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La. Rev. Stat. § 32:41 (2026)

Power of local municipal authorities; exception

✓ current as of May 2026
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SUBPART B. POWERS OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES

§41. Power of local municipal authorities; exception

           A. Except as otherwise provided by law, this Chapter shall not be deemed to prevent local municipal authorities, with respect to highways other than state maintained highways within their corporate limits, from adopting ordinances:

           (1) Regulating the standing or parking of vehicles;

           (2) Enforcing the provisions of this Chapter, regulations of the department and of the commissioner and local regulations adopted pursuant hereto, by means of police officers or by the use of traffic-control devices approved by the department;

           (3) Regulating or prohibiting processions or assemblages on the highways;

           (4) Designating particular highways as one-way highways, or through highways;

           (5) Designating no passing zones;

           (6) Designating routes for freight carrying vehicles;

           (7) Requiring the registration and licensing of bicycles, including the requirement of a registration fee;

           (8) Directing the flow of traffic by designating the places and direction in which turning movements may be made or prohibited;

           (9) Establishing speed limits and speed zones, provided that no speed shall be permitted which is in excess of the specific maximum speed limits established by this Chapter;

           (10) Restricting traffic on limited access highways, or, temporarily reducing the permissible weight of vehicles which may be operated thereon, on other highways, when, because of deterioration, rain, snow, other climatic conditions, or the making of repairs, the highway will be seriously damaged or destroyed unless the use of vehicles thereon is prohibited or permissible weight reduced;

           (11) Erecting stop signs at particularly dangerous railroad crossings;

           (12) Requiring pedestrians to comply strictly with the directions of any official traffic-control signal and prohibiting pedestrians from crossing any roadway within a business district or any designated highways except in a crosswalk;

           (13) Directing the installation of speed bumps.

           (14) Creating additional regulations controlling traffic upon nonstate maintained highways within their corporate limits under their general police power so long as such regulations do not modify, or conflict with, the provisions of this Chapter or regulations of the department and the commissioner adopted pursuant hereto.

           B. No ordinance or regulation enacted under Paragraph (A)(4), (5), (6) or (10) of this Section shall be effective until signs giving notice of such local traffic regulations are posted upon or at the entrances to the highway or part thereof affected, as may be most appropriate.

           C.(1) Local municipal authorities also may adopt ordinances regulating traffic on state maintained highways within their corporate limits, so long as such ordinances do not establish regulations different from, or in addition to, the provisions of this Chapter and the regulations of the department and the commissioner adopted pursuant thereto. In addition, local municipal authorities may adopt ordinances which supplement the provisions of this Chapter and regulations of the department and commissioner adopted pursuant thereto but only after such ordinances have been approved in writing by the department. However, the municipal ordinance may provide for such penalties as are consistent with the authority granted by the local municipal charter or state statute under which the municipal government operates and the penalties imposed need not necessarily be consistent with the penalties provided by R.S. 32:57.

           (2) Furthermore, local municipal authorities may adopt by reference, all or any of the provisions of this Chapter and/or regulations of the department and commissioner adopted pursuant hereto with respect to any highways within their corporate limits.

           D. Upon request of either the owner or the person in charge of the general operation and control of a parking area, local municipal authorities may adopt local ordinances to:

           (1) Order stop signs, yield signs, or other traffic control devices erected at specified entrance or exit locations to a parking area or at an intersection in the parking area.

           (2) Regulate traffic in the parking area, including regulation by means of traffic control signals.

           (3) Prohibit or regulate the turning of vehicles or specified types of vehicles at intersections or other designated locations in the parking area.

           (4) Regulate the crossing of a roadway in the parking area by pedestrians.

           (5) Designate a separate roadway, drive, or lane in the parking area for one-way traffic.

           (6) Prohibit, regulate, restrict, or limit the stopping, standing, or parking of vehicles in specified areas of the parking area.

           (7) Designate safety zones, loading zones, and other restricted areas in the parking area.

           (8) Provide for the removal and storage of vehicles parked or abandoned in the parking area during snowstorms, floods, fires, or other public emergencies, or found unattended in the parking area, if the vehicles constitute an obstruction to traffic or if stopping, standing, or parking is prohibited, and for the payment of reasonable charges for the removal and storage by the owner or the operator of the vehicle.

           (9) Adopt additional reasonable rules with respect to traffic and parking in a parking area as local conditions may require for the safety and convenience of the public or users of the parking area.

           E. When requested by the owner of a private road located within its corporate limits, a municipal governing authority may adopt ordinances regulating matters enumerated in Paragraphs (A)(2) and (9) of this Section on the private road. Any law enforcement agency with jurisdiction in the municipality may enforce compliance with an ordinance adopted pursuant to this Subsection.

           F. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this Section or any other law to the contrary, the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System may adopt a resolution to exercise exclusive jurisdiction, control, maintenance, or enforcement of traffic and parking regulations on any portion of a public road located within the boundaries of Grambling State University by designating that portion of the public road as a "university road" and posting appropriate signs on the road.

           Acts 1962, No. 310, §1. Amended by Acts 1963, No. 33, §1; Acts 1977, No. 113, §1, eff. June 22, 1977; Acts 1978, No. 433, §1; Acts 2007, No. 87, §1, eff. August 15, 2007; Acts 2010, No. 85, §1, eff. August 15, 2010; Acts 2019, No. 217, §3, eff. June 11, 2019.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 28 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1963–2022 · leading case: Oakley v. Thebault, 684 So. 2d 488 (La. Ct. App. 1996).
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Oakley v. Thebault, 684 So. 2d 488 (La. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 2× “parish authorities in their respective jurisdictions shall place and maintain such traffic control devices upon highways under their jurisdiction as they may deem necessary to indicate and to carry out the provisions of this Chapter, regulations of the department and…”
Morales v. Par. of Jefferson, 140 So. 3d 375 (La. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 8× “32:42 gives “Local parish authorities” — such as Jefferson Parish — the power to “adopt ordinances regulating the matters enumerated in R.S. 32:41” which govern “highways other than state maintained highways” and “public roads within their territorial limits, but outside…”
Hodges v. State, Through Dept. of Highways, 370 So. 2d 1274 (La. Ct. App. 1979). “ities in their respective jurisdictions shall place and maintain such traffic control devices upon highways under their jurisdiction as they may deem necessary to indicate and to carry out the provisions of this Chapter, regulations of the department and director of public…”
Hall v. State, Dep't of Highways, 213 So. 2d 169 (La. Ct. App. 1968). “See LSA-R.S. 32:41, 32:42, 32:235 (1962). The statutory changes are persuasive that regulatory powers and traffic safety responsibilities, formerly deliberately withheld from local authorities, were now deliberately given them by the 1962 act as a deliberate change of prior law.”
Kyle v. City of Bogalusa, 506 So. 2d 719 (La. Ct. App. 1987). “LSA-R.S. 32:41. Accordingly, the Court finds that the City has a duty to enforce the law upon state highways which pass through its' [sic] corporate limits.”
Wall v. Am. Employers Ins. Co., 215 So. 2d 913 (La. Ct. App. 1969). “See LSA-R.S. 32:41, 32:42, 32:235 (1962). The statutory changes are persuasive that regulatory powers and traffic safety responsibilities, formerly deliberately withheld from local authorities, were now deliberately given them by the 1962 act as a deliberate change of prior law.”
Frey v. Cent. Mut. Ins., 150 So. 2d 822 (La. Ct. App. 1963). · cites it 2× “LSA-R.S. 32:41, subd. A (4) of the 1962 act provides that municipal authorities may adopt ordinances “Designating particular highways as one-way highways, or through highways;”.”
Everhardt v. City of New Orleans, 208 So. 2d 423 (La. Ct. App. 1968). “), the Louisiana legislature has reserved to local authorities the power to regulate the flow of traffic within their corporate limits under their general police power.”
Johnson v. Am. S. Ins. Co., 569 So. 2d 1071 (La. Ct. App. 1990). “authorities in their respective jurisdictions shall place and maintain such traffic control devices upon highways under their jurisdiction as they may deem necessary to indicate and to carry out the provisions of this Chapter, regulations of the department *1073 and commissioner…”
Daigle v. Hanson, 476 So. 2d 953 (La. Ct. App. 1985). “parish authorities in their respective jurisdictions shall place and maintain such traffic control devices upon highways under their jurisdiction as they may deem necessary to indicate and to carry out the provisions of this Chapter, regulations of the department and…”
Jenkins v. State Ex Rel. Dotd, 993 So. 2d 749 (La. Ct. App. 2008). “R.S. 32:41. Although the evidence indicated that even vehicles with new tires may hydroplane given the existence of threshold conditions of water depth and vehicle speed, the preponderance of the evidence also showed that the tire condition of Unit No.”
State v. Cox, 963 So. 2d 1080 (La. Ct. App. 2007). · cites it 5× “R.S. 32:41, the pertinent part of which is set forth below.”
Show all 28 citing cases →
La. Rev. Stat. § 32:41(13): 1 case
Everhardt v. City of New Orleans, 208 So. 2d 423 (La. Ct. App. 1968). “), the Louisiana legislature has reserved to local authorities the power to regulate the flow of traffic within their corporate limits under their general police power.”
La. Rev. Stat. § 32:41(13)(C): 1 case
Moreau v. Burlington N. Santa Fe, 919 So. 2d 862 (La. Ct. App. 2006).
La. Rev. Stat. § 32:41(14): 1 case
Morales v. Par. of Jefferson, 140 So. 3d 375 (La. Ct. App. 2014). “32:42 gives “Local parish authorities” — such as Jefferson Parish — the power to “adopt ordinances regulating the matters enumerated in R.S. 32:41” which govern “highways other than state maintained highways” and “public roads within their territorial limits, but outside…”
La. Rev. Stat. § 32:41(2): 1 case
Morales v. Par. of Jefferson, 140 So. 3d 375 (La. Ct. App. 2014). “32:42 gives “Local parish authorities” — such as Jefferson Parish — the power to “adopt ordinances regulating the matters enumerated in R.S. 32:41” which govern “highways other than state maintained highways” and “public roads within their territorial limits, but outside…”
La. Rev. Stat. § 32:41(9): 1 case
State v. Cox, 963 So. 2d 1080 (La. Ct. App. 2007). “R.S. 32:41, the pertinent part of which is set forth below.”
La. Rev. Stat. § 32:41(A)(13): 1 case
Lawes v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 387 So. 2d 1200 (La. Ct. App. 1980).
La. Rev. Stat. § 32:41(A)(2): 1 case
Michael Brantley, Jr. Versus City of Gretna & Redflex Traffic Sys., Inc., 347 So. 3d 1147 (La. Ct. App. 2022).
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