PRIA Logo™
LouisianaSB 352025 Regular SessionSenateWALLET

SERVITUDES: Provides for legal servitudes. (8/1/25)

Sponsored By: Edward J. Price (Democratic)

Signed by Governor

Civil Law and ProcedureJudiciary A

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

7 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 7 mixed.

Access users must pay for damage

Beginning August 1, 2025, owners using legal road or utility access must pay neighbors for damage caused by exercising those rights. This includes damage from passage construction and applies even when the road-access right is provided free. Legal time limits can bar damage claims, but do not end the underlying access rights. The law sets no fixed damage payment.

Free access after land splits

Beginning August 1, 2025, a court division or voluntary property transfer that cuts off road or utility access triggers free access rights. Affected owners and later owners receive those rights even when transaction documents omit them or ordinary routing rules point elsewhere. After a court division, the land where access was previously used must provide it. After a voluntary transfer, the duty falls on the property whose owner caused the loss. Free road passage must use the least harmful practical route while preserving the purpose of the earlier passage.

Landlocked owners gain paid road access

Beginning August 1, 2025, owners without public-road access can claim passage across neighboring land to the nearest public road. They must compensate the neighbor. The passage must suit traffic reasonably needed to use the property; vehicle access is included only when reasonably needed. A legal time limit can bar compensation claims without ending the passage right.

Neighbors can move routes, but pay

Beginning August 1, 2025, owners of land crossed by established road or utility routes can require moving them. They must pay the moving costs. The new location must be more convenient for their land and equally convenient for the property receiving access. Owners receiving access have no right to relocate the established route themselves.

Owners causing lost access face limits

Beginning August 1, 2025, owners who voluntarily cause their land to lose road or utility access generally cannot demand replacement access. The restriction also applies to later owners, protecting neighbors from having to provide a route. For road access, a voluntary failure to act that causes enclosure also bars the legal claim. Owners can still arrange road passage through an agreement with a neighbor. Separate free-access rules apply when a court division or voluntary property transfer causes the loss.

Owners gain limited, paid utility access

Beginning August 1, 2025, owners lacking utility access can claim a route across neighboring land to the nearest utility connection. Covered services include electricity, water, sewer, gas, telephone, cable, and similar household services. Owners must compensate neighbors; legal time limits can bar payment claims without ending access rights. Homes, farms, and businesses qualify, but rights cover only necessary access, with burdens not substantially different from serving an ordinary household. The law also repeals Civil Code Article 696.1 and establishes separate utility-access rules.

Safer, less harmful routes across neighbors

Beginning August 1, 2025, road and utility routes generally follow the shortest, least harmful path; owners cannot choose routes freely. Courts weigh property harm, safety, interference with enjoyment, obstacles, and costs, and can select another route when needed. Owners can build reasonably necessary roads, railroads, or utility works; road-access construction must meet federal and state requirements. Work must be built and maintained to reasonably reduce hazards, and utility works must also be operated safely. Utility users need not build on neighboring land and can authorize contractors or providers to enter, but cannot grant broader rights.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

  • Edward J. Price

    Democratic • Senate

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 145 • No: 0

House vote • 5/22/2025

Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 95, nays 0. Finally passed, ordered to the Senate.

Yes: 95 • No: 0

House vote • 5/12/2025

Reported favorably

Yes: 11 • No: 0

Senate vote • 4/29/2025

Read by title, passed by a vote of 39 yeas and 0 nays, and sent to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

Yes: 39 • No: 0

Actions Timeline

  1. Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 27.

    6/4/2025Senate

  2. Effective date 8/1/2025.

    6/4/2025Senate

  3. Sent to the Governor by the Secretary of the Senate.

    5/29/2025Senate

  4. Enrolled. Signed by the President of the Senate.

    5/28/2025Senate

  5. Signed by the Speaker of the House.

    5/28/2025House

  6. Received from the House without amendments.

    5/27/2025Senate

  7. Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 95, nays 0. Finally passed, ordered to the Senate.

    5/22/2025House

  8. Scheduled for floor debate on 05/22/2025.

    5/21/2025House

  9. Read by title, passed to 3rd reading.

    5/14/2025House

  10. Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments.

    5/13/2025House

  11. Reported favorably (11-0). Referred to the Legislative Bureau.

    5/12/2025House

  12. Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Civil Law and Procedure.

    5/5/2025House

  13. Received in the House from the Senate, read by title, lies over under the rules.

    4/30/2025House

  14. Read by title, passed by a vote of 39 yeas and 0 nays, and sent to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

    4/29/2025Senate

  15. Read by title. Committee amendments read and adopted. Ordered engrossed and passed to third reading and final passage.

    4/28/2025Senate

  16. Reported with amendments.

    4/23/2025Senate

  17. Introduced in the Senate; read by title. Rules suspended. Read second time and referred to the Committee on Judiciary A.

    4/14/2025Senate

  18. Prefiled and under the rules provisionally referred to the Committee on Judiciary A.

    3/31/2025Senate

Bill Text

Related Bills

Back to State Legislation