New Orleans Home Rule Charter, art. IV, § 4-101 Executive Powers.
Section 4-101. - Executive Powers.
All executive and administrative powers of the City shall be vested in and exercised by the Executive Branch.
ORGANIZATION AND GENERAL PROVISIONS
New Orleans Home Rule Charter art. IV, ch. 1
in effectNew Orleans Home Rule Charter, art. IV, § 4-102 Organization.
Section 4-102. - Organization.
The Executive Branch shall consist of the Office of Mayor, of which the Mayor shall be the head; the Administrative Office, of which the Chief Administrative Officer shall be the head; the department heads; the unattached boards in Article V of this Charter; and the following departments and boards; all of which are hereby created and established or continued and recognized:
(1) Departments:
Department of Law
Department of Police
Department of Fire
Department of Safety and Permits
Department of Sanitation
Department of Public Works
Department of Recreation
Department of Human Services
Department of Health
Department of Finance
Department of Property Management
Department of City Civil Service
Department of Utilities
Department of Parks and Parkways
(2) Boards and Commissions:
(a) Departmental:
In the Department of City Civil Service:
Civil Service Commission
(b) Attached to Departments or Commissions:
To the Department of Safety and Permits:
Board of Building Standards and Appeals
To the City Planning Commission:
Board of Zoning Adjustments
To the Department of Property Management:
Delgado Albania Plantation Commission
To the Department of Finance:
Board of Trustees of the Municipal Employees' Retirement System
Board of Trustees of the Police Pension Fund
Board of Trustees of the Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund
The foregoing boards shall be attached to but shall not be a part of the departments or commissions, as indicated; and the head of each department shall be an ex-officio member of the boards attached thereto to the extent permitted by law, and except as otherwise provided herein. The responsibilities of the departments with respect to such boards shall be limited to the general oversight of their operations for the purpose of providing information thereon to the Mayor, Chief Administrative Officer and the Council.
(c) Other:
Board of City Trusts
Central Business District Historic District Landmarks Commission
New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission
Mosquito Control Board
New Orleans Home Rule Charter, art. IV, § 4-103 Other Administrative Agencies Prohibited.
Section 4-103. - Other Administrative Agencies Prohibited.
(1) No department nor board shall be created except as provided in this Charter; but if any constitutional or legislative office or board operating in or with respect to any function of the City be abolished, the Council, in its discretion, shall have the right by ordinance to establish a corresponding office or board, in such manner as the Council may deem proper.
(2) The names, functions, or assignment of functions of departments, officers, boards, and commissions included in this Article may be amended, and such departments, officers, boards, and commissions may be consolidated, subdivided, reorganized, or abolished by amendment in accordance with the provisions of Section 9-201(2), except for the Mayor, the Administrative Office, and the Departments of Law, Police, Fire, Finance, and City Civil Service, which shall be subject to amendment only in accordance with Section 9-201(1).
New Orleans Home Rule Charter, art. IV, § 4-104 Creation of Advisory Committees.
Section 4-104. - Creation of Advisory Committees.
The Mayor, department heads with the approval of the Mayor, and boards may each appoint advisory committees which shall exist for not more than one year from the date of appointment, but which may be reappointed from year to year. The members of advisory committees shall not be paid; their function shall be limited to counsel and advice; and their expenses, if any, shall be paid from appropriations to the appointing authority. Advisory committees shall have no employees, but the appointing authority may cause its employees to furnish such services as may be needed by said committees.
New Orleans Home Rule Charter, art. IV, § 4-105 Assignment of Activities.
Section 4-105. - Assignment of Activities.
(1) All duties, functions or activities of the City not assigned herein or otherwise assigned by applicable state or municipal law may be assigned or reassigned by the Mayor to appropriate offices, or to existing departments and boards.
(2) Any office or unit established after the effective date of this Charter shall be placed in one of the offices, departments or boards created or recognized by this Charter.
New Orleans Home Rule Charter, art. IV, § 4-106 Appointment and Removal of Department Heads.
Section 4-106. - Appointment and Removal of Department Heads.
(1) The City Attorney shall be appointed and may be removed by the Mayor.
(2) All other department heads shall be appointed and may be removed by the Chief Administrative Officer with the approval of the Mayor, except where other appointing authority is designated by this Charter or by applicable State law.
(3) No appointing authority shall appoint any person in the unclassified service until satisfied by proper investigation that the person to be appointed is of good moral character and is fully qualified by experience or ability properly to perform the duties and execute the functions assigned to the position.
(4) Appointments to head any executive branch department established by Article IV of the Charter, when made by the Mayor or by the Chief Administrative Officer, shall require confirmation by the Council, in accordance with a confirmation process to be established by Council rule. The Council may, by ordinance, require Council confirmation of any appointment to head any other department, office or unit to which executive powers have been assigned or transferred in accordance with Sections 4-105 or 9-201(2) of the Charter.
(5) The Mayor or Chief Administrative Officer, as appropriate, may appoint one or more persons to fill a position governed by this section on an interim basis without first obtaining Council confirmation. Interim appointments may not exceed 120 days, unless extended by the Council. Successive interim appointments or other means intended to circumvent the Council's right to confirm executive branch appointees shall be prohibited. If the Council fails to adopt a motion confirming, disapproving, or extending an interim appointment before the expiration of the interim period, the appointee shall be deemed confirmed.
(M.C.S., Ord. No. 28999, § 4, 4-21-22, eff. 1-1-23)
New Orleans Home Rule Charter, art. IV, § 4-107 Powers and Duties of Officers and Department Heads.
Section 4-107. - Powers and Duties of Officers and Department Heads.
(1) Subject to the provisions of applicable civil service law, rules and regulations, officers and department heads shall have the power and duty to appoint, promote, supervise, discipline, and remove all officers and employees in their respective offices or departments; to determine their compensation subject to the approved pay plans and budgetary limitations; and to assign duties to employees and supervise the performance thereof.
(2) Each officer or department head shall, subject to the approval of an immediate superior, prescribe such rules as are necessary for the organization and internal government of the office or department.
(3) (a)
The Mayor, or each officer or department head with the consent of the Mayor, shall submit to the Council for its approval any regulations affecting the public and necessary to the performance of the functions assigned to such office or department. No such regulation shall become effective until approved by resolution of the Council or as otherwise provided in paragraph (3)(d) of this section.
(b) Prior to July 1,1996, the Council shall by ordinance provide for public notice and comment on proposed regulations affecting the public. The ordinance shall provide for an emergency adoption procedure by which regulations may in certain specified circumstances be made immediately effective, but any regulation so adopted shall not remain in effect for more than 180 days after the date of its adoption. After its adoption, the ordinance governing promulgation of regulations may be amended only by an ordinance approved with a two-thirds vote of the entire membership of the Council.
(c) Prior to submission of any proposed regulation to the Council, the officer or department head shall publish notice of the intention to adopt such regulation once in the official journal. Following its final promulgation, every regulation shall be published once again in the official journal, unless deemed too lengthy for publication by the officer or department head, who shall in such case publish a summary of its contents and notice of its availability to the public.
(d) The City Attorney shall maintain and periodically cause to be published a comprehensive and current compilation of all regulations promulgated in accordance with this process and having legal effect in the City of New Orleans. Regulations shall become effective at 12:01 A.M. on the twenty-second day beginning on the day following approval by the Council. If the Council neither approves nor disapproves any regulations submitted to it within forty-five days of submittal, the regulations shall become legally effective upon the expiration of such forty-five days. Any such regulation may be rescinded or amended by the same process as when originally submitted. All regulations shall be subordinate to the ordinances of the Council. All regulations heretofore adopted by the City of New Orleans are hereby ratified and continued in existence until modified in accordance with the procedure established in this Section.
New Orleans Home Rule Charter, art. IV, § 4-108 Powers and Duties of Boards and Commissions.
Section 4-108. - Powers and Duties of Boards and Commissions.
All boards shall have the same powers and duties with respect to their functions as those prescribed in this chapter for officers and department heads, unless otherwise provided by this Charter or applicable state or municipal law. They may delegate such powers and duties to their executive officers, provided that all matters involving appointment, discipline, removal or pay shall become null unless approved by the board within sixty days.
New Orleans Home Rule Charter, art. IV, § 4-109 Public Benefit Corporations.
Section 4-109. - Public Benefit Corporations.
(1) If authorized by the Mayor and approved by the Council by ordinance, the City may establish public benefit corporations, development corporations, public trusts, and other entities authorized by state law for public purposes, including development, management, and promotion of assets of the City, subject to such budgetary, personnel or other requirements as may be established by ordinance.
(2) Public benefit corporations, development corporations, public trusts, and other entities authorized by state law and established prior to January 1, 1996, the effective date of this amendment to this Charter, are hereby recognized. Such entities may be continued, modified or abolished in accordance with the terms of applicable enabling statutes, ordinances, articles of incorporation, by-laws, or trust indentures in effect prior to January 1, 1996 or as thereafter revised.
Source: City of New Orleans, Code of Ordinances and Home Rule Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/la/new_orleans/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PAI_HORUCH_ARTIVEXBR_CH1ORGEPRFetched: 10/28/2026