STATE OF LOUISIANA
DEPARTMENT OF STATE CIVIL SERVICE
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA

General Circular No. 001589 

To:                   Heads of State Agencies and Human Resource Directors 

Subject:            Legal Holiday - Friday, December 31, 2004  

Issue Date:       November 17, 2004

________________________________________________________________________

LEGAL HOLIDAY – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2004

________________________________________________________________________

WHEREAS,               pursuant to R.S. 1:55(A)(1) and (B) (1), New Years Day, Saturday, January 1, 2005, is a legal holiday and a day of rest in the state of Louisiana which is observed by the departments of the state; 

WHEREAS,               R.S. 1:55(B)(4) states that “when one or more holidays or half-holidays falls on a full-time employee’s regular day off, his holiday shall be the closest scheduled workday preceding or following the legal holiday, as designated by the head of the agency”; and 

WHEREAS,               pursuant to statute and custom, because New Years Day falls this year on a Saturday, the preceding Friday, December 31, 2004, shall be designated a holiday; 

NOW THEREFORE I, KATHLEEN BABINEAUX BLANCO, Governor of the state of Louisiana, by virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution and laws of the state of Louisiana, do hereby order and direct as follows: 

SECTION 1:              Friday, December 31, 2004, is designated a legal holiday in the state of Louisiana and shall be observed as a day of rest. 

SECTION 2:              Insofar as practicable, the appointing authorities and/or heads of all institutions, offices and departments of the state (hereinafter "appointing authority") shall permit the officers and employees under their control to observe Friday, December 31, 2004, as a day of rest.  Nonetheless, an appointing authority shall have discretion to require said officers and/or employees to work on the holiday when, in the appointing authority’s judgment, it is required for the efficient administration of a state facility, the operation of which is necessary and indispensable to the citizens of the state.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand officially and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of Louisiana, at the Capitol, in the city of Baton Rouge, on this 16th day of November, 2004.

s/Kathleen Babineaux Blanco              
            GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA

ATTESTED BY
THE GOVERNOR

s/Fox McKeithen_____________
SECRETARY OF STATE

Sincerely,

s/ Allen H. Reynolds
Director