La. Admin. Code tit. 41 § II-302

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section II-302 - Command Responsibilities

A. General. Regardless of how the commander learns of an alleged offense, he must insure that the matter is promptly and adequately investigated.

B. Reporting. Any incident which may generate widespread adverse publicity or which may damage public confidence in the organized militia shall be reported to the Adjutant General through channels.

C. Investigation. The investigation should provide the unit commander with sufficient information to make an intelligent and appropriate disposition of the incident report. The commander may conduct the inquiry himself or he may direct some other competent individual to do it. In serious cases, consideration should be given to use of law enforcement professionals, such as the Military Police or Criminal Investigation Division. The investigator should collect and present all information which may prove or disprove the allegation of misconduct. The investigation should address itself to three primary questions .

1. Was an offense committed?

2. Was a service member involved in the offense?

3. What is the character and military record of the suspected service member?

D. Impartiality. The investigator must at all times remain impartial. A one-sided investigation may lead to an injustice to the accused and an embarrassment to the command. Usually, the preliminary investigation is informal and consists of interviews with witnesses and review of police reports. The investigation must be thorough enough to provide a firm factual foundation for a determination of what happened and what should be done. This investigation is preliminary in nature and should not be confused with the formal LCMJ Article 32 investigation, which requires sworn charges, nor the procedures for an administrative investigation under AR 15-6.

E. Disposition. Once the preliminary investigation is completed, the unit commander must make his decision. He may:

1. decide to take no action;

2. decide to take non-punitive disciplinary action;

3. decide to impose non-judicial punishment under LCMJ Article 15 (Chapter 4);

4. decide to prefer court-martial charges against the accused (Chapter 5); or

5. refer the case to appropriate civilian authorities (Chapter 5, paragraph 5-3).

La. Admin. Code tit. 41, § II-302

Promulgated in accordance with the Office of the Governor, State Military Department, LR 35:2355 (November 2009).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 29:11(F).