PRIA Logo™
LouisianaHB 2632026 Regular SessionHouse

COURTS: Provides with respect to the magistrate judge of the Fourteenth Judicial District Court and authority relative to specialty court programs

Sponsored By: Les Farnum (Republican)

Signed by Governor

Judiciary AJudiciary

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.

Magistrate gains authority over specialty court cases

The Fourteenth Judicial District Court’s magistrate judge can now lead specialty court programs and fully decide participants’ related felony charges. The district court’s judges, acting as a full court, must approve this authority. Participants must have pleaded into or otherwise agreed to join the program. The Louisiana Supreme Court must designate the program as a specialty court. Programs include drug, veterans, driving while intoxicated, mental health, reentry, domestic abuse, and behavioral health courts. Juvenile specialty courts handling domestic abuse allegations also qualify. This authority applies even when other laws say otherwise.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

  • Les Farnum

    Republican • House

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 142 • No: 0

Senate vote • 5/13/2026

Rules suspended. Read by title, passed by a vote of 32 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

Yes: 32 • No: 0

House vote • 4/15/2026

Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 97, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

Yes: 97 • No: 0

House vote • 4/9/2026

Reported favorably

Yes: 13 • No: 0

Actions Timeline

  1. Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 295.

    5/22/2026House

  2. Effective date: 08/01/2026.

    5/22/2026House

  3. Sent to the Governor for executive approval.

    5/19/2026House

  4. Received from the Senate without amendments.

    5/18/2026House

  5. Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.

    5/18/2026House

  6. Signed by the President of the Senate.

    5/18/2026Senate

  7. Rules suspended. Read by title, passed by a vote of 32 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

    5/13/2026Senate

  8. Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.

    5/7/2026Senate

  9. Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.

    5/6/2026Senate

  10. Rules suspended. Reported favorably.

    5/5/2026Senate

  11. Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Judiciary A.

    4/21/2026Senate

  12. Received in the Senate. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.

    4/20/2026Senate

  13. Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 97, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

    4/15/2026House

  14. Scheduled for floor debate on 04/15/2026.

    4/14/2026House

  15. Read by title, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.

    4/13/2026House

  16. Reported favorably (13-0).

    4/9/2026House

  17. Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

    3/9/2026House

  18. First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.

    2/27/2026House

  19. Prefiled.

    2/23/2026House

  20. Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

    2/23/2026House

Bill Text

Related Bills

Back to State Legislation