Answer

Building a fence around the building appears to be a public works project and that projects below the current contract limit of $250,000 are not required to be bid. If the public works project is determined to be less than the contract limit, the public entity should competitively negotiate with contractors and obtain quotes to ensure that it is paying a fair and reasonable price. If the public works project is determined to exceed the contract limit of $250,000, the public entity would have to follow the Public Bid Law requirements, unless an exception applied. The Public Emergency Exemption is once such exception; however, as the Public Bid Law is prohibitory in nature, the public entity must meet all of the requirements of the exception. Further, I noted that the Attorney General (AG) has stated that such exceptions will be strictly construed as a matter of public policy. If the public entity determined that the public works project exceeded the $250,000 threshold and therefore had to be bid and wanted to utilize the public emergency exception, they should first review the following opinions from the Attorney General which provide guidance on interpreting the definition of public emergency for the purposes of the Public Bid Law. AG Op. No. 06-0067, AG Op. No. 02-0413, AG Op. No. 01-0289, and AG Op. No. 83-0833. The AG has opined that to utilize the exception, outside of situations where court orders are involved, the “emergency” has to arise from an unforeseen mischance which has caused destruction or injury of life or property, or in which the destruction or injury of life or property is imminent. Further the mischance must not allow for the public entity to delay in acting to address the emergency in order to advertise as required by the Public Bid Law. The AG has opined that if the mischance is foreseeable, such as damage to a road if necessary steps are not taken to protect it, the requirements to utilize the emergency exception are not met. See AG Op. No. 83-0833 Further, the AG has stated: “The mere possibility of such a problem does not rise to the level of an “imminent threat of destruction or injury to life or property” as required by the statute and thus is not a definitive basis for invoking the emergency exemption.” See AG Op. No. 02-0413 As the AG has not appeared to have opined previously on utilizing the exception for public works projects preventing theft of property, the public entity should consider seeking an AG opinion based on their specific facts, prior to relying on the public emergency exception. Louisiana Legislative Auditor website: 09/22/2025 01:55:09 PM