Bottom Line Up Front: After Open Meetings Law complaints prompted a revote, the West Baton Rouge Fire Board unanimously ratified their August decision to abolish the full-time fire chief position and extend Browning Associates LLC's part-time contract—despite public testimony alleging violations of state law, $648,000 in questionable salaries, and warnings from former Fire Chief Robby Smith about state statute violations.

WBR Independent editor John Summers filed Open Meetings Law complaints with the Louisiana Attorney General's office regarding alleged violations at both the August 28th Fire Board meeting and September 3rd Civil Service Board meeting. In separate letters dated October 28, 2025, Assistant Attorney General Jared Matte closed the complaints, noting the corrective action "cured the defect." The Attorney General did not rule on the underlying merits of the fire chief structure or contract arrangement.

Legal Warnings and Board Response

Robby Smith, a former WBR Deputy Fire Chief and Erwinville Fire Chief who served on the executive and legislative committees of the Louisiana State Firemen's Association representing over 60 fire departments, delivered a stark warning to the board.

"If you abolish the fire chief position in a parish fire district, you are in direct violation of multiple state statutes including but not limited to Title 29 Section 728, Title 33 Section 2481, Title 33 Section 2557," Smith told the board. "I helped write them."

State law, including R.S. 33:2541 and R.S. 29:727, defines the classified fire service to include "the chief and assistant chiefs" among positions that must be part of the civil service system. The Louisiana Constitution itself, Article X, Section 16, mandates that any parish operating a "regularly paid" fire department must have a civil service system for its fire employees.

Smith clarified that Henry Olinde—the parish's outside counsel—represents the Civil Service Board. "You keep calling Henry a civil service attorney. He is your attorney that you have on to represent the Civil Service Board. He is not a civil service attorney," Smith emphasized.

State Oversight Guidance vs. Litigation Counsel

Parish President Manola repeatedly cited opinions from Henry Olinde of Olinde & Mercer, whose firm specializes in representing emergency service organizations in civil service disputes. The Louisiana Office of State Examiner—the state agency that actually oversees fire civil service law—had already warned West Baton Rouge that keeping a contractor in charge does not comply with state law, according to WBRZ.

When asked by WBR Independent whether citizens can formally challenge the fire chief arrangement, the OSE confirmed in writing that it "advised West Baton Rouge FPD #1 previously that they needed to hire a Fire Chief once they called for the exam and an eligibility list has been established." The OSE Human Resources Division Administrator Joshua Bernard clarified that while the OSE is "an advisory agency" without enforcement authority, it had specifically told the parish what the law requires.

By relying on litigation counsel rather than following OSE guidance, the parish effectively chose their defense attorney's opinion over the state oversight agency charged with interpreting civil service law—an agency that had already told them they needed to hire a fire chief from an eligibility list.

$648,000 in Questioned Positions—Hidden from Public View

Robby Smith detailed what he calculated as $648,000 in unnecessary salaries, not including benefits or take-home vehicles. Smith noted he had to estimate many figures because "all salaries are supposed to be public record but they're not, which is another violation of state statutes."

Based on partial information and estimates where actual figures were withheld, Smith testified about the following positions:

• Browning Associates LLC: $50,000 plus take-home vehicle
• Part-time operations chief: $50,000 plus vehicle
• Part-time EMS chief: $50,000 plus vehicle
• Fire prevention chief position: $113,000 (Smith alleged lacks required certifications; WBR Independent will request records to verify credentials)
• Two special operations chief positions: $70,000 combined (estimated)
• Three FTO supervisor positions: $105,000 (estimated at $35,000 each)
• Six FTO positions: $210,000 (estimated at $35,000 each)
• Administrative chief: Unknown (Smith noted salary is "in triple digits")

"These people provide absolutely no value to our fire service. None," Smith testified. "You know what kind of fire chief you can hire for $650,000?" (Smith's estimate)

Firefighters Challenge "Fully Staffed" Claims

Destin Smith, a former district chief and Erwinville volunteer firefighter since 2008, challenged Fire Superintendent Butch Browning's claim that the department is "fully staffed." "I challenge y'all to come check out the north end of the parish," Smith said. "We're lucky to get contractors and every now and then a full-time guy on overtime."

Robby Smith noted that the department operates with just six firefighters and one captain for the entire parish per shift—below NFPA minimum standards.

Contract Without Accountability

James "Bean" Hartley, Deputy Chief, pointed out that the current contract removes accountability: "As of right now it says that I could be the fire chief as long as I want to be. I'm held liable for nothing. I could do anything I want to do and if I get in trouble, it falls on the government and I could run."

Under Louisiana's civil service system, a fire chief is supposed to be a classified position chosen from a tested eligibility list and subject to civil service rules. By outsourcing that role to Browning Associates LLC, the parish put operational authority in the hands of a contractor outside that system.

Pattern of Kicking the Can

Anthony Summers, a 31-year fire service veteran with a degree in fire science, traced the crisis back years: "Since 2019 the parish has operated without a full-time fire chief, only one through a contract since 2022. We need a full-time accountable fire chief dedicated to West Baton Rouge Parish, not a contractor collecting a fee."

The Browning contract began in May 2022 as what Parish President Riley "Pee Wee" Berthelot called a temporary solution to "get our house in order" before hiring a full-time chief. Even then, Councilman Alan Crowe warned the contract was "too open-ended" with no defined scope or accountability metrics.

At that May 2022 meeting, Captain Blake Leche from Brusly Station told the board: "I respect Mr. Browning but we need to hire a full-time fire chief now." He warned that morale and recruitment were collapsing, with five firefighters having left since October 2021 and others refusing to join due to lack of leadership.

That was three and a half years ago—and the "temporary" contract remains in place.

Summers revealed that on February 20, 2025 from what he understood, both ambulances were taken out of service with almost every paid firefighter in the north end of the parish for a structure fire, leaving one paid firefighter to respond to all calls parish-wide. "What y'all gonna do tonight is a sacrilege. Until we get a full-time fire chief, this department will continue to have problems," Summers warned.

The Votes That Mattered

Despite the warnings, the board unanimously approved both resolutions. Resolution 9B to ratify the abolishment of the full-time fire chief position passed with a motion by Alan Crowe, seconded by Kenneth Gordon. Resolution 9C, amending the contract to change Browning's title from superintendent to part-time chief, was moved by Kirk Allain and seconded by Kenneth Gordon.

Board's Rationale and the Civil Service Timeline

Board members attempted to explain why abolishing the fire chief position was necessary to continue the Browning contract.

A board member asked: "Is it my understanding that you can't have an open full-time fire chief position as well as engage in the contract with Browning LLC?"

After discussion about timeframes and eligibility lists, the board concluded they must abolish the position because "you can't have a consulting agreement with Browning LLC and then a vacant fire chief position."

State law allows provisional appointments (90–180 days).

Available Civil Service Option Not Used

Robby Smith pointed out that the Parish President as appointing authority has the power to make a provisional fire chief appointment immediately—even during the meeting itself.

"The appointing authority has the authority right now to make a temporary appointment to fire chief. He can do it in this meeting. Fire chief tonight. Temporary. For six months. And in six months, you can review it. If you don't have your stuff together to hire a full-time fire chief, you reappoint him. Or you appoint somebody else," Smith explained.

State civil service law allows provisional chief appointments for up to 180 days while the hiring process proceeds.

This approach would have allowed the board to appoint a provisional chief, move Browning to an advisory role (preserving his expertise), and comply with state civil service requirements. The provisional chief could work alongside Browning acting as an advisor, maintaining institutional knowledge while providing proper accountability.

Instead, the board abolished the position entirely. The discussion revealed that Browning was originally titled "fire superintendent" rather than "fire chief"—apparently to avoid triggering civil service requirements. Only after abolishing the classified chief position did the board amend his contract to call him "part-time fire chief."

Kirk Allain defended the current direction, stating that in 2020-2021 when they reviewed candidates, "there was not a person on there that we thought at that time could run the fire department."

However, Destin Smith contradicted this: "We keep saying that there was no list of fire chiefs to choose from. That's not true. When he was originally brought in, there was a valid list. And a fire chief could have been appointed then."

Governance Structure Questions

The West Baton Rouge Parish Council serves as the governing board for Fire Protection District No. 1 under authority granted by the parish's Home Rule Charter (Chapter 28, Section 28-2). The Home Rule Charter designates the nine-member Parish Council to govern the fire district, requiring no fire service expertise and providing no dedicated representation from the three municipalities within the district (Port Allen, Addis, Brusly).

This structure differs from some Louisiana parishes that use separate fire district boards with members appointed specifically for fire service oversight, sometimes including individuals with emergency management or fire service backgrounds.

"I challenge anyone in this room to find me one example nationwide of a department of our size that is completely made up of contracted part-time leadership," James "Bean" Hartley, Deputy Chief, told the board.

The structure means the same officials who approve fire district spending also govern the fire district, with no independent board to provide oversight or challenge their decisions.

Equipment Failures Amid Salary Disputes

While debating hundreds of thousands in administrative salaries, Destin Smith—a former district chief who is no longer employed with the Fire District—said in public comment that the department is still using self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) bottles that, he said, are "at least five years past their replacement life."

"These bottles have 4,500 PSI. You know what happens to a person wearing that when that explodes? Probably not going to be with us any longer," Smith warned. "But that's the kind of stuff that we're going to spend money hiring these unnecessary part-time positions instead of spending this money that we claim we don't have on valuable equipment."

Looking Forward—Or Backward?

The board claimed they would revisit the contract annually, with Councilman Kenneth Gordon stating "we will revisit it" after acknowledging last time it took two years instead of the promised one year.

Parish President Manola suggested a timeline of 12-18 months before considering a full-time chief, citing the need to rewrite the civil service classification plan to include EMS services.

But for critics, the pattern is clear. As Anthony Summers noted: "We've had six or seven chiefs in 11 years" since consolidation in 2014, with the last full-time chief leaving in 2019."

The Accountability Question

For West Baton Rouge residents, the question becomes: Is this the fire protection system they're paying for through sales tax, and is it the one they deserve?

WBR Independent will request comment from Parish President Jason Manola regarding the governance and civil service questions raised in this article. Continued coverage will be published as responses are received and this investigation develops.

Editor's Note: Prior to the filing of formal civil service complaints in July 2025, fire service veteran Anthony Summers contacted the Louisiana Office of State Examiner regarding the parish's fire chief arrangement. The OSE confirmed in writing that the parish had been advised to hire a fire chief from the civil service eligibility list. Anthony Summers is the brother of WBR Independent editor John Summers, who also contacted the OSE and joined and filed the formal complaints on July 16, 2025. The OSE correspondence cited in this article was obtained through the public complaint process. Despite this guidance from state oversight officials, the Fire Board voted October 23, 2025 to continue forward.

This article is based on the official October 23, 2025 West Baton Rouge Fire Protection District Board meeting transcript, publicly available statutes and legal documents, correspondence with state agencies, and verified media reports. All direct quotes are taken from official meeting records and public testimony. The full meeting transcript and video are available through parish public records requests.

Correction (November 14, 2025): The opening sentence has been revised from "violations forced a revote" to "complaints prompted a revote" to more precisely reflect the corrective action process documented in the Attorney General's letters.

Correction (November 18, 2025): An earlier version questioned the Parish Council's legal authority to govern the fire district. That section has been removed. The analysis failed to consider the Home Rule Charter's explicit authorization in Chapter 28, Section 28-2. WBR Independent regrets the error.

Sources and Legal References:

• West Baton Rouge Fire Protection District Board Meeting, October 23, 2025 (transcript and video)
• Louisiana Attorney General Open Meetings Law complaint responses, October 28, 2025
• Louisiana Office of State Examiner correspondence with WBR Independent
• Louisiana Constitution Article X, §16 (Fire and Police Civil Service applicability)
• La. R.S. 33:2541(A) (defining classified fire service positions, including Fire Chief)
• La. R.S. 33:2531 (mandating merit-based hiring for paid fire personnel)
• La. R.S. 44:1 et seq. (Louisiana Public Records Law)
• WBRZ News, "Questions raised over fire chief appointment in West Baton Rouge" (Aug. 19, 2025)
• WBRZ News, "WBR abolishes full-time fire chief job, moves forward with Butch Browning as part-time chief" (Aug. 28, 2025)
• WBRZ News, Joe Collins coverage (Oct. 23, 2025)
• The Advocate, Haley Miller coverage (Oct. 24, 2025)
• West Baton Rouge Parish Fire Board meeting, May 2022 (official video recording available on parish YouTube channel)