Gov. Jeff Landry has the power to appoint three more members to the Louisiana Board of Ethics this year, giving him control over the majority of the entity that enforces campaign finance and government transparency laws.

Three of the 15 board members’ terms expired Jan. 1. The governor controls all seats now open to new appointees. He selected five new members last year. Appointing three more would give him a slim majority of eight members.

Landry, who has clashed with the board in the past, has more control over its members than his predecessors. In 2024, he pushed through a law that reworked the board selection process to give the governor more influence.

He also expanded the board from 11 to 15 members last year, with the number of seats the governor gets to pick going from seven to nine. State lawmakers appoint the remaining six members, up from four under the previous structure.

More significantly, the governor and legislators get to appoint members directly to the board, although the governor’s appointees are required to receive state Senate confirmation. Previously, the governor and lawmakers could only select ethics board members from a list of nominees provided by leaders at Louisiana’s private colleges and universities. These college leaders were included in the selection process to insulate the board members from political pressure, but Landry removed that attempt at a firewall.

The change upset government transparency advocates, who said it weakened the ethics board’s independence.