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La. Rev. Stat. § 42:76 (2026)

Actions to try right to office; associations acting as corporations

✓ current as of May 2026
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§76.  Actions to try right to office; associations acting as corporations

An action shall be brought in the name of the state in any of the following cases:

(1)  When any person usurps, intrudes into, or unlawfully holds or exercises or attempts to remain in possession of any public office or franchise within this state.

(2)  When any public officer has done, or suffered to be done, an act which under the laws of this state constitutes a forfeiture of his office.

(3)  When any association or any number of persons act as a corporation without being duly incorporated.

This action shall be brought by the attorney general of the state or by the parish district attorney of the parish in which the case arises against the offender, and the suit shall be filed in the district court of that parish.

The action may also be brought by the governor appearing in proper person or through the attorney general of the state or other counsel he may select.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 33 cases, 1951–2018 · leading case: Small v. Levy, 355 So. 2d 643 (La. Ct. App. 1978).
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Small v. Levy, 355 So. 2d 643 (La. Ct. App. 1978). · cites it 4× “42:77, as follows: LSA-R.S. 42:76 'An action shall be brought in the name of the state in any of the following cases; '(1) When any person usurps, intrudes into, or unlawfully holds or exercises or attempts to remain in possession of any public office or franchise within this…”
Williamson v. Vill. of Baskin, 339 So. 2d 474 (La. Ct. App. 1977). · cites it 2× “In that case brought by the District Attorney under the Intrusion into Office statute (now LSA-R.S. 42:76, et seq.) the court found the officeholder had, in fact, changed his residence and the court declared the office vacated.”
State Ex Rel. Fudickar v. Heard, 65 So. 2d 112 (La. 1953). · cites it 3× “This is a proceeding under the Intrusion Into Office Act, LSA-R.S. 42:76 et seq., contesting the right of respondent, Howell H.”
Jones v. Bd. of Ethics for Elected Officials, 709 So. 2d 841 (La. Ct. App. 1998). · cites it 6× “R.S. 42:76 and 77 provide that only the attorney general of the state, a district attorney of the parish in which the case arises against the offender, the governor, or a person demanding possession of the office may bring such an action.”
City of Baton Rouge v. Cooley, 418 So. 2d 1321 (La. 1982). · cites it 2× “R.S. 42:76 relates to "actions to try right of office; .”
State ex rel. Broussard v. Gauthe, 265 So. 2d 828 (La. Ct. App. 1972). · cites it 5× “This is an action to try right to office brought under LSA-R.S. 42:76, et seq., commonly called the “Intrusion into Office Statute.”
Small v. Guste, 383 So. 2d 1011 (La. 1980). “It is not clear to me that the Judiciary Commission article in the 1974 Constitution was intended to affect R.S. 42:76, which was designed particularly to provide for the case when an unauthorized person attempts to remain in possession of "any public office.”
Inniswold-Jefferson Terrace Civic Ass'n v. La. Health Servs. & Indem. Co., 396 So. 2d 348 (La. Ct. App. 1981). · cites it 3× “While the dual office holding law may be applicable to the Planning Commission in the case at bar, the validity vel non of these members' appointments to the Planning Commission is not subject to a collateral attack in an action of this nature.”
State Ex Rel. Saint v. Toups, 95 So. 2d 55 (La. Ct. App. 1957). · cites it 4× “[LSA-] R.S. 42:76 provides that when any person unlawfully holds any public office, `an action shall be brought by the *68 attorney general or the District Attorney of the Parish of which the case arises * * *'.”
City of Plaquemine v. Medlen, 393 So. 2d 301 (La. Ct. App. 1980). “This is made clear by the interpretative reasoning found in Small as regards LSA-R.S. 42:76(1), 77 and La.Code Civ.P. art.”
Lelong v. Sutherland, 134 So. 2d 627 (La. Ct. App. 1961). · cites it 7× “* * *" *629 Defendants first challenge plaintiff's right, solely as a taxpayer or citizen, to institute this suit, contending that the right to try title to public office is governed exclusively by LSA-R.S. 42:76, par. (1), and LSA-R.S. 42:77, as follows: LSA-R.”
Concerned Classified City Employees, Inc. v. Civil Serv. Comm'n, 184 So. 3d 824 (La. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 3× “R.S. 42:76, 5 any challenge to a government officer’s right to hold office, if coming from any source other than an individual claiming to be entitled to that same office and suing in a quo warranto action, must be asserted by either the governor or the attorney general of the…”
Show all 33 citing cases →
La. Rev. Stat. § 42:76(1): 10 cases
Small v. Levy, 355 So. 2d 643 (La. Ct. App. 1978). “42:77, as follows: LSA-R.S. 42:76 'An action shall be brought in the name of the state in any of the following cases; '(1) When any person usurps, intrudes into, or unlawfully holds or exercises or attempts to remain in possession of any public office or franchise within this…”
City of Plaquemine v. Medlen, 393 So. 2d 301 (La. Ct. App. 1980). “This is made clear by the interpretative reasoning found in Small as regards LSA-R.S. 42:76(1), 77 and La.Code Civ.P. art.”
Dyson v. La. State Police Comm'n, 250 So. 3d 292 (La. Ct. App. 2018).
Mendel v. Gennaro, 154 So. 2d 531 (La. Ct. App. 1963).
Lelong v. Sutherland, 134 So. 2d 627 (La. Ct. App. 1961). “* * *" *629 Defendants first challenge plaintiff's right, solely as a taxpayer or citizen, to institute this suit, contending that the right to try title to public office is governed exclusively by LSA-R.S. 42:76, par. (1), and LSA-R.S. 42:77, as follows: LSA-R.”
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