St. Martinville mayor ponders sagging law

Laws against sagging are on the books in many towns and cities across the Teche Area, but so far, no one has been cited for it.

And, that brings up a concern from St. Martinville Mayor Thomas Nelson. He believes the first municipality to write a citation for sagging will be the first to have to fight a lawsuit.

“I’m for the sagging pants ordinance, but it’s my responsibility to make them (council members) aware that this hasn’t been testedin a court of law,” Nelson said.

“And, we could be the one who issues a ticket and we could be the one who gets handed a lawsuit in federal court.”

Nelson said he does not believe in passing an ordinance that will never be enforced. That is why he believes if St. Martinville does adopt an ordinance, it could be the first to fight a lawsuit.

“We have to decide if we want to spend taxpayers money fighting a saggy pants lawsuit,” he said. “At this time, if I were a council member, I wouldn’t vote for it (the ordinance).”

So-called sagging is when a person wears their pants low enough to expose underwear or other parts of their body.

The St. Martinville City Council is one of the latest municipalities in the Teche Area to consider a ban on saggy pants. Monday night, council members decided to hold a public hearing Feb. 4 to get people’s input before making a decision on the ordinance.

Delcambre, Baldwin, New Iberia and Jeanerette have already passed similar ordinances to ban sagging, but their police departments have not issued any citations.

Delcambre was the first to pass its ordinance. Lt. Ernest Billiot with the Delcambre Police Department said just passing the law may have been enough.

“Maybe, they got the message,” Billiot said. “When they see the police coming, they pull their pants up.”

Jeanerette was the most recent city to pass its ordinance. Jeanerette Police Chief Morman Alexander said his department is waiting for everyone to get the message.

“We’ve been warning them that we will be enforcing it,” Alexander said. “We’re giving them time to adjust.”