Louisiana Constitution of 1921, adopted in convention at the city of Baton Rouge, June 18, 1921
Article VII sections 90-92
City Courts for the City of New Orleans.
Section 90. There shall be a "First City Court of the City of New Orleans" composed of three judges, who shall be elected for terms of eight years by the qualified electors of the City of New Orleans on the left bank of the Mississippi River.
Each of said judges shall receive an annual salary of three thousand six hundred dollars, payable monthly upon his own warrant, effective upon the adoption of this Constitution.
Jurisdiction.
Section 91. The territorial jurisdiction of said court shall embrace all that part of the City of New Orleans on the left bank of the Mississippi River. Said court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction in all cases when the amount in dispute, or the fund to be distributed does not exceed one hundred dollars, exclusive of interest, including suits for the ownership or possession of movable property not exceeding that amount in value ; and including suits by landlords for possession of leased premises, when the monthly rent does not exceed one hundred dollars ; and, in cases of leases for a longer term than a month, when the price of the unexpired term of the lease at the time of filing suit does not exceed one hundred dollars in amount.
Appeals from said court, in the above cases, shall be tried de novo and the judges of the Court of Appeal may provide rules by which one or more of the judges shall try such cases, which they may decide immediately after trial and without written reasons.
Said court shall also have jurisdiction concurrently with the Civil District Court of all suits for moneyed demands above one hundred dollars and not exceeding three hundred dollars, exclusive of interest; provided, that such cases shall be tried and the testimony and evidence therein shall be taken in the same manner as cases tried in the Civil District Court, and the appeal in the Court of Appeal shall be tried upon the original record thus made up and shall not be tried de novo; provided, that the clerk's cost for filing suit in said city court shall be the same as in the Civil District Court, and the fees for filing appeals in the Court of Appeal shall be the same as other appeals from the city court ; and, provided further, that the judges of the Civil District Court shall authorize the judges of the First City Court to appoint one or more stenographers to take testimony and evidence in such cases, who shall receive a salary to be fixed by the judges of said Civil District Court, and who shall be paid in the same manner as stenographers of said Civil District Court ; provided, that until the expiration of his term of office in 1924, the civil sheriff of the parish of Orleans shall serve citations and notices, and shall execute all writs and serve all other process, in cases pending in the city court, and involving over one hundred dollars, and shall receive the fees therefor fixed by law ; after said date, such duties shall be performed by the constable of said court, unless other wise provided by law.
The judges of said court shall have authority to celebrate marriages, and to execute commissions to take testimony, and to receive therefor the fees allowed by law.
The provisions hereinabove, relative to allotment, reallotment, assigning, or reassigning of cases in the Civil District Court for the parish of Orleans shall apply equally to cases in the First City Court of the City of New Orleans.
Section 92. There shall be a Second City Court in the City of New Orleans, on the right bank of the Mississippi River. Its territorial jurisdiction shall embrace what is now known as the Fifth District of the City of New Orleans ; and said court shall have the same jurisdiction as the First City Court. There shall be one clerk for said city court who shall receive a salary of fifteen hundred dollars per annum, payable monthly by the city treasurer, out of the fund hereinafter provided. There shall be a constable for said court whose compensation shall be the fees of his office, as may be now or hereafter fixed by law. The judge of said court shall have the same qualifications and authority as the judges of the First City Court, and shall receive the same compensation. Said judge, clerk and constable shall be elected by the qualified voters of said Fifth District of the City of New Orleans for the term of four years. The provisions of this Constitution, governing appeals from the First City Court, shall apply to, and govern, appeals from the Second City Court.
Unless otherwise provided by law, the pleadings in said city court shall be in writing.
