2026 Louisiana Legislative Update

Summary: Adds provisions to the Medical Assistance Programs Integrity Law allowing the attorney general, before filing a civil proceeding, to issue a civil investigative demand to anyone believed to have documents, information, or evidence relevant to an investigation. Key provisions:

• The demand may require sworn written answers to interrogatories or production of documents and physical evidence, and must describe the subject of the investigation and the materials sought with specificity.
• The return date may be no earlier than 20 days after service.
• A demand may not require anything that would be unreasonable in a grand jury subpoena, or anything privileged from disclosure.
• Productions must be made under a sworn certificate of completeness. A business entity served with an investigative subpoena must designate officers or agents to testify.
• The attorney general may move in district court to compel compliance, and failure to comply with the court's order is punishable as contempt.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends Code of Criminal Procedure Article 682 to repeal the procedure allowing the trial judge to appoint an attorney to replace a recused district attorney. Instead, the judge must notify the attorney general in writing, and the attorney general appoints a member of his staff or a district attorney from another district to act in the case.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Proposed constitutional amendment to Article V, Section 5(B). The Louisiana Supreme Court already has exclusive original jurisdiction over discipline of members of the Louisiana bar. The amendment extends its original disciplinary jurisdiction to lawyers who are admitted pro hac vice for a particular proceeding, lawyers not admitted in Louisiana who practice or offer legal services here, lawyers licensed elsewhere who own or operate a law firm in Louisiana, and unlicensed lawyers who supervise Louisiana-licensed lawyers. It will appear on the April 17, 2027 ballot.

Effective Date: Upon voter approval at the April 17, 2027 election

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Summary: When a professional or occupational licensing board brings a disciplinary proceeding and the licensee is the prevailing party, the board may not collect attorney fees or costs it incurred after the licensee made a written offer of judgment. The licensee prevails if the matter is dismissed or resolved without an adverse finding, or if the final disposition is no less favorable to the licensee than the terms the licensee offered, such as an equal or shorter suspension or probationary period.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Consolidates the clerk of Civil District Court and the clerk of Criminal District Court in Orleans Parish into a single clerk of court. During the transition, no employee of the criminal court clerk's office may be discharged before January 15, 2027 except for good cause, and the consolidated clerk may hire temporary employees or contractors until June 30, 2027.

Effective Date: April 30, 2026

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Summary: Amends R.S. 15:511 and Code of Civil Procedure Article 372 to provide that custody and control of a court reporter's notes, recordings, and other records of court proceedings remain with the court when the reporter retires or leaves the court's employ.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Redesignates the Louisiana Supreme Court's pool of 30 court reporters as emergency court reporters, employed or approved by the Supreme Court, who prepare, certify, and charge for transcripts under Supreme Court rules. Removes the prior $15,000 annual salary supplement for pool reporters. Also authorizes the stenographer-reporter of the Board of Tax Appeals to prepare, certify, and charge for transcripts, with the authority of an official reporter.

Effective Date: May 22, 2026

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Summary: Amends R.S. 44:40 to authorize district clerks of court and ex officio recorders to purchase equipment, software, and services to convert records in their custody into electronic records, in addition to photocopying, microfilming, and imaging, and to pay for converting, digitizing, storing, and retrieving records from the clerk's salary fund.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Adds R.S. 44:4(65). Copies of audio, images, video, or photographs in a clerk of court's custody after being introduced into evidence in a criminal prosecution are not public records if the clerk determines they depict an autopsy, a dead body, sexual assault, gruesome injury, an obscene or patently offensive sexual act, a juvenile victim, or a victim's intimate areas, unless voluntarily released, otherwise publicly available, or released by court order.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Enacts Code of Criminal Procedure Article 404(K), requiring the clerk of court (or a designated deputy clerk) in Lincoln Parish to perform the functions of the jury commission, including coordinating the jury venire process.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Requires the clerk of court of West Baton Rouge Parish, or a deputy clerk designated in writing, to perform the functions of the jury commission.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Known as "Duvall and Karissa's Law." Amends R.S. 15:284 to require courts to allow any witness in a sex offense trial to be accompanied by a facility dog, if one is available, while testifying (previously mandatory only for witnesses under 18 or with developmental disabilities). The court may order that the dog be obscured from the jury's view, must have the dog enter and exit outside the jury's presence, and may instruct the jury on the dog's role.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Enacts R.S. 15:571.11(P), prohibiting debts for criminal fines and fees from being reported to a credit bureau or consumer reporting agency. Does not apply to traffic violations under Title 32 or to municipal violations.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Raises the maximum amount the judges of the 4th Judicial District Court (Morehouse and Ouachita Parishes) may set for the judicial expense fund, collected from each civil filer and each convicted criminal defendant, from $15 to $35.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Extends the 19th Judicial District Court's Complex Litigation Section Pilot Program, including its additional filing fees for complex litigation cases, through July 31, 2028.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Raises the civil jurisdictional limit of the First and Second Parish Courts of Jefferson Parish from $20,000 to $50,000.

Effective Date: June 19, 2026

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Summary: Amends Code of Civil Procedure Article 4843(G) to add the City Court of Bogalusa to the city courts with jurisdiction concurrent with the district court where the amount in dispute does not exceed $50,000.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Expands the territorial jurisdiction of the Marksville City Court to Wards 1–6 and 11, and of the Bunkie City Court to Wards 7–10, of Avoyelles Parish, with each judge and marshal elected by voters of those wards. Both courts have a small claims division and concurrent jurisdiction with the 12th JDC over misdemeanors, civil cases under $50,000, and juvenile matters.

Effective Date: June 25, 2026

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Summary: Extends the City Court of Franklin's territorial jurisdiction into portions of Ward Four of St. Mary Parish, with jurisdiction concurrent with the justice of the peace outside the town limits.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Gives East Baton Rouge Parish justices of the peace jurisdiction concurrent with the city courts over evictions from leased residential or commercial premises and farmland when the monthly rent does not exceed $5,000, regardless of the yearly rent or the rent for the unexpired term. Also revises the territorial jurisdiction of the parish's justice of the peace courts in annexed areas.

Effective Date: June 22, 2026

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Summary: Gives justice of the peace courts in St. Bernard Parish concurrent jurisdiction over property standards and nuisance violations anywhere in the parish, and allows their constables to issue summonses and serve subpoenas for those violations.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Specifies the powers of the 15th Judicial District Court commissioner (Acadia, Lafayette, and Vermilion Parishes). In criminal matters, these include arraignments (without accepting nolo contendere pleas), traffic pleas subject to district court approval, warrants, probable cause and 72-hour hearings, bail conditions, temporary protective orders, and contempt. In civil matters, they include oaths, marriage ceremonies, acknowledgments, depositions, and temporary protective orders and TROs pending a hearing.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Allows the magistrate judge of the 14th Judicial District Court (Calcasieu Parish), with approval of the en banc judges, to preside over specialty court programs and fully adjudicate related felony charges for participants. "Specialty court" includes any program designated by the Louisiana Supreme Court, such as drug, veterans, DWI, mental health, reentry, and domestic abuse courts.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Creates a two-year Domestic Violence Intervention Court pilot program in the 19th Judicial District Court for defendants convicted of misdemeanor or felony offenses, with participation as a condition of probation. Participants receive batterer intervention, treatment, and case management under judicial supervision with graduated sanctions and incentives. Victims may participate voluntarily, are assigned an advocate, receive notice of proceedings and compliance, and may request GPS monitoring of the defendant.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Revises provisions on the Louisiana Supreme Court and the judiciary: authorizes the Supreme Court to answer certified questions from courts of last resort and to adopt rules it deems appropriate; allows the court to appoint criers from its security personnel, who are commissioned as deputy sheriffs and may be given statewide police power; provides for security at the courts of appeal by the local sheriffs; replaces the facsimile technology plan with a plan for filing, case management, and related technology; and allows justices living more than 50 miles from the courthouse to receive certain allowances as reimbursement for vouchered expenses.

Effective Date: July 1, 2026

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Summary: Transfers the Integrated Criminal Justice Information System Policy Board from the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement to the jurisdiction of the Louisiana Supreme Court, which now performs the commission's prior functions for the board, including staffing.

Effective Date: May 22, 2026

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Summary: Reduces the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal from 12 to 10 judges, from eight to seven in the First District and from two to one at-large seat. No further elections will be held for Division G of the First District or for the at-large seat currently held by Chief Judge Roland Belsome, but sitting judges may serve out their terms.

Effective Date: June 1, 2026

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Summary: Reduces the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court from 12 to 9 judges by abolishing Divisions A, E, and J, with no qualifying or elections for successors. Allows the judges en banc to appoint a hearing officer or commissioners (including to make recommendations on post-conviction relief claims), replaces the fixed number of law clerks and secretaries with staffing approved by the Consolidated Judicial Expense Fund, and provides for reimbursement of criers in Civil District Court.

Effective Date: June 3, 2026

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Summary: Defines "gross misconduct" and "malfeasance while in office" for purposes of impeaching judges and other officials, including a judge's willful and persistent violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct or refusal to follow the law. Authorizes the House to proceed with impeachment by majority vote, allows the Speaker or Senate President to request a confidential report from the Judiciary Commission (or Board of Ethics) and to pause proceedings pending discipline elsewhere, and provides for a joint legislative committee on impeachment upon petition of three-fifths of both chambers.

Effective Date: June 12, 2026

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Summary: Implements the Louisiana State Law Institute's continuous revision of the Code of Civil Procedure. Key changes include:

• Abandonment (Art. 561): Codifies that a step in the prosecution or defense interrupts the three-year period and that a defendant may renounce abandonment once it has accrued. An ex parte motion to dismiss must include a detailed affidavit listing filings from the prior three years and written communications with adverse parties from the prior year; if any exist, the court may set a contradictory hearing. At a hearing to set aside the dismissal, the burden of proof rests on the party who moved to dismiss. A dismissal for abandonment of an action to enforce a conventional obligation interrupts liberative prescription as though the dismissal had not occurred. These changes apply only to motions filed on or after August 1, 2026.
• Motions to Quash (Art. 1426): Provides that the court may grant a motion to quash a subpoena in whole or in part, applying the protective order standards and the public hazard limitation.
• Notice of Trial (Art. 1572): The clerk must now give notice of trial to all counsel of record (or self-represented parties) without a written request, by electronic means or certified mail. Waiver must be in writing or on the record.
• Default Judgments (Art. 1702(C)): Before a default judgment on an open account, note, or other conventional obligation is signed, the clerk must certify that no answer or other pleading has been filed.
• Judgments and Appeals (Arts. 1841, 1914, 2083): Clarifies the distinction between final, partial final, and interlocutory judgments, and that partial final and interlocutory judgments are appealable only when expressly provided by law. A comment to Art. 1425 provides that rulings allowing or excluding experts are interlocutory and not appealable.
• Appeal Costs and the Record (Arts. 2126, 2128): Notices of estimated costs may be transmitted by certified mail, email, or courier. The appellant may designate the record within 10 days after notice of costs (previously 3 days after the appeal), the appellee within 14 days, with a revised cost estimate when the record is designated.
• Writs and Appeals (R.S. 13:319): Writs and appeals from contemporaneous rulings in the same or consolidated cases are assigned to the same randomly selected panel, absent good cause.
• Small Claims (R.S. 13:5206): Raises the threshold for transferring a small claims case because of a reconventional demand from $3,000 to $5,000.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Removes full dates of birth from the list of private information that may not be included in civil and criminal court filings. Filers remain responsible for ensuring that filings do not include:

• The first five digits of any Social Security number.
• Tax identification, state identification, or driver's license numbers.
• Financial account numbers.
• Any other information protected from disclosure by state or federal law.

In criminal matters, the restrictions do not apply to expungement proceedings and do not limit the information a prosecuting agency must provide under Code of Criminal Procedure Article 388.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends Code of Civil Procedure Article 253(B)(3) to add jury bonds to the original documents that may be filed in paper form, in person, by U.S. mail, or by commercial courier, notwithstanding the general requirement that attorney filings be made electronically or in person.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Enacts R.S. 13:4165(G). In complex causes of action involving multiple cases with common questions of fact that are consolidated under Louisiana Supreme Court rules, a special master appointed by the trial court must comply with the Code of Judicial Conduct and the appointment and disqualification requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 53, except where those requirements conflict with state law.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Enacts Code of Civil Procedure Article 1313(E), defining "counsel of record" for purposes of service by mail, delivery, or electronic means as counsel who has enrolled in the action for a party.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Provides that any pleading or document filed with the clerk, whether electronically or on paper, is acceptable on either legal-size or letter-size paper. Like Act 194, it also removes full dates of birth from the list of private information prohibited in civil and criminal filings.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends Code of Civil Procedure Article 1467. Before a court may order that a request for admission is deemed admitted, the parties must hold a Rule 10.1 discovery conference under the Rules for Louisiana District Courts. The conference requirement does not apply to default judgments.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends Code of Civil Procedure Article 2415 to let federally insured financial institutions deliver garnished funds to the sheriff without a further court order when the institution admits in its answer that it holds the debtor's funds and has received no notice of opposition:

• $1,000 or less: The funds may be delivered immediately.
• More than $1,000: The funds may be delivered 30 days after the garnishment answer is filed.

Delivery discharges the institution's obligation to the debtor to that extent. The Article does not apply to garnishment of wages, salaries, tips, or commissions.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends Code of Civil Procedure Articles 2412 and 2413 on garnishees who fail to answer:

• The notice served on the garnishee must state in boldface that failing to file a sworn answer within 30 days may make the garnishee personally responsible for the entire amount owed by the judgment debtor.
• A garnishee with a judgment rendered against it for failing to appear has 30 days from service of the judgment to move for a new trial, supported by an affidavit.
• At the new trial, the garnishee must prove that it never held property of or owed the debtor during the garnishment, or that it has satisfied the judgment to the extent of the property or debt it actually held.
• The court's award of costs and attorney fees against the garnishee must include the additional costs and fees the creditor incurred because of the garnishee's failure to answer.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends Code of Civil Procedure Articles 1201, 1672, and 3955 on paying fees for service of citation:

• A request for service is timely only if it is made within the required period and all fees specified by the clerk are paid on time.
• On receiving a request, the clerk must send the filer a confirmation and a statement of initial fees, which must be paid within the 90-day period for requesting service.
• Any additional fees must be paid within the 90-day period or within 30 days of receiving the clerk's statement, whichever is longer.
• A defendant may obtain dismissal without prejudice if fees are not paid on time, unless good cause is shown.
• The fee requirements do not apply to litigants permitted to proceed without paying costs.

Applies prospectively only.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Enacts R.S. 13:754(F)(3), adding a $5 fee to each document recording subject to the Louisiana Clerks' Remote Access Authority (LCRAA) statewide portal. The clerk retains 50 cents, LCRAA retains 50 cents, and the remainder goes to the Court Modernization and Technology Fund, including for statewide electronic filing integration. The Supreme Court and appellate courts must enter cooperative agreements toward a single filing platform integrated with LCRAA, and LCRAA must report to the Legislature by the 2028 Regular Session.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026 (fee applies beginning January 1, 2027; expires August 1, 2029 unless extended)

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Summary: Makes claims against an aerospace flight entity arising from its acts in connection with a public issue subject to a special motion to strike, unless the plaintiff shows a probability of success on the claim. The motion may be filed within 90 days of service of the petition (or later with leave of court), discovery is stayed while it is pending, and the prevailing party is awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs. Does not apply to enforcement actions brought by the attorney general, a district attorney, or a city attorney.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Extends the limitation of liability for volunteer coaches, managers, trainers, and other youth sports volunteers to those who complete a youth injury mitigation course approved by the Louisiana Department of Health. Approved courses must cover emergency preparedness, heat and weather-related injuries, overuse injuries and conditioning, and cardiac conditions that can lead to sudden death, and may satisfy the existing safety orientation requirement under R.S. 9:2798.

Effective Date: May 22, 2026

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Summary: Adds armed security officers to the persons protected by R.S. 9:2793.12, which bars recovery by a perpetrator (or the perpetrator's survivors or heirs) for injury, death, or loss caused by the justified use of force or self-defense with a firearm. An armed security officer receives this protection only if the perpetrator was wielding a dangerous weapon at the time of the injury.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Enacts R.S. 9:2791.2. Except for a willful or malicious failure to warn of a dangerous condition, the owner of a nonpublic use airport is not liable for loss or damage to any person on the property related to an emergency landing of an aircraft. The protection does not extend to owners of commercial recreational developments or facilities.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Shields aerospace flight entities that own and occupy at least 20,000 contiguous acres in Louisiana from nuisance, trespass, inverse condemnation, strict liability, and similar claims based on noise, sonic booms, overflight, vibration, and other disturbances from flight activities. Also limits liability to flight participants who signed the consent required by federal law. Exceptions include gross negligence, willful or wanton misconduct, intentional injury, violations of FAA license conditions, and injury from falling debris beyond the normal risk of flight activities.

Effective Date: June 8, 2026

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Summary: Amends R.S. 13:5112(C). In suits against the state or its political subdivisions, legal interest on personal injury and wrongful death claims now accrues at the lesser of 6% per annum or the judicial interest rate under R.S. 13:4202 (previously a flat 6%), from the date service is requested until judgment is signed.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends R.S. 9:5607(A), the five-year peremptive period for actions against design and construction professionals. If the owner's acceptance of the work is not recorded within six months after the owner occupies or takes possession of the improvement, the five years run from the date of occupancy or possession.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends R.S. 22:868(B). A payment made by an insurer under certain first-party property policies (including homeowners' coverage) is not an acknowledgment of the debt and does not interrupt, suspend, or extend the prescriptive period, which runs from the inception of the loss. When an insurer makes an unconditional payment under the dwelling or other-structures coverage of a homeowners' policy, it must notify the claimant in writing that the payment does not extend prescription.

Effective Date: June 9, 2026 (written notice requirement effective January 1, 2027)

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Summary: Amends R.S. 13:3881:

• Raises the motor vehicle exemption from $7,500 to $15,000 in equity for one vehicle used for any purpose, valued using J.D. Power retail value (previously NADA).
• Allows a second vehicle to be exempt up to $15,000 if the debtor is married or has a licensed-driver child in the household (unless the debtor claims the modified-vehicle exemption).
• Raises the exemption for a vehicle modified for a disability from $7,500 to $20,000; a debtor claiming it is limited to that one vehicle.
• Adds health savings accounts to the exemption for pensions, tax-deferred arrangements, and annuities (except for alimony and child support).

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends R.S. 9:3251(A). A residential landlord who keeps all or part of a deposit now has an additional 15 days, beyond the existing one-month deadline after the tenancy ends, to send the itemized statement of the amounts retained and the reasons.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends R.S. 9:3261.1 to include stalking and cyberstalking in the definition of "domestic abuse" for early termination of a residential lease. A victim may use the Certification of Domestic Abuse form even if the stalking did not occur on the leased premises, by explaining why remaining there threatens their safety. Also expands who may serve as a "qualified third party" to sign the certification, adding licensed professional counselors, prosecutors, and investigating officers involved in the case.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Revises the Civil Code articles on leases (Arts. 2674, 2681, 2711–2713, and new Arts. 2681.1, 2681.2, and 2713.1). Leases of goods now have effect against third persons upon delivery, and the Code addresses when a lease of goods by a nonowner binds the owner. Clarifies that the lessor, as well as the lessee, may assign or encumber rights under a lease, and limits the strict-construction rule for anti-assignment clauses to leases of immovables.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends R.S. 47:2202(D). A political subdivision may sell adjudicated property appraised at less than $50,000 directly to a buyer at a fixed price set by resolution or ordinance, if the property was offered at public sale within the previous 12 months.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Adds digital assets to Louisiana's unclaimed property law. A digital asset is presumed abandoned three years after the owner's last indication of interest (or three years after mail from the holder is returned). Notices to owners must warn that the asset may be liquidated, and the administrator may direct a holder to liquidate it.

Effective Date: January 1, 2027

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Summary: Proposed amendment to Article I, Section 18 of the Louisiana Constitution providing that a person convicted of an aggravated offense (as defined in R.S. 15:541) against a minor is not eligible for post-conviction bail. Submitted to voters at the November 3, 2026 election.

Effective Date: Upon voter approval at the November 3, 2026 election

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Summary: Amends Code of Criminal Procedure Article 312. The rebuttable presumption of danger and flight risk after conviction now applies to any crime punishable by 25 years or more that is either a sex offense or a crime of violence (previously both). Bail after conviction is prohibited for capital offenses and for aggravated offenses against a minor.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Tightens bail rules for violent, sex, and firearm offenses:

• Adds firearm offenses and sex offenses to the offenses for which a defendant who previously failed to appear (with an outstanding warrant) or had bail revoked or forfeited is ineligible for readmittance to bail.
• Requires remand to custody after sentencing as well as before, and bars post-conviction bail when the offender poses a substantial flight risk or imminent danger.
• Applies the post-conviction presumption of danger to crimes punishable by 25 years or more that are either a sex offense or a crime of violence, based on cumulative maximum sentences, and to habitual offender defendants.
• Requires revocation of bail for a crime of violence, sex offense, or firearm offense upon a new, unrelated felony arrest, with supervisory review available to either side.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends Code of Criminal Procedure Article 320. A defendant charged with human trafficking or trafficking of children for sexual purposes must, as a condition of bail, refrain from contact with the victim (with limited exceptions) and from certain work, including rideshare driving, operating buses, taxis, or limousines, in-home service work, operating amusement rides, door-to-door sales, supervising children, and operating child care facilities.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends Code of Criminal Procedure Article 313. A court may order a person charged with certain domestic abuse offenses (including domestic abuse battery, protective order violations, stalking, and felonies involving force against a family member) held without bail for a "cooling off" period of 48 to 72 hours, considering any facts showing increased risk to the victim, the victim's family, or the public. The period begins on the probable cause determination and runs concurrently with the 72-hour period for appearance and appointment of counsel.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Parishes using electronic bonds must also allow in-person bonds. Sheriffs may set additional approval requirements and geographic restrictions, and electronic bond providers must keep a registry of sheriff-approved agents and verify agents against it. Provides for multi-factor authentication, allows ACH payment, and limits fees charged to bond producers to actual transaction costs.

Effective Date: May 29, 2026

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Summary: Amends Code of Criminal Procedure Articles 329, 333, and 335:

• Appearance bonds must include a valid mailing address and email address for service for the defendant, sureties, and bail agent; a bond forfeiture judgment may not be denied or set aside because that information was invalid or missing.
• The clerk must send notice of a warrant for failure to appear to the prosecutor, defendant, and personal surety by mail or electronically, and to the bail agent and commercial surety electronically or by certified mail within 60 days. Failure to send notice within 60 days releases the surety.
• Sets an August 1, 2028 deadline to file a rule to show cause on certain outstanding warrants.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends Code of Criminal Procedure Article 900. A probationer (other than for a crime of violence or sex offense) who commits a technical violation may be required to serve up to 180 days without diminution of sentence if the sentence is served in a custodial substance abuse treatment program (otherwise, the 90-day limit remains).

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Allows the committee on parole, in lieu of revocation, to commit a parolee who violates parole to a mental health treatment program or a certified treatment and rehabilitation program, in addition to a community rehabilitation center or substance abuse program, and extends the maximum commitment from six months to one year.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: When the committee on parole requires a prisoner to complete rehabilitative programs before release, the release date may now be extended up to 24 months (previously nine months) after the parole hearing or most recent reconsideration.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Requires the committee on parole to give written notice of a medical parole or medical treatment furlough hearing to the district attorney, the attorney general, and the victim (or the victim's family) at least 30 days before the hearing, and adds medical parole and medical treatment furlough to the exceptions to parole ineligibility.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Allows waiver of extradition (and agreement not to contest return) as a condition of probation. A parolee or probationer returned from outside Louisiana must pay the Division of Probation and Parole the full cost of extradition based on ability to pay, and the court may set a payment plan.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: After a fourth or subsequent DWI offender completes incarceration, home incarceration, treatment, active probation, or parole, the court must place the offender on unsupervised probation until the end of the original sentence or 20 years from sentencing, whichever is longer, unless the court suspends the remainder of the sentence.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Requires an adult on electronic monitoring to give the monitoring provider a method of payment to guarantee fees, allows repayment as a monitoring condition, and sets procedures for notice, hearings, device removal, and surety actions when supervision fees go unpaid.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Extends the prohibition on having a financial interest in an electronic monitoring vendor to elected judges, district attorneys, sheriffs, police chiefs, constables, marshals, and their immediate families.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: A person who was a documented victim of domestic abuse, human trafficking, or sexual assault when committing the offense may apply for a pardon or commutation immediately (or after five years if serving life for a crime of violence), except for sex offenses requiring registration, death sentences, and certain terrorism offenses. Courts must also consider a defendant's victimization, and its connection to the offense, when deciding on suspension of sentence or probation.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Adds 13 new opiates to Schedule I of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law (R.S. 40:964).

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends R.S. 40:981.3. A marijuana violation within a drug-free school zone is now punishable by up to one year of imprisonment and a fine of up to $1,000, rather than the enhanced school zone penalty that applies to other controlled substances.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Extends the enhanced penalties for repeat DWI offenders with prior convictions for vehicular homicide, third degree feticide, or first degree vehicular negligent injuring (or equivalent out-of-state offenses) to third and fourth offenses, not just second offenses.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: The "Judge Jules Edwards, III Impaired Driving Prevention Act." Probation for a first or second DWI offense must include an evidence-based screening, validated for impaired drivers, for substance use disorder risk. If the screening shows risk, the court may order a clinical assessment. Results are confidential and reported only to the court, the prosecutor, and defense counsel.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: "Jada's Law." Allows the custodial agency to hold a person arrested for DWI who is presumed under the influence of alcohol until release is safe, without restricting the right to bail or the court's authority to set bail conditions. Does not apply to persons 17 or younger.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Updates R.S. 32:414 so that license suspensions for DWI and vehicular negligent injuring apply to driving under the influence of any drug, combination of drugs, or combination of alcohol and drugs, replacing narrower references to narcotics and stimulants.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Changes the responsive verdict for vehicular negligent injuring and first degree vehicular negligent injuring from "guilty of operating a vehicle while intoxicated" to "guilty of operating a vehicle while intoxicated or impaired," with conforming changes for city, parish, and municipal court prosecutions.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Extends the crime of driving without a required ignition interlock device (or having someone else blow into it) to persons required to have the device as a condition of probation, not just bail.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Repeals the additional fines ($25 to $250, by offense) that DWI offenders paid into the Louisiana Emergency Response Network Fund.

Effective Date: April 27, 2026

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Summary: Amends Code of Criminal Procedure Article 880. When consecutive sentences are imposed, credit for time in custody before sentencing may be applied to only one of the sentences, even if a sentence is later corrected. Overlapping credit awarded in violation of the article is null and void.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Creates the crime of unlawful exposure by an inmate who exposes intimate parts to arouse sexual desire or to intimidate or harass a correctional facility employee. Punishable by up to three years and a $2,500 fine (up to five years and $25,000 for a repeat offense), served consecutively to any current sentence. The offense is a "sex offense" requiring registration.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: When an inmate held for a felony crime of violence is improperly released from a parish jail or state facility, the sheriff or person in charge must immediately notify law enforcement, the victim, and the district attorney, and may notify local media.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: A sheriff transferring a pretrial prisoner to another parish's jail must notify the prosecuting authority as well as the court that set bail. Removes the requirement that the court be notified at least 72 hours in advance.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Adds an associate's degree (alongside a bachelor's degree) earned while incarcerated as qualifying an eligible inmate for an additional 90 days of good time credit.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Allows the DPS&C secretary to grant temporary release for palliative or medical care to a terminally ill inmate whose death is expected within 120 days (previously 60 days).

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Makes several changes to crimes against the person:

• Creates the crime of second degree cruelty to the elderly and persons with infirmities, punishable by up to 40 years at hard labor, and adds it to the list of crimes of violence and as a predicate for first and second degree murder. Provides an affirmative defense for caregivers using a recognized spiritual method of healing.
• Adds new first degree murder circumstances: murder committed while on bail, probation, or parole in violation of a condition; murder with a firearm by a person prohibited from possessing one; and murder in a public place that knowingly creates a risk of death or great bodily harm to three or more people.
• Creates a rebuttable presumption that pointing and discharging a firearm at another person shows specific intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Raises the maximum sentence for negligent homicide from 10 to 15 years. When the victim is under 13 (previously under 10), the sentence is 2 to 20 years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: When domestic abuse battery or battery of a dating partner involves strangulation, the offender faces up to 10 years at hard labor (previously an additional three years), with at least one year served without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Increases the enhanced penalty for domestic abuse battery or battery of a dating partner committed in the presence of a child 13 or younger to one to three years at hard labor for a first offense and three to six years for a second or subsequent offense (previously up to three years).

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Expands battery of a school teacher to include batteries committed because of the victim's status as a teacher. Revises penalties: a student offender faces up to $1,000 or 30 days to six months (up to one year if the battery causes serious bodily injury) and must be evaluated for developmental disability if not previously evaluated. A nonstudent faces one to five years, with at least six months served without benefit, regardless of injury. Also provides for secure commitment of certain juveniles adjudicated for this offense.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Creates enhanced penalties for threats against schools:

• Terrorizing a school: up to $15,000 and 5 to 15 years without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
• Menacing a school: up to $1,000 and two to five years.
• Juveniles adjudicated for these offenses or false bomb threats on school property face a mental examination, probation or detention, and/or the Back on Track Youth Pilot Program (now open to youth 14 and older), and parents face a civil fine of up to $5,000 after a first adjudication.
• Adds these offenses as predicates for improper supervision of a minor, and requires schools (including charter schools) to inform students and parents of the consequences.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Expands the definition of battery in R.S. 14:33 to include directing sound at a person that is capable of causing physical pain, hearing impairment, or bodily injury.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Revises R.S. 14:43.5 to require that the offender knew he was HIV-positive and that the contact posed a substantial likelihood of transmission. Provides an affirmative defense if the defendant disclosed that he was receiving HIV care and maintained a viral load that effectively eliminated the risk of sexual transmission, and provides that conduct with no medically recognized risk of transmission is not criminal. Adds procedures for introducing medical evidence (C.Cr.P. Art. 726.1).

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Creates the crime of operating an unlicensed group home that houses two or more residents over whom the operator exercises control (shown, for example, by holding a power of attorney or receiving residents' government benefits). Penalties range from up to $1,000 or six months, to up to 10 years when conditions caused or were likely to cause suffering, to 5 to 40 years at hard labor when conditions contributed to a resident's death.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Adds interrupting a worship service or religious ceremony to the crime of disturbing the peace, punishable by up to $500 and six months (30 days without benefit), with up to two years if the offender commits simple battery or criminal damage, and up to five years if armed with a dangerous weapon.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends R.S. 14:79 to provide that a person may be criminally liable for violation of a protective order for intentionally evading service of process of injunctions, protective orders, temporary restraining orders, and Uniform Abuse Prevention Orders.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Adds rape where the offender's force overpowers the victim's ability to resist to first degree rape. Provides a 10-year time limitation to prosecute third degree rape (replacing the rule that time did not run until the victim discovered the crime), adds an indictment form for forcible or second degree rape, revises responsive verdicts for first degree rape, and repeals the separate crime of oral sexual battery.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Expands the definition of child sexual abuse materials to include digital data capable of conversion into an image, and an image created or generated by electronic or digital means, including artificial intelligence, that a reasonable person would find virtually indistinguishable from a real child under 17. "Produce" now includes causing AI to generate such materials.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Makes it unlawful to use an image of a person who was (or appears to be) under 17 with the intent to train an artificial intelligence model to produce child sexual abuse materials.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Increases penalties for disseminating or selling AI-generated images of another person (up to one year and $1,000, or up to five years when the person depicted is a minor). Creates the crime of unlawful possession of such images, punishable by up to five years with one year without benefit. Adds two consecutive years when an educator victimizes a student, and routes offenders under 14 to Families in Need of Services proceedings.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: When a person under 17 transmits an indecent image of himself, or receives or possesses an image sent by the person depicted, the offense is handled under the sexting statute rather than as child sexual abuse materials, unless the minor acted to obtain something of value or to cause emotional distress.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Shifts reporting duties in child sexual abuse materials cases from the attorney general's Internet Crimes Against Children division to the investigating law enforcement agency, which must provide case information and newly created materials to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Child Victim Identification Program.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Adds a mandatory minimum of six months without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence for a second conviction of purchasing commercial sexual activity, and makes it a sex offense requiring registration.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Adopts a single definition of "commercial sexual activity" for both human trafficking and trafficking of children for sexual purposes: any sexual, lewd, or lascivious act performed when anything of value is given, promised, or received, including production or transmission of child sexual abuse materials or pornography.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Any child engaged in prostitution or prostitution-related offenses is presumed to be a human trafficking victim and is exempt from criminal responsibility and delinquency proceedings for those offenses, and is eligible for specialized services. Adds soliciting for prostitutes to the offenses for which trafficking victims have an affirmative defense, and requires that a thing of value be received or agreed upon as an element of prostitution.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Adds school resource officers and security guards to the definition of "educator" for the crime of prohibited sexual conduct between an educator and a student.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: An accessory after the fact to a sex offense faces one-half of the minimum to one-half of the maximum sentence for the principal, or 10 to 50 years at hard labor without benefit if the sex offense is punishable by life imprisonment.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: The "Jacob Carter Dignity in Death Act." Expands video voyeurism to include filming or photographing the body of a deceased person, including with a drone, with exceptions for law enforcement and authorized funeral or memorial services. Clarifies which violations require sex offender registration.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Adds unlawful deepfakes depicting minors in sexual conduct to the definitions of "sex offense" and "sexual offense against a victim who is a minor." Registration and notification deadlines run from release from the initial confinement for the registrable offense, and offenders who return to the same address after more than 30 days in custody or commitment generally need not renew community notifications for five years. Adds a QR code requirement for registered offenders' licenses and ID cards (effective January 1, 2027).

Effective Date: August 1, 2026 (QR code provisions effective January 1, 2027)

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Summary: Requires courts to inform sex offenders of supervised release requirements (including that offenders with victims under 13 will be subject to supervised release on release from incarceration) and to send the completed notification form to Probation and Parole. Violations of supervised release conditions may be prosecuted in the parish that imposed supervised release or where the violation occurred.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Expands gambling by computer to include dual-currency games that simulate gambling, raises the maximum fine for offering such games to $100,000, and makes each wager a separate violation. Prohibits payment processors and platform providers from facilitating it, requires forfeiture of profits, and authorizes the attorney general to issue cease and desist notices (posted online as prima facie evidence of knowledge) and seek injunctions.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Creates the crime of paying or receiving anything of value for referring a patient to a residential substance abuse, mental health, or substance use disorder treatment facility, punishable by up to five years and $50,000, with restitution to victims.

Effective Date: May 22, 2026

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Summary: Creates the crime of falsely claiming military service records or awards to obtain a benefit or advantage. Punishable by up to $1,000 and six months; up to $5,000 and one year for awards such as the Medal of Honor, Purple Heart, or Silver Star; and up to $10,000 and five years, with full restitution, when the claim results in benefits reserved for service members or veterans.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: All theft of critical infrastructure is now punishable by up to $50,000 and 20 years at hard labor. Flying drones over or hacking the electronics of critical infrastructure constitutes unauthorized entry, oil and gas drilling operations and public drinking water systems are added as critical infrastructure, and these offenses become predicates for terrorism.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Adds certain facilities, areas, equipment, and structures to the definition of "critical infrastructure" for the crime of unauthorized entry (R.S. 14:61) and related provisions.

Effective Date: May 15, 2026

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Summary: Adds one to two consecutive years to a noncapital felony committed by an agent of a foreign adversary or foreign terrorist organization to coerce, intimidate, or retaliate against constitutionally protected conduct. Creates the crime of surveillance or obstruction to enforce foreign law (two to six years), and makes court, arbitral, or agency decisions based on foreign law that deny constitutional rights void in Louisiana.

Effective Date: May 22, 2026

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Summary: Prohibits manufacturing or selling motor vehicle key programming or emulation devices and relay attack devices (up to $1,000 and six months), with exceptions for law enforcement, dealers, mechanics, locksmiths, and repossession agencies. Criminal intent may be inferred from circumstances, and authorized sellers must report lost or stolen devices within 48 hours.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Increases fines for desecration of graves (to $1,000) and institutional vandalism (to $1,000, or $1,000 to $5,000 for damage between $500 and $50,000), and requires restitution, including for vandalism of religious buildings.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Adds mail theft and theft or reproduction of mail receptacle keys or locks to the predicate offenses for racketeering.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Adds certain gambling-related crimes to the predicate offenses for racketeering.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: The "Streets to Success Act." Authorizes district courts to create Homelessness Court programs with probation, treatment, and dismissal on successful completion. Creates the crime of unauthorized camping on public property (up to $500 and six months), with eligibility for Homelessness or Veterans Court. Prohibits political subdivisions from allowing regular public camping on public property, effective January 1, 2027.

Effective Date: June 9, 2026 (political subdivision camping provisions effective January 1, 2027)

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Summary: Authorizes law enforcement to take reasonable mitigation measures, including interception, against drones reasonably suspected of illegal or threatening conduct, with training and certification requirements and annual reporting. Creates a Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Joint Task Force within State Police.

Effective Date: June 8, 2026

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Summary: Adds the grounds of the state capitol, including the Capitol, Annex, Gardens, Pentagon Barracks, Capitol Lake, Claiborne Building, and nearby parking, to the locations where operating a drone without consent is unlawful.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Prohibits intentionally using wearable eyeglasses to video record or transcribe a direct conversation unless all participants are notified. Exceptions include public meetings, law enforcement and first responder activity, recording officers in public, preserving evidence for civil or criminal proceedings, and recordings by a participant in his own home, business, or vehicle. A violator is liable for court costs and attorney fees, and a claimant must show actual damages. Enacted as a civil remedy in R.S. 9:2790.1–2790.4.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Imposes a two-year mandatory minimum, without benefit, for aggravated flight from an officer resulting in serious bodily injury. Fines must fund pursuit training or pursuit-risk technology, and insurance proceeds received as a result of the crime are subject to forfeiture.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: The "Christina Larsen Act." When a hit-and-run victim is a pedestrian or bicyclist, at least two years (serious bodily injury) or five years (death) of the sentence must be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Requires judges to consider the Article 316 bail factors for hit-and-run defendants, requires DPS&C to develop protocols for rapidly notifying law enforcement of hit-and-runs, and requires agencies to share information through the Louisiana Law Enforcement Telecommunications System.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Limits reckless operation of an off-road vehicle to public roads and rights-of-way within municipalities or incorporated areas. Allows law enforcement to seize an off-road vehicle on probable cause, with a warrant applied for within 72 hours, and creates a forfeiture process.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Updates the pavement markings required in school zones using automated speed enforcement to the word "SCHOOL" striped across the lane next to the school sign, in accordance with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Existing compliant markings remain valid until the road is resurfaced or remarked.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Clarifies R.S. 32:295.1 to require that a seat belt be worn as designed.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Authorizes the Office of Motor Vehicles to provide specially designed envelopes for drivers with disabilities or autism spectrum disorder that include guidelines to help officers communicate with them during traffic stops.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Raises the fine threshold for a six-person jury trial in a misdemeanor case from more than $1,000 to more than $2,500 (or imprisonment over six months). Applies prospectively and retroactively to June 8, 2025.

Effective Date: May 18, 2026 (became law without the governor's signature)

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Summary: Disqualifies anyone convicted of a felony crime of violence or felony sex offense from serving as a juror in a criminal case. The disqualification does not apply to civil juries.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Prohibits disclosure of information identifying jurors, except to a local government or on a court finding of good cause after a motion, with a penalty of up to $1,000 and six months. Applies prospectively.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: In district courts with three or more criminal judges, a defendant's motion to waive a jury requires random reassignment of the case to another judge, unless the prosecutor files a written waiver of reassignment within 10 days. A waiver resulting in reassignment interrupts the time limits for commencing trial.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Law enforcement drone footage is self-authenticating by certificate if the offering party gives notice at least 45 days before trial (30 days in noncriminal juvenile cases), unless the defense files a timely demand for the operator's testimony. Applies in criminal, juvenile, related family court, and civil forfeiture proceedings.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Enacts Code of Evidence Article 416, providing that autopsy photographs are admissible in any criminal proceeding.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Any requirement to provide a copy of a protected person's videotaped statement to defense counsel, the court, or others may be met by providing secure electronic access. Pro se defendants may not have electronic access, and physical copies are still required when the video is introduced at trial.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Provides a 10-year time limitation for prosecuting abuse of office, bribery, corrupt influencing, malfeasance in office, and public bribery by elected officials and public employees, beginning when the official leaves office or the employee's employment ends.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Allows a magistrate to recall an arrest warrant he issued, with immediate written notice to the district attorney and the executing law enforcement agency. A warrant remains in effect until executed or recalled.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Repeals the 24-hour waiting period after a motion for new trial or in arrest of judgment is overruled. A sentence may not be imposed until after any such motion is overruled.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: A court may not reduce or vacate a sentence without first holding a hearing at which the victim may be heard, and the clerk must give the victim written notice of the motion. A sentence modification granted without compliance is voidable as patent error. The family may testify if the victim is deceased or disabled.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Requires denial of post-conviction relief for claims the petitioner failed to raise before conviction or failed to pursue on appeal (removing the "inexcusably" qualifier). A judgment granting relief is stayed, and bail is unavailable, until the time to seek Supreme Court review expires or the Supreme Court acts.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: When a federal court stays a habeas proceeding so the petitioner can exhaust a claim, the petitioner must file it in the state district court of conviction within 30 days. The district court and the Supreme Court must expedite review.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: A motion to expunge arrest information must be accompanied, where they exist, by criminal background checks, a district attorney certification of no convictions or pending charges, court minutes showing final disposition, and the charging instrument, sent to the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Requires a court order directing the appropriate law enforcement agency before an employer may release criminal history records of an employee (removing the written-consent exception), prohibits forwarding a criminal history check to another employer, and conforms state law to FBI requirements for criminal history information.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Renames crime victims "reparations" as "compensation" (including the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund and Board) and restructures the program. Expands eligible claimants and compensable losses to include property seized as evidence, temporary lodging or relocation for safety, and tattoo removal for trafficking victims, and adds sexually oriented offenses as covered crimes.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Allows survivors to direct their statements to the inmate at parole and pardon hearings, requires preservation of all sexual assault collection kits without charge for the maximum period required by law (at least 20 years), requires that survivors be notified of their rights, and permits disclosure of a minor victim's name when the crime results in death.

Effective Date: June 8, 2026

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Summary: The "Services For Survivors of Sexually Oriented Criminal Offenses Access Act." Creates a statewide SANE coordinator in the Department of Justice, a teleSANE training program, and a mobile SANE program, and requires sexual assault collection kits to meet standards set by the Department of Justice and a new standards subcommittee.

Effective Date: June 3, 2026

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Summary: Adds victims of sex offenses to the protected individuals who may request that public bodies and third parties not publish, and remove, their personal information. The request must include a police report, protective order, or judgment, and public bodies must acknowledge it within five days and remove the information within 72 hours.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Makes it a crime, punishable by up to one year and $2,500, to intentionally disclose a person's abuse status in insurance records to coerce, intimidate, or harass, or to disclose confidential records of the Domestic Abuse Battery Fatality Review Panel. Shelters are not liable for unlawful disclosures by individuals.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Prohibits charging fees or costs to a victim, a deceased victim's family, or a victim's guardian who requests a copy of testimony presented in executive session before the Board of Pardons or committee on parole.

Effective Date: May 22, 2026

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Summary: Requires district attorneys to submit sexual assault collection kits to the statewide tracking system.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Allows a district attorney to seek life without parole for a juvenile indicted for second degree murder (previously only first degree murder), with a hearing on parole eligibility. Directs reviewing courts to give paramount consideration to the information considered by the original sentencer, and limits parole consideration under the court-determination process to juveniles indicted before August 1, 2017 or on or after August 1, 2026.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Makes transfer of post-adjudication proceedings to the court of the child's domicile discretionary, allows law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges to obtain juvenile records relevant to an ongoing investigation or proceeding (subject to protective orders), requires notice to the district attorney when a child is taken into custody on a court order, and revises the rules for alternatives to detention.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: A child committed to the Office of Juvenile Justice must have an initial review hearing by video conference within six months of commitment, followed by in-person hearings every six months unless waived, and the court may order more frequent video hearings.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Defines a "child," for juvenile traffic violations, as anyone under 21 (including an emancipated minor) who commits a traffic violation before turning 17.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Extends the concealed carry exception to designated assistants of the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, and the commissioners of agriculture and insurance, if POST-qualified. These officials and a designated staff member may carry in the state capitol, but not in the House or Senate chambers or committee rooms.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Requires DPS&C to provide public service information to municipal police departments on the dangers and penalties of discharging firearms into the air, at times of year set by law, using existing public awareness funding.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Enacts Civil Code Article 138, codifying the custody modification standards of Bergeron v. Bergeron, 492 So. 2d 1193 (La. 1986), with modifications:

• Within five years of a considered decree: Custody may be modified only on proof, in the child's best interest, either by clear and convincing evidence that the harm likely caused by a change is substantially outweighed by its advantages to the child, or that continuing the present custody is so harmful to the child as to justify modification.
• After five years, and in all other cases (including consent decrees and "hybrid" judgments): Custody may be modified on a change in circumstances materially affecting the child's welfare, if the modification is in the child's best interest.
• A judgment is "rendered by considered decree" when the court receives evidence of parental fitness and enters a final, appealable judgment based on that evidence.
• Per the revision comments, interim or temporary orders and orders entered by hearing officers are not considered decrees.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends R.S. 9:355.2 so that, for child relocation purposes, miles are measured by the shortest distance publicly accessible by motor vehicle or public ferry from the child's principal residence to the new intended principal residence. Also removes outdated applicability provisions based on the date of the custody order and updates the list of protective orders that make the relocation statutes inapplicable.

Effective Date: January 1, 2027 (does not apply to relocation litigation pending on that date)

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Summary: Amends R.S. 9:4216 and R.S. 13:1805:

• Arbitration: Arbitration of child custody or visitation is against Louisiana public policy. Any agreement provision mandating it is void and unenforceable, and no Louisiana court may recognize or enforce an arbitral award governing custody or visitation.
• Foreign custody law: A foreign country's custody law is manifestly contrary to Louisiana public policy if it does not grant parents the same fundamental constitutional rights (including equal protection, due process, and free exercise of religion), does not use the best interest of the child standard, does not consider domestic violence, or does not consider whether a custody or visitation determination risks substantial harm to the child.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends R.S. 9:335(A)(2)(b) on joint custody. Physical custody of the child shall be shared equally unless the court determines that equal sharing is not feasible or not in the best interest of the child. Previously, the statute provided that physical custody should be shared equally to the extent feasible and in the child's best interest.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends R.S. 46:2135. In a domestic abuse temporary restraining order proceeding, the court may, on its own motion, obtain and consider the criminal history of the parties. A party affected by the use of criminal history must be given the opportunity to rebut and respond to it at the rule to show cause hearing.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Authorizes the Louisiana Supreme Court's judicial administrator to develop a statewide portal for filing petitions for protective orders online. An online petition must include a written affirmation, signed and dated by the petitioner under penalty of perjury and executed before a witness who signs and prints his name, that the facts in the petition are true.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Enacted on recommendation of the Louisiana State Law Institute:

• Acknowledgment by minors (R.S. 9:405.1–405.3): An unemancipated minor under 16 may not acknowledge paternity. A minor aged 16 or 17 may do so only with judicial authorization, which the court may grant ex parte after considering the best interests of both the minor parent and the child. Venue lies in the parish where the minor parent or the child is domiciled, and the court may require the minor to appear.
• Child support deviation (R.S. 9:315.1): Adds as a deviation factor a parent's status as an unemancipated minor with limited contractual, procedural, and earning capacity, the availability of family or other support, and the desirability of continuing the minor parent's education.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends R.S. 40:46.12(E). A voluntary acknowledgment of paternity executed through a hospital-based paternity program must be signed by both parents, with their signatures authenticated by a notary, and does not require two witnesses. It has the same force and effect as an authentic act for changing or recording the child's paternity with the state registrar. The provision does not apply to parents under 18.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Enacts R.S. 22:2472, requiring insurers to check for unpaid child support before paying certain claims:

• Applies to bodily injury and wrongful death liability claims and workers' compensation claims, but not uninsured/underinsured motorist claims.
• Before making a "qualifying payment" (over $500, for general damages or lost wages), the insurer must run a data match with the DCFS Office of Child Support, directly or through a claims data organization or child support lien network.
• If DCFS identifies an obligation, the insurer must withhold that amount and remit it to DCFS within 20 days. DCFS must verify the amount within 60 days and return any excess to the claimant.
• Reasonable attorney fees and litigation expenses, property damage, related unpaid medical expenses, and funeral expenses take priority over the withholding.
• Insurers acting in good faith are immune from civil and criminal liability, and need not delay a payment if doing so would expose them to penalties, but must give DCFS a reasonable opportunity to respond.

Effective Date: July 1, 2027

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Summary: Enacts R.S. 9:2801.3. Future wages or earnings under an employment contract executed during the community property regime are the separate property of the contracting spouse for any portion of the contract unearned when the community terminates, including amounts later paid as severance or liquidated damages. The Legislature states its intent to overrule Orgeron v. Orgeron, 413 So. 3d 390 (2025).

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Enacts R.S. 9:360–360.1. When a medical expert is subpoenaed to testify about allegations of child abuse or neglect, the court must take the expert's testimony before the parties and other witnesses, absent extenuating circumstances, and for all purposes for which the expert was subpoenaed. Applies to child custody proceedings and Child in Need of Care proceedings.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Implements the Louisiana State Law Institute's continuous revision of the Children's Code:

• Replaces "foster parent" with "foster caregiver" throughout and updates related definitions.
• Enacts Article 658.1, allowing a relative or other suitable individual to intervene in a Child in Need of Care proceeding on written motion and after a contradictory hearing, if good cause shows intervention is in the child's best interest (and, after adjudication, will facilitate permanency). Intervenors receive notice of hearings but generally may not participate in the adjudication hearing, and the court may exclude or dismiss them.
• Requires written findings of fact (or minute entries) on whether proper notice was given when a parent, child, or caregiver is absent from a hearing.
• Amends Article 631(B) so that a person may no longer petition for permanent custody of the child before adjudication (provisional custody petitions remain available).
• Expands the rights the court must explain to parents and children in Families in Need of Services proceedings, with written notice of those rights.
• Repeals Children's Code Articles 650, 697, and 707.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Enacts the "Terminating Restrictive Enforcement of Youth Settlements Law" ("TREY's Law"), R.S. 9:2720.21–2720.23. A nondisclosure clause is void and unenforceable to the extent it prevents a victim or alleged victim of sexual abuse against a minor from disclosing the abuse or related facts, or prevents others from disclosing facts in support of the victim. Agreements may still restrict disclosure of other information, such as the amount or payment terms of a settlement. No one may enforce a prohibited clause, regardless of when the agreement was made.

Effective Date: May 15, 2026 (applies retroactively and prospectively)

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Summary: Amends the Children's Code on Child in Need of Care proceedings:

• Foster caregivers, pre-adoptive parents, and relatives providing care must receive written notice of hearings and a reasonable opportunity to be heard, limited to their personal knowledge of the child's daily care, development, health, education, and relationships.
• The written judgment at a permanency hearing must include the basis for the permanent plan determination.
• DCFS must file a petition to terminate parental rights when a child has been in state custody for 15 of the last 22 months (previously 17), unless a compelling reason is documented.
• Requires DCFS to negotiate agreements allowing legal representation agencies to claim federal Title IV-E reimbursement for representing children, parents, and caregivers.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends the Children's Code. Pregnancy of a child 12 or younger is grounds for alleging the child is in need of care. Pregnancy of a child 14 or younger must be reported to DCFS and triggers a safety assessment, and a pregnant child 17 or younger is eligible for DCFS services such as medical coordination, counseling, case management, and protective supervision.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Renames the Foster Youth's Bill of Rights as the Foster Children's Bill of Rights and extends it from youth ages 14–18 to all foster children from birth through 18. Adds the right to proper luggage when moving between placements (prohibiting the use of garbage bags) with biennial luggage drives, the right to safe transportation with age-appropriate car restraints, and the right to be placed with suitable family members or other suitable individuals.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Revises child welfare oversight and information sharing:

• DCFS must notify the state child ombudsman of the death or near fatality of any child who is the subject of an abuse or neglect investigation, and again when the investigation concludes. The ombudsman must notify legislative leadership and committee chairs of deaths from abuse or neglect.
• Gives the ombudsman access to DCFS records (including reporter identity, which the ombudsman may not disclose) and remote access to the systems of state agencies serving children.
• Allows DCFS to disclose a reporter's identity to law enforcement investigating the report, and limits what DCFS may share with a parent or guardian who is the alleged perpetrator or lives with or is in a relationship with the alleged perpetrator.
• Creates a DCFS law enforcement liaison and a multidisciplinary critical incident review team, under the attorney general, to review substantiated fatalities and near fatalities.
• Allows public bodies to hold executive sessions for testimony containing identifying information or explicit details of child abuse, and revises referral of cases to multidisciplinary investigative teams.

Effective Date: June 23, 2026

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Summary: Enacts Code of Civil Procedure Article 2813, allowing the successions of more than one deceased person to be opened in the same proceeding, regardless of their dates of death, as long as the court has jurisdiction over each succession under Article 2811.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Amends Code of Civil Procedure Article 3421 to raise the maximum gross value of property that qualifies for a small succession from $125,000 to $200,000, valued as of the date of death.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Addresses donations on behalf of high-net-worth interdicts and forced heirs with disabilities:

• Donations by curators (R.S. 9:1026): For an interdict with a direct or beneficial net worth of $100 million or more, the court may authorize the curator, on request of the curator and undercurator, to make donations to family members and trusts using the interdict's federal gift and estate tax exclusions and exemptions, in equal amounts within each class and generation. Charitable donations are limited to 10% per year of net worth above $100 million, and charitable dispositions at death to 75% of the gross estate. Donations must not impair the interdict's financial condition, which is presumed when net worth remains at least $100 million afterward.
• Curator's authority (C.C.P. Art. 4566): Court-approved charitable donations are not a breach of fiduciary duty even if family members are affiliated with the charity, and the curator of such an interdict may refuse or renounce a donation or inheritance without court approval.
• Forced heirs (R.S. 9:2374): A forced heir who is permanently incapable of caring for himself or his estate and has a net worth over $50 million has a forced portion of $1.

Effective Date: August 1, 2026

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Summary: Substantially revises the Louisiana Anatomical Gift Act (R.S. 17:2351 et seq.):

• Updates the methods for making an anatomical gift or refusal, including by document of gift, driver's license or registry, a document signed at the donor's direction before two witnesses, or a documented communication during a terminal illness or injury. Refusals follow the same formalities and have the same legal effect as gifts.
• Provides that the most recent legally effective authorization or refusal controls, and that a revocation is a neutral act that is neither a gift nor a refusal.
• Prohibits state agencies, including the office of motor vehicles, from soliciting an anatomical gift decision from a minor without a parent or guardian present. A minor's decision is informational only until the minor reaches majority.
• Requires separate, informed consent for premortem interventions done to facilitate donation, and prohibits interventions likely to hasten death.
• Requires written disclosure to the family before a decedent is transported to another facility or kept on mechanical support for organ recovery.
• Recognizes valid anatomical gift decisions made in other states.

Effective Date: January 1, 2027

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