2011 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 13 — Courts and judicial procedure
RS 13:621.41 — Forty-first judicial district

§621.41. Forty-First Judicial District

A.(1) The Forty-First Judicial District Court shall have twenty-six judges and one magistrate judge.

(2) The Forty-First Judicial District Court shall have the same jurisdiction as the district courts throughout the state, as fixed by the constitution, as provided in this Section, or as provided by law.

B.(1) The judges of the Forty-First Judicial District Court by rule adopted by a majority vote of the judges sitting en banc, with the consent of the judge of the respective division, may assign certain divisions of the court to a criminal section and certain divisions to a civil, domestic relations, or other section of the court. The judges of the Forty-First Judicial District Court, including the magistrate judge, en banc, shall assign certain divisions of the court to a juvenile section when the juvenile court of the parish of Orleans is abolished and jurisdiction of that court is transferred to the Forty-First Judicial District Court.

(2) Notwithstanding any principal assignments to divisions, all divisions of the court shall retain general jurisdiction to hear all matters.

(3) The judges of the Forty-First Judicial District Court, by rule adopted by a majority vote of the judges sitting en banc, may assign a certain division of the court as a reentry division of court. The division shall establish a workforce development sentencing project pilot program. The program shall establish guidelines for the issuance of sentences providing inmate rehabilitation and workforce development. The division of court and sentencing project shall work in conjunction with the Louisiana Workforce Investment Council and all efforts shall be coordinated and consistent with the provisions of R.S. 23:1 et seq.

C. The Forty-First Judicial District Court shall be composed of divisions A through Z and the magistrate judge over the magistrate section.

D. The judges presently presiding over divisions A through N of the civil district court for the parish of Orleans shall preside over divisions A through N of the Forty-First Judicial District Court. The judges shall continue to serve until the thirty-first day of December of the year in which their terms expire.

E. The judges presently presiding over divisions A through L of the criminal district court for the parish of Orleans shall preside over divisions O through Z of the Forty-First Judicial District Court. The judges shall continue to serve until the thirty-first day of December of the year in which their terms expire.

F.(1) The Forty-First Judicial District Court shall have general supervisory jurisdiction over the municipal and traffic courts and appellate jurisdiction of all misdemeanor cases tried before the municipal court and the traffic court. Appeals from the municipal and traffic courts shall be on the law and the facts and shall be tried upon the records made and the evidence offered in the courts by the judge to whom the appeal shall be allotted. In all misdemeanor cases tried before the judges of the Forty-First Judicial District Court, an appeal shall lie on questions of law and fact to two or more of the judges, as prescribed by said court. The judges shall adopt rules regulating the manner of taking and hearing and deciding such appeals.

(2) The Forty-First Judicial District Court has appellate jurisdiction over all cases tried in the city courts of said court where the amount in dispute, value of the movable property involved, or fund to be distributed does not exceed one hundred dollars, exclusive of interest. These appeals shall be tried de novo by a single judge and without a jury; however, the Forty-First Judicial District Court may provide by rule that no evidence shall be admitted on the trial de novo which was not offered in the city court unless it is shown to the satisfaction of the court that despite the exercise of reasonable diligence by the party offering it such evidence could not have been produced at the trial in the city court.

G. All judges of the Forty-First Judicial District shall be elected by the qualified electors of the parish for terms of six years at the congressional election immediately preceding the expiration of their terms, and every six years thereafter. Each judge shall take office on the first day of January of the year following election and shall serve through December thirty-first of the last year of his term. Any candidate for election to the office of judge of this court must designate the division for which he is a candidate, and, if elected, shall succeed to the office of judge of the division for which he was a candidate. The judge oldest in continuous service in each division of the district court shall preside, and in the event two or more judges shall have served the same length of time, the judge oldest in years shall preside.

H.(1) Subject to the recommendations of the committee provided for in R.S. 13:996.62, on the date that the Forty-First Judicial District Court becomes effective, all of the books, papers, records, monies, actions, and other property of every kind and description, movable and immovable, real and personal, possessed, controlled, or used by the civil district court for the parish and criminal district court for the parish shall be transferred and be owned, possessed, controlled, and used by the Forty-First Judicial District Court.

(2) The judges of the Forty-First Judicial District, including the magistrate judge, shall retain all accrued benefits and contributions to which they were entitled and shall continue to contribute, if applicable, to the retirement system or pension fund to which they were contributing on December 31, 2008. The salaries of the judges and group health and life insurance premiums shall continue to be paid from the same sources and in the same manner in which they were paid on December 31, 2008; however, the payment of health and life insurance premiums shall be in accordance with the unified group health and life insurance program adopted by the committee provided for in R.S. 13:996.62.

(3) The employees of the civil district court for the parish and the criminal district court for the parish shall be transferred in accordance with this Section, to the extent required and in accordance with applicable civil service laws, and shall be subject to the supervision and control of the Forty-First Judicial District Court. The employees transferred in accordance with this Section shall continue to contribute to the retirement system or pension fund to which they were contributing on the effective date of this Section, including the retention of all accrued benefits and contributions to which they were entitled on the effective date of this Section. The salaries of the employees shall continue to be paid from the same sources and in the manner in which they are paid on December 31, 2008. The employees shall continue to be entitled to participate in the same health and life insurance plans they are participating in on December 31, 2008.

I. Pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 13:61, as amended by Act 16 of the First Extraordinary Session of 2006, the Judicial Council is hereby requested to make recommendations as to the total number of district court judges in the parishes necessary to effectively and efficiently serve the administration of justice in the parishes, taking into consideration such factors as the funding of the operations of the court, the population of the parishes, and the caseload of the divisions and each section of the court. The recommendations shall be submitted to the legislature not later than March 1, 2007 in accordance with Act 16 of the First Extraordinary Session of 2006. If the council recommends a reduction in the total number of judges, such reduction shall be accomplished by attrition or retirement, unless otherwise provided by law.

J. Participation in the workforce development pilot program as authorized by the provisions of Paragraph (B)(3) of this Section shall be subject to the following provisions:

(1) The court may recommend that a defendant participate in the workforce development sentencing pilot project program if all of the following criteria are satisfied:

(a) The defendant meets the eligibility requirements for participation in the Offender Rehabilitation and Workforce Development Program as provided for in R.S. 15:1199.7.

(b) The court determines that it is in the best interest of the community and in the interest of justice that the defendant be sentenced to the Offender Rehabilitation and Workforce Development Program.

(c) The defendant is not sentenced to a term of incarceration which exceeds ten years.

(d) The defendant shall not have any prior felony convictions for any offenses defined as a sex offense in R.S. 15:541.

(e) The crime before the court shall not be a crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(B), including domestic violence.

(f) Other criminal proceedings alleging commission of a crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(B) shall not be pending against the defendant.

(g) The crime before the court shall not be a charge of any crime that resulted in the death of a person.

(2) Upon a determination that the defendant meets the eligibility criteria provided for in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection, the court shall advise the defendant that he or she may be eligible for enrollment in a court-authorized workforce development pilot program.

(3) In offering a defendant the opportunity to request the program, the court shall advise the defendant of the following:

(a) If the defendant is eligible to participate in the workforce development pilot program, then the defendant shall waive the right to a trial. The defendant shall enter a plea of guilty to the charge, with the stipulation that the defendant shall be sentenced to custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to participate in the Offender Rehabilitation and Workforce Development Program, and after successful completion of that program, he may petition the court to be placed on intensive reentry supervision by the court.

(b) The court may impose any conditions reasonably related to the rehabilitation of the defendant.

(4) The defendant has the right to be represented by counsel at all stages of a criminal prosecution and in any court hearing relating to the workforce development pilot program. The defendant shall be represented by counsel during the determination of eligibility to participate in the workforce development pilot program at the time of the execution of the sentencing agreement and at any hearing to discharge him from the program, unless the court finds and the record shows that the defendant has knowingly and intelligently waived his right to counsel.

(5) The defendant shall agree to participation in the workforce development pilot program.

(6) The judge shall consider the following factors in determining whether workforce development sentencing is in the interests of justice and of benefit to the defendant and the community:

(a) The nature of the crime charged and the circumstances surrounding the crime.

(b) Any special characteristics or circumstances of the defendant.

(c) Whether there is a probability that the defendant will cooperate with and benefit from the workforce development pilot program.

(d) Whether the available workforce development pilot program is appropriate to meet the needs of the defendant.

(e) The impact of the defendant's sentencing upon the community.

(f) Recommendations, if any, of the district attorney.

(g) Recommendations, if any, of the involved law enforcement agency.

(h) Recommendations, if any, of the victim.

(i) Provisions for and the likelihood of obtaining restitution from the defendant.

(j) Any mitigating circumstances.

(k) Any other circumstances reasonably related to the defendant's case.

(7)(a) If the judge determines that the defendant shall be enrolled in the workforce development pilot program, the court shall accept the defendant's guilty plea and sentence the defendant to the custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections for participation in the Offender Rehabilitation and Workforce Development Program under the terms and conditions of the workforce development pilot program.

(b) If the judge determines that the defendant is not qualified for enrollment, the judge shall state for the record the reasons for that determination.

(c) If the defendant successfully completes the Offender Rehabilitation and Workforce Development Program and successfully completes all other requirements of the workforce development pilot program, he may petition the court to be placed on intensive reentry supervision by the court. If the defendant does not successfully complete the Offender Rehabilitation and Workforce Development Program, the court shall sentence the defendant to serve the remainder of his sentence in the custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

Acts 2006, No. 621, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2009 (Subsection I eff. June 23, 2006); Acts 2008, No. 743, §7, eff. July 1, 2008; Acts 2008, No. 792, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009; Acts 2008, No. 879, §1; Acts 2010, No. 726, §1.

NOTE: For purposes of qualifying and election, effective in 2008. See Acts 2006, No. 621, §§22 and 29.

NOTE: Acts 2006, No. 621, which created the 41st J.D.C., provided for an effective date of Jan. 1, 2009; Acts 2008, No. 873, extended the effective date to Dec. 31, 2014.