Judge Rules Against Bossier City Term Limit Petition

Its pretty surprising that in 2024 there are places in the United States where governments are operating without term limits. The idea of term limits is so entrenched in the American political system that you automatically assume every elected official faces them. Well, except the US Congress, but we can debate on whether they're elected or purchased another time.

But it is wildly shocking to most that there are elected officials in our own backyard who do not worry about term limits. That's how things are operating right now in Bossier City.

Right now, you can get elected to the Bossier City Council, and never have to worry about when your time is up. This could also be a point to discuss voter turnout, because in Bossier City, some elections see just a couple dozen votes, while most City Council races see just a few thousand. Giving an incumbent a pretty easy path to victory once elected.

However in this case, its a little less about winning an election, and a little more about how much some Councilmembers are protesting this option.

Because at the end of the day, term limits aren't an undo punishment on elected officials. Its pretty standard. So when an elected government official starts pushing back hard on something like this, and filing lawsuits, you start to question what their motives are. What are they afraid of?

While two members of the Bossier City Council (Brian Hammons and Chris Smith) have voted in favor of term limits, the other 4 member have repeatedly voted against it. Not only have they voted against it, they approved a lawsuit to fight a citizen led effort to put term limits into place.

This week, a judge ruled on that lawsuit, and ruled against the citizens. The main question in the lawsuit centered around birthdates listed on the petition, which there weren't any. Even without them being listed, the Bossier Registrar of Voters certified the petition. But the members of the Bossier City Council that have been fighting against the citizens took exception to the oversight. They had the city pay for a lawsuit against its own citizens.

Its worth noting, the petition doesn't automatically make term limits happen for Bossier City, it just puts it on the ballot for citizens to vote on. So when City Council members fight against it, they're fighting against democracy.

While the judge ruled against one particular petition, the citizens who are working on this project have continued. They already have a new petition in circulation, and will be aiming to get term limits on a Bossier City ballot in the near future.