The Baton Rouge Police Department — already 100 officers short of its authorized strength — took a 9% cut, about $7 million. The Fire Department took 5%, about $1.7 million. The mayor's office started asking the East Baton Rouge Parish Library to give up part of its dedicated millage to cover police. St. George's first budget: $58 million in revenue, $44 million in expenses. Contribution to parish-wide constitutional offices — the DA, the courts, the coroner, the prison that serves St. George residents — zero dollars. Same as Baker. Same as Central. Same as Zachary. Four walkouts, one bill, and only Baton Rouge left to pay it.
Where Baton Rouge does not have a majority of its own government
East Baton Rouge Parish is 46% Black and 42% white. The Metro Council is 58% white and 42% Black. Baton Rouge — the majority-Black city at the center of the parish — has no council of its own, and no majority on the consolidated one.
The underrepresentation of Black voters on the Metro Council is the modern manifestation of Jim Crow policies and systemic racism of the past. — Council member Cleve Dunn Jr., 2022 redistricting vote
Every single Metro Council member represents a district that includes territory outside the City of Baton Rouge. Every one of them has constituents in unincorporated parts of the parish — or in Baker, or Zachary, or Central. Every budget decision about the city of Baton Rouge — every street, every police station, every zoning variance, every line item — is made by twelve people, seven of whom represent districts where a majority of voters do not live in the city they are voting on.
The City of Baton Rouge is the only city in East Baton Rouge Parish that does not have its own mayor and its own council. Baker has one. Zachary has one. Central has one. St. George has one. Only Baton Rouge — the largest city, the majority-Black city, the city that pays the most — does not.
Who pays what
Under the current consolidated structure, Baton Rouge's tax base funds services that flow parish-wide. A purchase made in Mid-City funds the Sheriff who polices Zachary. A property tax paid in Scotlandville funds the District Attorney who prosecutes in Central. A sales tax collected downtown flows into the general fund that pays the parish prison that holds people from St. George.
Baker, Central, Zachary, and St. George pay nothing from their general funds toward those parish-wide constitutional offices. Not one dollar. The East Baton Rouge DA, the 19th Judicial District Court, the Coroner, the Parish Prison — all of them prosecute, hear, bury, and incarcerate residents of those four cities. None of those four cities contributes a general fund dollar to keep those offices running.
As the once-consolidated city government increasingly splinters into individual cities, the parish's other cities aren't paying their fair share. The coroner, courts, district attorney and parish prison all serve the whole parish, yet Baker, Central, St. George and Zachary don't contribute any of their tax revenue to support them. — The Advocate, November 2025
The parish, piece by piece
For a hundred and thirty-five years, four cities have walked out of Baton Rouge — one by one, decade by decade, taking their tax base, keeping every parish-wide service, and holding on to their vote in Baton Rouge's elections. Each one had its way. Each one got what it wanted. None of them gave anything back.
This is not rhetoric. Three recent Mayor-Presidents resided in Baker or Zachary at the time of their elections, in the phrasing of the public record. Men who did not live in the city they governed won the right to govern it because their suburban neighbors — the ones in the cities that had already walked out — outnumbered Baton Rouge voters on a parish-wide ballot and put them there. In 2016, Mack "Bodi" White of Central took 48.2% of the vote for Mayor-President. A near-miss by a candidate from a city that had walked out of Baton Rouge eleven years earlier. Baton Rouge has been governed, more than once, by people who do not pay its bills and do not live on its streets.
Zachary walked out and Baton Rouge absorbed the loss. Baker walked out and Baton Rouge absorbed the loss. Central walked out and Baton Rouge absorbed the loss. St. George walked out and Baton Rouge absorbed the loss. Every walkout followed the same script: peel off, keep the services, keep the vote, write nothing back. Each time, the suburb got exactly what it asked for. Each time, Baton Rouge paid the bill for both sides of the deal.
Four cities have cut their own governments out of Baton Rouge's. Zero of them have let Baton Rouge cut its own government out of theirs. The consolidation was sold as a marriage. It has become a one-way arrangement: Baton Rouge pays the rent, four suburbs have the keys, and everyone gets to vote on who runs the household except the household itself.
A city whose mayor can be picked by people who walked out of it, and whose budget is written by a council where it does not have a majority, is not a city with a government. It is a city with a landlord.
And while they're voting on our mayor
Every one of these cities receives parish-wide services — DA, courts, coroner, prison, sheriff. None of them contribute a single general fund dollar to the parish-wide offices that serve their residents. The bill goes to Baton Rouge.
This is not an accusation. It is an admission — made in public, on the record, by the Mayor of St. George himself. It is the structural outcome of a consolidated government that never forced those cities to pay their way, because Baton Rouge was always there to absorb the cost.
It is time for that to end. It is time for Baton Rouge to stop subsidizing cities that do not reciprocate. It is time for Central and St. George to get out of Baton Rouge's governance, out of Baton Rouge's budget, and onto their own bill. The divorce is overdue. Let us make it mutual.
What the amendment does
This is not rebellion. This is repair. The Plan of Government, at Section 11.09, gives the voters of East Baton Rouge Parish the express power to amend their own home rule charter by petition. The petition is drafted. The legal machinery works. All that remains is the will to use it.
The Metropolitan Council is dissolved on December 31, 2028. In its place:
Baker, Zachary, Central, and St. George keep their mayors and their councils. The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, the Sheriff, the District Attorney, the Assessor, the Clerk of Court, the Coroner, and the City Court of Baton Rouge are all unchanged. Every civil service protection is preserved. Every retirement benefit is preserved.
What changes is that for the first time since 1949, the City of Baton Rouge has a government that is only the city's.
How it works
Louisiana law requires every petition signature to be handwritten on paper and witnessed in person by a circulator who is a qualified EBR voter. You cannot sign online. Here is the real-world workflow.
Grab the one-page signature sheet (PDF) from this site. Print double-sided: signatures on the front, circulator affidavit on the back. Print as many as you plan to circulate.
Take the sheet to friends, neighbors, church, the barbershop, the tailgate, block parties. Each signer must be a qualified EBR voter and must complete every field on their line (signature, printed name, date, year of birth, registration address).
Before mailing the sheet in, the circulator must swear the affidavit on the back before a notary. Your bank, your UPS Store, most law offices, and many EBR public libraries have a notary on staff.
Send completed, notarized sheets to the centralized drop-off address [ADDRESS TBD]. We maintain custody and handle filing.
When the threshold is reached, all sheets are filed together with the Council Administrator. §11.09 then requires the Metropolitan Council to call the election.
The amendment appears on the November 3, 2026 ballot alongside the statewide election. Simple majority wins. New government takes office January 1, 2029.
9,542 signatures is not a mountain. It is a ladder. And the Metropolitan Council, by its own charter, is required to call the election once we put the ladder at its foot.
Section 11.09 of the Plan of Government requires the Metropolitan Council to call a special election between 60 and 90 days after a sufficient petition is filed. If a state or congressional election falls in that window, the amendment can go on that ballot. The November 3, 2026 general election is our target — it maximizes turnout, keeps the cost low (no separate special election), and gives this amendment the visibility it needs. For that to happen, the petition must be filed with the Council Administrator between August 5 and September 4, 2026. Signatures must be collected before that. The countdown is now.
The petition itself
Two documents. The signature sheet is what you carry on a clipboard — one page, front and back, holds up to twelve signatures. The full petition is the seventeen-page legal instrument; make sure it is available to any signer who asks to read the full text before signing, which Louisiana law requires.
This is the form you actually circulate. Print double-sided. Front: 12 signature lines with the §18:3 fields. Back: circulator affidavit for notarization, signer instructions, return address.
Seventeen pages. The complete amendment text plus the legal basis. Keep a copy handy when circulating; the full text must be available to every signer on request. The signature sheet references this document.
Both documents together are the complete circulation packet.
Under Louisiana Revised Statutes §18:3, every signature line must include every one of the following. Anything less, and the Registrar of Voters will not count it.
If you are a qualified voter of East Baton Rouge Parish and you want to carry a sheet, print the signature sheet, read the short circulator instructions on the back, and start. Every sheet you turn in must be notarized with your circulator affidavit before it is mailed to the centralized drop-off address. If you have questions or want to coordinate a drive at a church, school, or community event, the drop-off address above accepts circulator inquiries.
Read the full text
Every word of what would change, every legal citation, every transition provision. Scroll through the full text below — or download the PDF above for printing.
PETITION TO AMEND THE PLAN OF GOVERNMENT
OF THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE AND THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE
Submitted Pursuant to Section 11.09 of the Plan of Government
TO THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL OF THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE AND THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE, AND TO THE COUNCIL ADMINISTRATOR:
The undersigned qualified electors of the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana, respectfully submit this petition pursuant to Section 11.09 of the Plan of Government of the Parish of East Baton Rouge and the City of Baton Rouge (the “Plan of Government”), and Article VI, Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. This petition proposes an amendment to the Plan of Government that, if approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting at a special election called for that purpose, shall dissolve the Metropolitan Council and separate the governing authority of the City of Baton Rouge from the governing authority of the Parish of East Baton Rouge, effective with the election cycle that produces officers assuming office on January 1, 2029.
This petition contains the full text of the proposed amendment, as required by Section 11.09. Upon filing with the Council Administrator, this petition shall operate to require the Metropolitan Council to call a special election not less than sixty (60) nor more than ninety (90) days following filing, or in connection with any state or congressional primary or general election occurring within that window, at which the qualified electors of East Baton Rouge Parish shall vote upon this proposed amendment.
Section 11.09 of the Plan of Government requires that a petition to amend be signed by “qualified voters of East Baton Rouge Parish in number equal to ten per cent of the number of votes cast for Sheriff at the last preceding election of Parish officers.” The last preceding election for Sheriff of East Baton Rouge Parish was the primary election held on October 14, 2023, at which Sheriff Sid J. Gautreaux III was returned to office without a general election.
The certified total of votes cast for Sheriff at the October 14, 2023 primary was 95,420 votes. The required signature threshold under Section 11.09 is therefore ten percent of that total, or 9,542 valid signatures. The number of signatures actually gathered and certified by the Registrar of Voters for East Baton Rouge Parish shall equal or exceed 9,542 to render this petition sufficient. The petitioners shall collect a reasonable margin above 9,542 to account for signatures that may not be certified by the Registrar.
Section 11.09 provides, in pertinent part, that “[a]mendments of this Plan of Government may be proposed . . . by a petition containing the full text of the proposed amendment signed by qualified voters of East Baton Rouge Parish in number equal to ten per cent of the number of votes cast for Sheriff at the last preceding election of Parish officers and filed in the office of the Council Administrator.” Upon the filing of a sufficient petition, the Metropolitan Council is required to call and hold a special election not less than sixty (60) nor more than ninety (90) days after filing, and upon approval by a majority of votes cast, the amendment becomes effective on the thirtieth (30th) day following the promulgation of the result of the election unless another time is specified in the amendment.
Article VI, Section 5(A) of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 authorizes any local governmental subdivision to “draft, adopt, or amend a home rule charter in accordance with this Section,” subject to the limitation that the charter “shall provide the structure and organization, powers, and functions of the government of the local governmental subdivision, which may include the exercise of any power and performance of any function necessary, requisite, or proper for the management of its affairs, not denied by general law or inconsistent with this constitution.” The Plan of Government is such a home rule charter, and this amendment is drafted within the scope of constitutional authority vested in the people of East Baton Rouge Parish.
Article VI, Section 5(E) provides that no home rule charter or amendment “shall contain any provision affecting a school board or the offices of district attorney, sheriff, assessor, clerk of a district court, or coroner, which is inconsistent with this constitution or law.” This amendment preserves all such offices and institutions and does not affect the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, the District Attorney for the Nineteenth Judicial District, the Sheriff of East Baton Rouge Parish, the Assessor, the Clerk of Court, or the Coroner.
This amendment is drafted to be comprehensive and self-executing. Section 11.10 of the Plan of Government provides that “[i]f any provision of the Plan of Government or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of this Plan of Government and the applicability of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.” The provisions of this amendment are likewise severable, and the invalidity of any portion shall not affect the validity of the remainder, provided that in the event any provision essential to the operation of either the City Council and Mayor or the Parish Council is held invalid, the Transition Authority established herein shall promulgate interim rules consistent with the Plan of Government and general law until a corrective amendment is adopted.
TEXT OF THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT
In accordance with Section 11.09 of the Plan of Government, the full text of the proposed amendment is set forth below. Text of the Plan of Government proposed for repeal is indicated by [BRACKETED AND STRICKEN]; newly enacted text is indicated by bold face. All existing section numbers, unless expressly renumbered herein, shall retain their current numeric designations, with the understanding that references to the “Metropolitan Council” or “Mayor-President” shall be construed as set forth in Article IV of this amendment (Uniform Rules of Construction).
This amendment shall be known as the “City-Parish Separation Amendment of 2028” or, in the alternative, “The Our City, Our Voice Amendment.”
This amendment, if approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting at the special election called hereunder, shall become effective on the thirtieth (30th) day following the promulgation of the result of the election for all transitional and preparatory purposes, including redistricting, organization of the Transition Authority, departmental reclassification, and preparation of fiscal year 2029 budgets. The structural provisions of this amendment relating to the composition and powers of the City Council, the Mayor, and the Parish Council shall take full operational effect on January 1, 2029, for officers elected at the regularly scheduled election held in the fall of 2028 and qualifying under the election schedule established by the Louisiana Secretary of State for that cycle.
The purpose of this amendment is to separate the consolidated governing authority created by Section 2.01 of the Plan of Government into two distinct governing bodies—a City Council and Mayor for the City of Baton Rouge, and a Parish Council for the Parish of East Baton Rouge—in order to align municipal decision-making with the residents of the City of Baton Rouge, align parishwide decision-making with the residents of the Parish of East Baton Rouge as a whole, and provide for transparent and separate budgeting, accountability, and representation. This amendment shall not alter, diminish, or otherwise affect the existence, powers, or boundaries of the Cities of Baker, Zachary, Central, or St. George, each of which shall continue as independent incorporated municipalities, nor shall it affect the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, the Sheriff, the District Attorney, the Assessor, the Clerk of Court, the Coroner, the City Court of Baton Rouge, the Nineteenth Judicial District Court, the City Constable, or the Justices of the Peace.
Section 1.02 of the Plan of Government is amended so that all references therein to the “Metropolitan Council” as the governing body of the Parish of East Baton Rouge shall be deleted and replaced by the term “Parish Council,” with the effect that East Baton Rouge Parish shall continue to be a political subdivision of the State of Louisiana governed by the Parish Council as established in Article V below.
Section 1.03 of the Plan of Government is amended so that all references therein to the “Metropolitan Council” as the governing body of the City of Baton Rouge shall be deleted and replaced by the term “City Council.” The City of Baton Rouge shall continue to exist as a political subdivision and body corporate, with boundaries as determined under existing law, governed by the City Council and Mayor as established in Article IV below. The provisions of Section 1.03 defining the boundaries of the City of Baton Rouge (the “urban area”) are unchanged.
Section 1.05 and any other provisions of Chapter 1 recognizing the independent existence of the Cities of Baker, Zachary, and Central are unchanged. The City of St. George, to the extent recognized under Louisiana law, shall likewise continue as an independent incorporated municipality, unaffected by this amendment.
Sections 2.01, 2.02, 2.03, 2.04, 2.05, 2.06, 2.07, 2.08, 2.09, 2.11, 2.12, 2.13, 2.14, 2.15, and 2.16 of the Plan of Government are repealed in their entirety and replaced by the provisions set forth in Articles IV and V of this amendment. Sections 2.10, 2.17, and 2.18 (pecuniary-interest recusal, uniform board and commission terms, and term limits for boards and commissions) shall remain in effect, with references to the “Metropolitan Council” replaced as provided in Article VIII below.
The governing authority of the City of Baton Rouge shall be the City Council and the Mayor. All powers, functions, and duties formerly vested in the Metropolitan Council with respect to the City of Baton Rouge are hereby transferred to and vested in the City Council. All powers, functions, and duties formerly vested in the Mayor-President with respect to the City of Baton Rouge are hereby transferred to and vested in the Mayor.
The City Council shall consist of seven (7) members, each elected from a single-member district lying wholly within the corporate limits of the City of Baton Rouge. Each member shall be a qualified voter of the City of Baton Rouge and of the district from which elected, and shall remain a qualified voter and resident of the district during the member’s term of office. A member who ceases to possess these qualifications, as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, shall have his or her office declared vacant.
Members of the City Council shall be elected for terms of four (4) years, commencing at 12:00 noon on the first day of January following election. No person shall be elected to serve more than three (3) consecutive full terms on the City Council; service during a term that commenced on or after January 1, 2029 shall be counted for purposes of this limit.
The chief executive officer of the City of Baton Rouge shall be the Mayor, elected at large by the qualified voters of the City of Baton Rouge for a term of four (4) years, commencing at 12:00 noon on the first day of January following election. The Mayor shall be a qualified voter of the City of Baton Rouge and shall remain a resident of the City during the Mayor’s term of office. No person shall be elected Mayor for more than three (3) consecutive full terms; service during a term that commenced on or after January 1, 2029 shall be counted for purposes of this limit. The Mayor shall possess all executive powers, duties, and prerogatives vested in the Mayor-President by Chapter 4 of the Plan of Government with respect to the City of Baton Rouge, including the power of veto over ordinances of the City Council as set forth in Article VI below.
No member of the City Council and no person holding the office of Mayor shall, during his or her term, hold any other office of profit under the United States, the State of Louisiana, or any political subdivision thereof, except that of notary public or an office in the National Guard or the military or Naval Reserve of the United States. No such member or officer shall, during the term for which elected and for two (2) years thereafter, be appointed to any office of profit under the Parish of East Baton Rouge or the City of Baton Rouge, or any unit of local government therein.
The compensation of each member of the City Council shall be set by ordinance of the City Council, but shall not exceed twenty percent (20%) above or be reduced below the compensation fixed for members of the Metropolitan Council as of December 31, 2028, provided that any change in compensation shall not take effect during the term in which it is adopted. The compensation of the Mayor shall be set by ordinance of the City Council and shall not be decreased during the Mayor’s term of office.
A vacancy on the City Council or in the office of Mayor shall be filled in the same manner as vacancies were filled under Sections 2.06, 4.05, and 4.06 of the Plan of Government as of December 31, 2028, substituting “City Council” for “Metropolitan Council” and “Mayor” for “Mayor-President” throughout, until the City Council enacts by ordinance procedures expressly governing such vacancies.
On the second day of January 2029, and on the second day of January of every fourth year thereafter (or if such date falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, then on the succeeding business day), the newly elected City Council shall meet at 11:00 a.m. at such place as may be designated by the Council, take the oath of office before a judge of a court of record, and elect from its own membership a President Pro Tempore to serve for a term of four (4) years. The President Pro Tempore shall preside over meetings of the City Council and perform such other duties as the Council may prescribe, and shall exercise the executive powers of the Mayor only in the event of a vacancy in the office of Mayor and then only until a successor Mayor is elected or appointed pursuant to Section 7 above.
Four (4) members of the City Council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Unless otherwise provided in the Plan of Government, no ordinance, resolution, motion, or vote shall be adopted, and no appointment or removal made, unless it receives the affirmative votes of at least four (4) members of the City Council. All voting shall be by roll call, with yeas and nays recorded, and all meetings shall be open to the public as required by the Louisiana Open Meetings Law. Any ordinance designated as an emergency ordinance shall require the affirmative votes of at least five (5) members of the City Council. The provisions of Section 2.09 (second paragraph) of the Plan of Government regarding public notice of board and commission appointments shall apply to the City Council with respect to its appointing authority.
The City Council shall adopt rules of procedure not inconsistent with the Plan of Government. The procedure for introducing and passing ordinances and resolutions, including the six-day waiting period between introduction and final passage, the publication requirements in the official journal, and the definition and limits on emergency ordinances, shall be governed by provisions substantively identical to those set forth in Section 2.12 of the Plan of Government as of December 31, 2028, with the substitution of “City Council” for “Metropolitan Council” and “Mayor” for “Mayor-President,” and with the emergency ordinance threshold of five (5) affirmative votes as set in Section 9 above.
The City Council shall appoint a Council Administrator and a Council Budget Officer, each with duties substantively identical to those set forth in Sections 2.08 and 2.16 of the Plan of Government as of December 31, 2028, except that such officers shall serve only the City Council and the cost of their offices shall be borne by the City budget. The City Council and the Parish Council may, by intergovernmental agreement, jointly retain a single Council Administrator, Council Budget Officer, or other administrative staff, with costs apportioned by agreement.
The City Council shall possess the power to investigate the official conduct of any department, office, or agency under its jurisdiction, and to remove officers and employees appointed by it, with the same due-process protections and procedural requirements as set forth in Sections 2.13 and 2.14 of the Plan of Government as of December 31, 2028, applied exclusively to the City of Baton Rouge.
The governing authority of the Parish of East Baton Rouge shall be the Parish Council. All powers, functions, and duties formerly vested in the Metropolitan Council with respect to the Parish of East Baton Rouge are hereby transferred to and vested in the Parish Council. The Parish Council shall also constitute the governing body of any district heretofore or hereafter created within the Parish of East Baton Rouge that, under applicable general or special law, would be governed by the governing body of the Parish, except to the extent such districts are governed jointly by the City Council and Parish Council pursuant to Article IX below.
The Parish Council shall consist of seven (7) members, each elected from a single-member district drawn throughout the whole of the Parish of East Baton Rouge. The Parish Council districts shall include all territory within the Parish, including the territory of the Cities of Baton Rouge, Baker, Zachary, Central, and St. George. Each member shall be a qualified voter of the Parish of East Baton Rouge and of the district from which elected, and shall remain a qualified voter and resident of the district during the member’s term of office. A member who ceases to possess these qualifications, as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, shall have his or her office declared vacant.
Members of the Parish Council shall be elected for terms of four (4) years, commencing at 12:00 noon on the first day of January following election. No person shall be elected to serve more than three (3) consecutive full terms on the Parish Council; service during a term that commenced on or after January 1, 2029 shall be counted for purposes of this limit.
On the second day of January 2029, and on the second day of January of every fourth year thereafter (or if such date falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, then on the succeeding business day), the newly elected Parish Council shall meet at 11:00 a.m., take the oath of office before a judge of a court of record, and elect from its own membership a Parish Council President to serve for a term of two (2) years. The Parish Council President shall preside over meetings of the Parish Council, serve as the ceremonial head of the Parish, and perform such other duties as the Council may prescribe.
The Parish Council shall, by majority vote, appoint a Parish Administrator who shall serve at the pleasure of the Parish Council, manage the day-to-day operations of Parish government, implement policies adopted by the Council, supervise Parish departments and employees, and exercise such other executive powers as may be delegated by ordinance. The Parish Administrator shall not be a member of the Parish Council. The compensation, qualifications, and detailed powers of the Parish Administrator shall be fixed by ordinance adopted by the Parish Council.
The provisions of Article IV, Sections 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 12 of this amendment shall apply to the Parish Council, substituting “Parish Council” for “City Council” and “Parish Administrator” for “Mayor” where the context requires, except that:
the compensation of members of the Parish Council shall be set by ordinance of the Parish Council, subject to the same limitations set forth in Article IV, Section 6;
the quorum and voting threshold of the Parish Council shall be four (4) members, and the emergency ordinance threshold shall be five (5) members; and
the executive authority in the Parish, including authority over Parish departments and employees, shall be vested in the Parish Administrator acting under the supervision of the Parish Council, subject to such reservation of authority as the Parish Council may prescribe by ordinance.
There shall be no veto over ordinances of the Parish Council. Ordinances of the Parish Council shall become effective upon adoption, except as provided by the ordinance itself or by general law.
The submission of ordinances of the City Council to the Mayor shall be governed by provisions substantively identical to those set forth in Section 2.15 of the Plan of Government as of December 31, 2028, applied exclusively within the City of Baton Rouge and with “City Council” substituted for “Metropolitan Council” and “Mayor” substituted for “Mayor-President.” The two-thirds override threshold of Section 2.15 shall be interpreted as five (5) of the seven (7) members of the City Council. The categories of ordinances exempt from the Mayor’s veto power, as set forth in Section 2.15(4), are retained without substantive change.
Chapter 4 of the Plan of Government is amended throughout so that all references to the “Mayor-President” are construed pursuant to Article VIII below, and so that the Mayor exercises executive authority exclusively within and on behalf of the City of Baton Rouge, while the Parish Administrator (under the supervision of the Parish Council) exercises executive authority within and on behalf of the Parish of East Baton Rouge. Where the existing Plan grants the Mayor-President authority over departments or employees serving both the City and the Parish, that authority shall be divided in accordance with the functional classification carried out by the Transition Authority under Article IX below.
Sections 4.05 (President Pro-Tempore of the Metropolitan Council) and 4.06 (Vacancy in the Office of the Mayor-President) are amended so that:
the President Pro Tempore of the City Council presides in the absence of the Mayor at meetings of the City Council and exercises the executive powers of the Mayor only in the event of a vacancy in the office of Mayor, consistent with Article IV, Section 8; and
the Parish Council President presides at meetings of the Parish Council, while executive authority in the event of a vacancy or disability of the Parish Administrator is exercised by the Parish Council.
Throughout the Plan of Government, and in every ordinance, resolution, contract, special act, judicial decision, administrative regulation, or other instrument in force as of December 31, 2028, the following uniform rules of construction shall apply:
References to the “Metropolitan Council” pertaining to the City of Baton Rouge or any matter exclusively within the corporate limits of the City of Baton Rouge shall be read to mean the City Council.
References to the “Metropolitan Council” pertaining to the Parish of East Baton Rouge or any parishwide matter shall be read to mean the Parish Council.
References to the “Metropolitan Council” pertaining to matters jointly affecting the City and Parish shall be read to require action by both the City Council and the Parish Council, each within its respective jurisdiction, or through an intergovernmental agreement entered pursuant to Article IX below.
References to the “Mayor-President” pertaining to the executive authority of the City of Baton Rouge shall be read to mean the Mayor, and references pertaining to executive authority within the Parish (outside of incorporated municipalities) shall be read to mean the Parish Administrator acting under the supervision of the Parish Council.
Where any provision of the Plan of Government, prior ordinance, or prior contract delegates authority, obligation, or right jointly to the governing authorities of the City and the Parish, such provision shall be construed as delegating that authority, obligation, or right separately to the City Council and the Parish Council within their respective jurisdictions, and jointly through intergovernmental agreement where joint action is required by general law or by the nature of the subject matter.
Where the Plan of Government or any prior ordinance fixes a numerical voting threshold tied to the former twelve-member composition of the Metropolitan Council, that threshold shall be converted to the proportionally equivalent whole number of the respective seven-member Council, rounded up, unless this amendment expressly sets a different threshold.
The Mayor-President in office as of the effective date of this amendment, and the members of the Metropolitan Council in office as of that date, shall continue to perform their duties under the Plan of Government as it existed prior to this amendment until 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 2028. Continuity of government during the transition period is guaranteed; nothing in this amendment shall be construed to create an interregnum or to invalidate any otherwise valid act of the Metropolitan Council or the Mayor-President during the transition period.
Within thirty (30) days after the promulgation of the results of the special election approving this amendment, the Metropolitan Council shall establish a Transition Authority. The Transition Authority shall consist of nine (9) members, as follows:
Three (3) members appointed by the Mayor-President, at least one of whom shall be a resident of the City of Baton Rouge and at least one of whom shall be a resident of an area of the Parish outside the corporate limits of the City of Baton Rouge;
Three (3) members appointed by majority vote of the Metropolitan Council, allocated on the same residency basis as subsection (a);
One (1) member appointed by the Mayor of the City of Baker, the Mayor of the City of Zachary, the Mayor of the City of Central, and any lawful governing authority of the City of St. George, acting jointly by majority vote among themselves, to represent the interests of the independent municipalities (provided that the absence of an appointment by any such municipality shall not prevent the Transition Authority from proceeding);
The Parish Attorney, ex officio and non-voting, as legal advisor; and
Two (2) members-at-large appointed by the Chief Judge of the Nineteenth Judicial District Court, at least one of whom shall have professional experience in municipal finance or public administration.
The Transition Authority shall:
Prepare and recommend to the Metropolitan Council, within ninety (90) days of its establishment, a redistricting plan for the City Council consisting of seven (7) single-member districts drawn wholly within the corporate limits of the City of Baton Rouge, and a redistricting plan for the Parish Council consisting of seven (7) single-member districts drawn throughout the whole of the Parish of East Baton Rouge. Both redistricting plans shall comply with the one-person, one-vote requirement of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. § 10301), Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 18, and all other applicable federal and state law. Districts shall be contiguous, reasonably compact, and based upon the most recent federal decennial census data, with such deviations from population equality as are consistent with governing jurisprudence.
Hold not fewer than four (4) public hearings on the proposed redistricting plans, distributed geographically across the Parish, prior to recommending the plans to the Metropolitan Council;
Classify all departments, divisions, boards, commissions, and offices of the consolidated City-Parish government in existence as of the effective date of this amendment as (i) City-only, (ii) Parish-only, or (iii) Joint, based on the functional nature of the services performed, and recommend such classification to the Metropolitan Council for adoption by ordinance;
Recommend an equitable initial apportionment of assets, liabilities, debts, contractual obligations, bond obligations, dedicated funds, grant funds, and revenue streams between the City of Baton Rouge and the Parish of East Baton Rouge, based on the functional classification of the departments and programs to which those assets and liabilities are attributable, and in a manner that does not impair the obligations of any outstanding bonds or contracts in violation of Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution or Article I, Section 23 of the Louisiana Constitution;
Recommend to the Metropolitan Council a model Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement (“ICA”) for continued joint operation of Joint departments, pursuant to the Louisiana Local Services Law (La. R.S. 33:1324 et seq.) and Article VII, Section 14(C) of the Louisiana Constitution, with costs apportioned proportionally based on services rendered, substantially in the manner adopted by the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government following its 2018 charter amendments;
Prepare initial fiscal year 2029 draft budgets for the City of Baton Rouge and for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, reflecting the functional classification and the apportionment recommended above; and
Perform such other functions as are necessary and proper for the orderly transition from the consolidated City-Parish government to separate City and Parish governments, consistent with this amendment and with general law.
The Metropolitan Council shall act on the redistricting plans recommended by the Transition Authority within sixty (60) days of receipt. Adoption shall be by ordinance, subject to the ordinance procedures of Section 2.12 of the Plan of Government as in effect during the transition period. If the Metropolitan Council fails to adopt redistricting plans within that time, the plans recommended by the Transition Authority shall be deemed adopted upon filing with the Council Administrator, subject to subsequent amendment by the newly elected City Council and Parish Council after January 1, 2029. Any challenge to a redistricting plan shall be brought in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court or in federal court of competent jurisdiction; no such challenge shall delay the qualification period or the election itself unless expressly ordered by a court.
All ordinances, resolutions, contracts, franchises, licenses, permits, and administrative actions of the Metropolitan Council and Mayor-President in effect on January 1, 2029, shall remain in force within the territory and subject matter to which they apply until amended or repealed by the appropriate successor governing body (City Council, Parish Council, or both acting jointly). No such action shall be invalidated solely by reason of the separation of the governing authority. All pending civil and administrative proceedings to which the consolidated City-Parish government is a party shall continue, with the appropriate successor entity substituted as a party of record.
All employees of the consolidated City-Parish government in classified or unclassified service as of December 31, 2028, shall retain their positions, civil service status, seniority, accrued benefits, retirement rights, and all other rights under Chapter 9 of the Plan of Government, La. R.S. 33:2471 et seq. (municipal fire and police civil service), the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System, and all other applicable laws. Reassignment from the consolidated government to either the City of Baton Rouge or the Parish of East Baton Rouge pursuant to the functional classification adopted under Section 3(c) above shall not constitute a break in service or a forfeiture of any benefit. This amendment shall not be construed to impair any contractual or statutory right of any employee or retiree.
Nothing in this amendment shall affect the powers, duties, boundaries, tax base, or governance of: (a) the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board; (b) the Sheriff of East Baton Rouge Parish, the District Attorney, the Assessor, the Clerk of Court, or the Coroner; (c) the City Court of Baton Rouge, the Nineteenth Judicial District Court, the City Constable, or the Justices of the Peace; (d) the Recreation and Park Commission (BREC) established under Section 11.02; (e) the Public Library for East Baton Rouge Parish under Section 11.03; (f) the Greater Baton Rouge Airport Authority or the Greater Baton Rouge Consolidated Sewerage District; (g) the Cities of Baker, Zachary, Central, or St. George as independent municipalities; or (h) any other special district or authority whose governance is fixed by general law. With respect to bodies whose governing boards were composed under the Plan of Government by reference to the “Metropolitan Council,” the appointing authority shall be exercised jointly or severally by the City Council and Parish Council in accordance with Article VIII above and with the model Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement adopted under Section 3(e).
Pursuant to Section 11.09 of the Plan of Government, upon the filing of this petition with the Council Administrator and upon certification by the Registrar of Voters that the petition bears valid signatures equal to or exceeding 9,542—being ten percent (10%) of the 95,420 votes cast for Sheriff at the October 14, 2023 primary election, the last preceding election of Parish officers—the Metropolitan Council shall call a special election to be held not less than sixty (60) nor more than ninety (90) days after the filing of this petition. If a state or congressional primary or general election falls within that period, the special election shall be held in connection with such primary or election, including specifically the general election of November 3, 2026.
The ballot proposition shall be substantially in the following form:
Shall the Plan of Government of the Parish of East Baton Rouge and the City of Baton Rouge be amended, effective for officers taking office on January 1, 2029, to separate the governing authority of the consolidated City-Parish government into (1) a City Council of seven (7) members and a Mayor for the City of Baton Rouge, and (2) a Parish Council of seven (7) members for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, with separate budgets, separate ordinance authority, and provision for continued shared services through intergovernmental agreements, all as more fully set forth in the petition filed under Section 11.09 of the Plan of Government?
If a majority of the votes cast on this proposition are in favor, the Metropolitan Council shall promulgate the result of the election, file a certified copy of the amendment with the Secretary of State, and cause a proces verbal of the election to be filed with the Clerk of Court of East Baton Rouge Parish, all in accordance with Section 11.09. The amendment shall take effect for the purposes specified in Article I, Section 2 above.
If any provision of this amendment or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision, and to this end the provisions of this amendment are severable. In the event that Article IV or Article V is held invalid in its entirety, the Transition Authority shall remain in existence for such additional time as is necessary to adopt interim procedures consistent with the Plan of Government and general law, and a corrective amendment may be submitted to the electors by the Metropolitan Council or by petition pursuant to Section 11.09.
All redistricting under this amendment shall comply fully with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (52 U.S.C. § 10301), the one-person, one-vote principle of the Fourteenth Amendment, and Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 18. The Transition Authority shall retain competent demographic and legal counsel to ensure compliance, and shall cause the recommended plans to be analyzed for racially polarized voting and for the existence or non-existence of a Section 2 violation under the three-part Gingles framework.
This amendment shall not be construed to impair the obligations of any contract, bond, or lease in violation of Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution or Article I, Section 23 of the Louisiana Constitution. To the extent any provision of this amendment would otherwise be construed to impair such obligations, the provision shall be given the narrowest possible construction consistent with the remaining provisions of the amendment, and the affected contract or bond obligation shall be satisfied by the successor government succeeding to the underlying function.
Nothing in this amendment shall be construed to diminish the home rule authority vested in the Parish of East Baton Rouge or the City of Baton Rouge under Article VI, Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. Both the City Council and the Parish Council shall possess the full scope of home rule authority recognized in the Plan of Government as it existed prior to this amendment, exercised within their respective jurisdictions.
Any action challenging the validity, construction, or application of this amendment shall be brought in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, or in such federal court as may have jurisdiction under the Voting Rights Act or the United States Constitution. No such action shall operate to enjoin the calling or holding of the special election required under Article X unless a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction has been issued by a court of competent jurisdiction upon a finding of likely success on the merits and irreparable harm. Proponents of this amendment shall have standing to intervene as of right in any such action under La. C.C.P. art. 1091.
SIGNATURES OF QUALIFIED VOTERS
We, the undersigned qualified voters of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, pursuant to Section 11.09 of the Plan of Government of the Parish of East Baton Rouge and the City of Baton Rouge, and pursuant to Article VI, Section 5 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, do hereby petition the Metropolitan Council of the Parish of East Baton Rouge and the City of Baton Rouge to call a special election for the submission of the foregoing proposed amendment to the qualified electors of East Baton Rouge Parish. Each of the undersigned has read or has had read to him or her the full text of the proposed amendment and signs this petition of his or her own free will.
Pursuant to Louisiana Revised Statutes § 18:3, each signer must personally provide the following on the petition signature line:
Handwritten signature (if the signer cannot write, the signer may make a mark, which must be witnessed by two persons who shall sign their names as witnesses in addition to the circulator);
Printed name of the signer;
Date of signature (month, day, and year);
Year of birth;
Address at which the signer is registered to vote (including municipal number, apartment or unit number, or rural route and box number);
Printed name of the circulator who witnessed the signature; and
Date the circulator witnessed and obtained the signature.
The Registrar of Voters of East Baton Rouge Parish will verify each signature by comparison to the voter registration record. Any signature line that omits a required element, or that the Registrar is unable to verify, will not be counted toward the ten percent (10%) threshold. Signers are urged to complete every field legibly.
Each sheet of signatures must be accompanied by an affidavit of the circulator attesting that:
The circulator is a qualified voter of East Baton Rouge Parish;
The circulator personally witnessed each signature on the sheet;
To the best of the circulator’s knowledge, each signer is a qualified voter of East Baton Rouge Parish;
The signatures were obtained between the circulator’s start and completion dates stated on the affidavit; and
The full text of the proposed amendment was available to, and read by or read to, each signer before signing.
The circulator affidavit must be sworn before a notary public or other officer authorized to administer oaths. A sample circulator affidavit is attached as Exhibit A (to be included in the final printed petition packet).
SIGNATURE SHEET
Petition Sheet ___ of ___ | Circulator Name: _______________________________ | Registered Voter Address: _______________________________
Line 1 | Signature: __________________________________ | Printed Name: ______________________________
Year of Birth: ________ | Date Signed: ____________ | Registration Address: ______________________________
Witness/Circulator Printed Name: ______________________________ | Date Witnessed: ____________
Line 2 | Signature: __________________________________ | Printed Name: ______________________________
Year of Birth: ________ | Date Signed: ____________ | Registration Address: ______________________________
Witness/Circulator Printed Name: ______________________________ | Date Witnessed: ____________
Line 3 | Signature: __________________________________ | Printed Name: ______________________________
Year of Birth: ________ | Date Signed: ____________ | Registration Address: ______________________________
Witness/Circulator Printed Name: ______________________________ | Date Witnessed: ____________
Line 4 | Signature: __________________________________ | Printed Name: ______________________________
Year of Birth: ________ | Date Signed: ____________ | Registration Address: ______________________________
Witness/Circulator Printed Name: ______________________________ | Date Witnessed: ____________
Line 5 | Signature: __________________________________ | Printed Name: ______________________________
Year of Birth: ________ | Date Signed: ____________ | Registration Address: ______________________________
Witness/Circulator Printed Name: ______________________________ | Date Witnessed: ____________
(Additional numbered signature lines shall follow in the printed petition. Each printed sheet shall contain no more than twenty-five (25) numbered signature lines to facilitate verification by the Registrar of Voters.)
Completed petition sheets, with circulator affidavits attached, shall be delivered for filing to:
Council Administrator–Treasurer
Metropolitan Council of the Parish of East Baton Rouge and the City of Baton Rouge
222 Saint Louis Street, Second Floor
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802
The Council Administrator shall, upon filing, transmit the petition sheets to the Registrar of Voters for East Baton Rouge Parish for signature verification. Upon certification of sufficiency by the Registrar, the Council Administrator shall place the matter on the agenda of the next regular meeting of the Metropolitan Council for the calling of a special election in accordance with Section 11.09.
This petition has been prepared under the direction of its proponents and their counsel. The legal citations and drafting choices contained herein represent the proponents’ good faith construction of the Plan of Government of the Parish of East Baton Rouge and the City of Baton Rouge, Article VI of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, and La. R.S. § 18:3. No representation is made that the courts of this State or of the United States will agree in every particular with the interpretations advanced herein. Each signer signs this petition of his or her own free will after being afforded the opportunity to read or to have read the full text of the proposed amendment.
— END OF PETITION —
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Questions, answered plainly
Section 11.09 requires the Metropolitan Council to call a special election between 60 and 90 days after a sufficient petition is filed, and allows it to be placed on a state/congressional ballot falling in that window. November 3, 2026 is that ballot. Filing between August 5 and September 4, 2026 puts the amendment on it. Anything later and we slide into 2027, which means a standalone special election at parish expense.
No. Louisiana Revised Statutes § 18:3 requires a handwritten, in-person signature witnessed by a qualified-voter circulator. Digital signatures, typed names, photocopies, and electronic forms are not valid and will not be counted by the Registrar. Every signature has to be on paper.
Any qualified voter of East Baton Rouge Parish. You don't need to be a lawyer, an elected official, or hold any special status. You just need to be registered to vote in EBR, willing to witness signatures, and willing to sign the affidavit on the back of each completed sheet before a notary.
No. Every one of them stays fully incorporated. Their mayors, councils, budgets, police, and boundaries do not change. The amendment expressly preserves their autonomy in Article I §3 and Article IX §7. What the amendment does not do is keep letting them use Baton Rouge's tax base without contributing to parish-wide services — but that is a conversation for the new Parish Council, not a change to their city status.
No. Louisiana Constitution Article VI §5(E) forbids home-rule charter amendments from affecting those offices. The amendment restates that protection explicitly. The Sheriff, District Attorney, Assessor, Clerk of Court, Coroner, and School Board are all untouched.
Every employee on December 31, 2028 keeps their position, civil service status, seniority, accrued benefits, and retirement rights. Article IX §6 of the amendment writes this into the charter itself. The Lafayette deconsolidation in 2018 used the same protections; nobody lost their job.
Seven works. It produces a clean four-member quorum and a five-vote emergency threshold. It matches the Lafayette City Council after their 2018 deconsolidation. Twelve was a number built for a bigger parish and bigger political spoils; seven is a working body, accountable to its district.
Not by operation of this amendment. No millage is changed. What changes is that city revenues fund city services and parish revenues fund parish services — no more commingling, no more hidden transfers. Any future tax change would still require a separate vote, just like today.
Yes. Lafayette Parish did it in 2018. Their voters passed charter amendments splitting the consolidated Lafayette City-Parish Council into a separate Lafayette City Council and a Lafayette Parish Council. It worked. The courts upheld it. The city and parish share services through intergovernmental agreements. The budgets are separate. The template exists.
Update your voter registration before you sign. The Registrar verifies the address you put on the petition against your registration record; if those don't match, your signature is invalid. Check your registration and update your address at voterportal.sos.la.gov.
Sources & references