A. Presence at polling places on election day. Law enforcement officers shall not be stationed at polling places on election day, but the commissioners or the clerk of court may summon law enforcement officers to assist them in preserving order, enforcing the election laws, or protecting election officials from interference with the performance of their duties. Law enforcement officers shall not be eligible to serve as commissioners-in-charge, commissioners, alternate commissioners, or watchers.

            B. Authority over law enforcement officers. A law enforcement officer at a polling place on election day is subject only to the orders of the commissioners at that polling place.

            C. Duty of law enforcement officers. A law enforcement officer at a polling place on election day shall assist the commissioners in preserving order, enforcing the election laws, and protecting election officials from interference with the performance of their duties. A law enforcement officer shall not enter a polling place on election day except to vote or to enforce the orders of the commissioners, and a law enforcement officer shall not interfere with the conduct of the election, the voters, or the election officials.

            D. The office of the district attorney in each parish in which an election where a candidate appears on the ballot is being conducted may remain open during the hours that polling places are required to be open for voting. However, the office of the district attorney in each parish in which a special bond or tax election is being held shall not remain open during the hours that polling places are required to be open for voting, unless requested by the governing authority.

            E. Notwithstanding any provision of this Section to the contrary, law enforcement officers may be stationed at polling places if in the regular course and scope of their duties such law enforcement officers provide security for the public building in which the polling place is located and for the personnel working in such building. Law enforcement officers stationed at a polling place pursuant to the provisions of this Subsection shall not interfere with the conduct of the election, the voters, or the election officials.

            F. Notwithstanding any provision of this Section to the contrary, law enforcement officers may enter the polling place when there is a reasonable belief there is an emergency and the commissioners are unable to summon the law enforcement officers.

            G. Law enforcement officers. For purposes of this Code, the term “law enforcement officer” shall mean any employee of the state, a municipality, a sheriff, or other public agency, whose permanent duties actually include the making of arrests, the performing of searches and seizures, or the execution of criminal warrants, and who is responsible for the prevention or detection of crime or for the enforcement of the penal, traffic, or highway laws of this state.

            Acts 1976, No. 697, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978. Amended by Acts 1978, No. 296, §1; Acts 1980, No. 506, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1981; Acts 1986, No. 853, §1; Acts 1988, No. 585, §1; Acts 1993, No. 418, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994; Acts 2009, No. 369, §1; Acts 2013, No. 189, §1; Acts 2020, No. 220, §1, eff. June 11, 2020.