Today the New Orleans City Council holds a special meeting to vote on a resolution to appoint an interim clerk of court and call a special election for the position.
City officials say when Louisiana lawmakers eliminated the office of Clerk of Criminal District Court and transferred its duties to the Civil Court clerk's office, it in effect created a brand new office.
"But there is some question about whether that is a lawful way to fill that vacancy since it is one that needs to be filled by a democratic election," said Loyola School of Law Professor Dane Ciolino.
"Once that new position was created, the vacancy in that new position needs to be filled by the voters," he explained.
The proposed resolution would have voters filling that vacancy in November.
The council's special meeting starts at noon.
