Bossier City Voters Approve Retroactive Term Limits for Mayor and City Council

Bossier City voters returned to the polls on Saturday, May 3, to decide two propositions regarding retroactive term limits for the mayor and city council.

Proposition No. 1 asked the following:
“Shall Section 3.01(b) of the City Charter for Bossier City be amended to read as follows: Members of the City Council shall be eligible for re-election. No person who has been elected or appointed to serve as at-large and/or district council member for three (3) terms shall be eligible to be appointed or elected to an additional term or portion thereof. For the purposes of this section, all terms, or portions thereof, to which a person has been elected or appointed prior to Jan. 1, 2024, will be counted toward the limitation provided for herein?”
The measure was approved by a margin of 83% to 17%.

Proposition No. 2 asked:
“Shall Section 4.01 of the City Charter for Bossier City be amended to read as follows:
(a) The mayor shall be elected according to the laws of the state and serve a term of four (4) years. The term of office shall begin on July 1 of the year in which he or she was elected.
(b) The mayor shall be eligible for re-election. No person who has been elected to serve as mayor for three (3) terms shall be eligible to be appointed or elected to an additional term or portion thereof. For the purposes of this section, all terms, or portions thereof, to which a person has been elected or appointed prior to Jan. 1, 2024, will be counted toward the limitation provided for herein?” This measure passed by a margin of 84% to 16%.

Unofficial voter turnout for the May 3 election was 9.1%.

The outcome of the May 3 vote follows a previous election held March 29, during which non-retroactive term limits were approved by Bossier City voters. The new propositions approved Saturday will supersede those approved in March. As a result, current officeholders who have already served three terms in the same seat will not be eligible for re-election to that seat.

The Bossier City Term Limits Coalition, which formed in 2022, has strongly advocated for stricter term limits.

Now that retroactive term limits have been approved, no person elected as mayor or to a seat on the Bossier City Council can serve more than three terms in office. The retroactive three-term limit includes all terms served prior to Jan. 1, 2024.

The measures take effect immediately and are expected to significantly alter the political landscape in Bossier City.