ACT No. 838
SENATE BILL NO. 766 BY MESSRS. NELSON AND KELLY AND REPRESENTATIVES ACCARDO, COPELIN AND DIXON
AN ACT
To amend and reenact R.S. 13:312 and 312.1, to amend and reenact Sections 1(B) and 2(B) of Act Number 801 of the 1987 Regular Session of the Legislature, to enact Part IV of Chapter 1 of Title 13 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, to be comprised of R.S. 13:30.1, to enact Chapter 1-B of Title 13 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, to be comprised of R.S. 13:41 through 49, and to repeal R.S. 13:312.2, 312.3, and 321, relative to judges; to provide for apportionment and reapportionment of appellate circuit and judicial districts; to provide for nominating panels, to provide for composition, duties, and functions of such panels; to divide the districts of the various courts of appeal in this state into sections for the purpose of qualification and election of judges; to provide for the assignment of certain divisions and at-large judgeships to specific sections; to provide the procedures for the election and terms of office of certain judges; to create senior judge status; to provide for eligibility for and acceptance and duration of senior judge status; to provide for the powers, duties, and benefits of senior judges; and to provide for related matters. Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
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Section 2. R.S. 13:312 and 312.1 are hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
§312. Courts of appeal; circuits, districts, and sections; election
A. There shall be five court of appeal circuits which shall be subdivided into districts and some districts shall be further subdivided into sections as follows:
1.(a) First circuit. The parishes of Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Lafourche, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Washington, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana shall compose the first circuit and the court of appeal for that circuit shall be known as "Court of Appeal, First Circuit, State of Louisiana".
(b) Districts of the first circuit:
(1) The parishes of Ascension, Assumption, Iberville, Lafourche, Pointe Coupee, St. Mary, Terrebonne, and West Baton Rouge shall compose the first district of the first circuit.
(2) The parish of East Baton Rouge shall compose the second district of the first circuit. The second district shall be divided into four sections as follows:
(aa) Precincts 5,.41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 56, 59, 65, 68, 69, 73, 75, 76, 79, 80, 89, and 90 of Ward 1 and Precincts 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 13,17, and 22 of Ward 3 shall compose Section One.
(bb) Precincts 1, 3, 4, 6,10,11,13,14,15,16,17,18,19, 20,21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 45, 51, 58, 61, 67, 84, 85, 86, 91, 92, 94,
and 95 of Ward 1 and Precincts 13 and 22 of Ward 2 shall compose Section Two.
(cc) Precincts 33, 34, 49, 52, 53, 55, 60, 71, 72, 74, 77, 81, 87, and 88 of Ward 1, Precincts 5, 6, 7,14, and 21 of Ward 2, and
Precincts 1, 8, 9,12,14, and 21 of Ward 3 shall compose Section Three.
(dd) Precincts 7, 8, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 48, 50, 54, 57, 62, 63, 64, 66, 70, 78, 82, 83, and 93 of Ward 1 and Precincts 1, 4, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 20, and 23 of Ward 2 shall compose Section Four.
(3) The parishes of East Feliciana, Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington, and West Feliciana shall compose the third district of the first circuit. The third district shall be divided into two sections as follows:
(aa) East Feliciana Parish, St. Helena Parish, Ward 1, Precincts 1 and 3 of Ward 2, and Precincts 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Ward 3 of Tangipahoa Parish, Ward 2, Precincts 2 and 3 of Ward 3, Precincts 1, 1A, 2, 6, and 9 of Ward 4, Precinct 1 of Ward 5, and Wards 7 and 8 of Washington Parish, and West Feliciana Parish shall compose Section One.
(bb) Livingston Parish, St. Tammany Parish, Precinct 2 of Ward 2, Precinct 3 of Ward 3, and Wards 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Tangipahoa Parish, and Ward 1, Precinct 1 of Ward 3, Precincts 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, and 11 of Ward 4, Precinct 2 of Ward 5, and Wards 6 and 9 of Washington Parish shall compose Section Two.
2.(a) Second circuit. The parishes of Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, DeSoto, East Carroll, Franklin, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Red River, Richland, Tensas, Union, Webster, West Carroll, and Winn shall compose the second circuit and the court of appeal for that circuit shall be known as "Court of Appeal, Second Circuit, State of Louisiana".
(b) Districts of the second circuit:
(1) The parishes of East Carroll, Franklin, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, Tensas, and West Carroll shall compose the first district of the second circuit. The first district shall be divided into two sections as follows:
(aa) Franklin Parish, Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10 of Morehouse Parish, Wards 1, 2,4,5,6,7,8,9, and l0 of Ouachita Parish, Wards 4, 5, and 7 of Richland Parish, and West Carroll Parish shall compose Section One.
(bb) East Carroll Parish, Madison Parish, Wards 5 and 8 of Morehouse Parish, Ward 3 of Ouachita Parish, Wards 1, 2, 3, and 6 of Richland Parish, and Tensas Parish shall compose Section Two.
(2) The parishes of Bienville, Bossier, Caldwell, Claiborne, Jackson, Lincoln, Union, Webster, and Winn shall compose the second district of the second circuit.
(3) The parishes of Caddo, DeSoto, and Red River shall compose the third district of the second circuit. The third district shall be divided into two sections as follows:
(aa) Precincts 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 56, 58, 59, 62, 63, 64, 68, 69, 70, and 72 of Ward 4 and Wards 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Caddo Parish, DeSoto Parish, and Red River Parish shall compose Section One.
(bb) Wards 1, 2, and 3, Precincts 1, 2, 3, 5, 29, 30,31, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 54, 55, 57, 60, 61, 65, 66, 67, 71, and 73 of Ward 4, and Ward 9 of Caddo Parish shall compose Section Two.
3.(a) Third circuit. The parishes of Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Cameron, Calcasieu, Catahoula, Concordia, Evangeline, Grant, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Rapides, Sabine, St. Martin, St. Landry, Vermilion, and Vernon shall compose the third circuit and the court of appeal for that circuit shall be known as "Court of Appeal, Third Circuit, State of Louisiana".
(b) Districts of the third circuit:
(1) The parishes of Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Rapides, and Sabine shall compose the first district of the third circuit. The first district shall be divided into three sections as follows: (aa) Ward 1, Precincts 1 and 2 of Ward 2, Ward 3, and Precincts 1 and 2 of Ward 4 of Grant Parish, Precincts 1, 4, 5, 8,
9, and 13 of Ward 1 and Precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 9 of Ward 4 of Natchitoches Parish, and Precincts 1, 2,.3, 4, 5, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 32, 33, 35, and 36 of Ward 1, Precincts 1 and 2 of Ward 8, Precincts 1 and 3 of Ward 9, and Precinct 3 of Ward 10 of Rapides Parish shall compose Section One.
(bb) Avoyelles Parish, Catahoula Parish, Concordia Parish, Precinct 3 of Ward 2, Precincts 3 and 4 of Ward 4, and Wards 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Grant Parish, LaSalle Parish, and Wards 2, 3, and 4, Precincts 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of Ward 9, Precincts 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 of Ward 10, and Ward 11 of Rapides Parish shall compose Section Two.
(cc) Precincts 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, and 12 of Ward 1, Wards 2 and 3, and Precincts 6, 7, and 8 of Ward 4 of Natchitoches Parish, Precincts 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 19, 27, 29, 30, 31, and 34, of Ward 1, Wards 5, 6, and 7, and Precincts 3 and 4 of Ward 8 of Rapides Parish, and Sabine Parish shall compose Section Three.
(2) The parishes of Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Davis, and Vernon shall compose the second district of the third circuit.
(3) The parishes of Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Martin, St. Landry, and Vermilion shall compose the third district of the third circuit. The third district shall be divided into five sections as follows:
(aa) Ward C and Precincts 37, 38, 49, and 50 of Ward D of Lafayette Parish, Ward 1, Precincts 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Ward 2, Precinct 2 of Ward 3, Precincts 1, 4, 8, 9,10, and 11 of Ward 4, Ward 5, and Precincts 3 and 11 of Ward 6 of St. Landry Parish, and Ward 2, Precincts 1, 3, and 4 of Ward 4, Precinct 3 of Ward 6, and Wards 7 and 9 of St. Martin Parish shall compose Section One.
(bb) Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10,11, and 12, Precinct 4 of Ward 13, and Precincts 1 and 2 of Ward 14 of Iberia Parish, Precincts 1, 3, 4, and 5 of Ward 3 and Precincts 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, and 14 of Ward 4 of St. Landry Parish, and Wards 1 and 3, Precincts 2 and 5 of Ward 4, Ward 5, Precincts 1, 2, and 4 of Ward 6, and Ward 8 of St. Martin Parish shall compose Section Two.
(cc) Wards 1 and 2 and Precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 16 of Ward 6 of Acadia Parish and Precincts 10, 10Y, 1OZ, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15Z, 16, 17, 18,19, 20, 21, 22, 22Z, 23, and 24 of Ward B, Precincts 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, and 48 of Ward D, Ward E, and Precincts 62, 65, and 66 of Ward F of Lafayette Parish shall compose Section Three.
(dd) Wards 3, 4, and 7 of Acadia Parish, Evangeline Parish, Ward A and Precincts 8 and 9 of Ward B of Lafayette Parish, and Precincts 2, 3, and 9 of Ward 2 and Precincts 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,10,12,13,14,15,16, and 17 of Ward 6 of St. Landry Parish shall compose Section Four.
(ee) Ward 5 and Precincts 10 and 15 of Ward 6 of Acadia Parish, Precincts 1, 2, and 3 of Ward 13, and Precincts 3 and 4 of Ward 14 of Iberia Parish, Precincts 63, 64, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, and 72 of Ward F and Ward G of Lafayette Parish, and Vermilion Parish shall compose Section Five.
4.(a) Fourth circuit. The parishes of Orleans, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard shall compose the fourth circuit, and the court of appeal for that circuit shall be known as "Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit, State of Louisiana".
(b) Districts of the fourth circuit:
(1) The parish of Orleans shall compose the first district of the fourth circuit. The first district shall be divided into two sections as follows:
(aa) Precincts 5, 6, 6A, and 7 of Ward 2, Precincts 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 of Ward 3, Precincts 3, 4, and 5 of Ward 4, Precincts 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of Ward 5, Precincts 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Ward 6, Precincts 2, 4, 4A, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9A, 10,11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 17A, 18, 19* 20, 20A, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 26A, 27, 27A, 27B, 28, 28A, 29, 30, 31, 34, and 35 of Ward 7, Precincts 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 25A, 26, 26A, 27, 27A, and 30 of Ward 8, and Ward 9 of Orleans Parish shall compose Section One.
(bb) Ward 1, Precincts 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Ward 2, Precincts 1, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 of Ward 3, Precincts 2, 6, 7,8, 9, 10, 10A, 11, 12, 13, 13A, 14, 14A, 15, 16, 16A, 17, 17A, 18, 18A, 19, 20, 20A, 21, 21A, 22, and 23 of Ward 4, Precincts 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,18, and 19 of Ward 5, Precincts 1, 2, and 9 of Ward 6, Precincts 1, 32, 33, 33A, 36, 36A, 37, 38, 38A, 39, 40, 41, and 42 of Ward 7, Precincts 1, 2, 28, and 29 of Ward 8, and Wards 10,11, 12,13,14,15,16, and 17 of Orleans Parish shall compose Section Two.
(2) The parish of Plaquemines shall compose the second district of the fourth circuit.
(3) The parish of St. Bernard shall compose the third district of the fourth circuit.
5.(a) Fifth circuit. The parishes of Jefferson, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John the Baptist shall compose the fifth circuit and the court of appeal for that circuit shall be known as "Court of Appeal, Fifth Circuit, State of Louisiana".
(b) Districts of the fifth circuit:
(1) The parish of Jefferson shall compose the first district of the fifth circuit. The first district shall be divided into two sections as follows:
(aa) Precincts 7B, 8, 9, 9A, 9B, 10A, 1OB, 10C, and 12W of Ward 4, Ward 5, and Precincts 1K, 1R, 2K, 2R, 3K, 4K, 10K, and 13K of Ward 9 of Jefferson Parish shall compose Section One.
(bb) Wards 00, 1, 2, and 3, Precincts 1, 2; 3,4, 4A, 5, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 6,7, 7A, 7C, 7D, 7E, 7F, 7G, 7H, 10, 11W, 13W, 14W, 15W, 16W, 17W, and 18 of Ward 4, Wards 6, 7, and 8, Precincts 1H, 2H, 3H, 3R, 4H, 4R, 5H, 5K, 5R, 6H, 6K, 6R, 7H, 7K, 7R, 8H, 8K, 8R, 9H, 9K, 9R, 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, 10E, 10F, 10G, 10H, 10I, 10R, 11K, llR, 12K, 14K, 15K, 16K, 17K, 18K, 19K, 20K, 21K, 22K, 23K, 24K, 25K, 26K, 27K, 28K, 29K, 30K, and 31K of Ward 9 and Wards 10 and 11 of Jefferson Parish shall compose Section Two.
(2) The parish of St. James and that portion of St. John the Baptist Parish east of the Mississippi River shall compose the second district of the fifth circuit.
(3) The parish of St. Charles and that portion of St. John the Baptist Parish west of the Mississippi River shall compose the third district of the fifth circuit.
B. There shall be separate and distinct divisions within each circuit, district, or section of the various courts of appeal for the purpose of nomination and election of judges only. The divisions shall be designated alphabetically. The successor to any judge shall preside over the same division as his predecessor.
C. A candidate for nomination and election to a judgeship of any court of appeal at the time of filing his declaration as a candidate shall designate only one division for which he is a candidate.
D. Any nomination and election of candidates to office of judge shall be held and conducted in accordance with and under the primary and general election laws of this state.
All nominating and election officials and other persons provided for by said laws, shall provide for the execution of the provisions of R.S. 13:312 and 312.1.
E. A candidate for judge of a division that has been assigned to a section shall be elected by the qualified electors of that section. A candidate for judge of a division that has been assigned to a district shall be elected by the qualified electors of that district.
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Section 12. The wards and precincts referred to in this Act are those existing as of January 1, 1989. The term "ward" shall include "election district" and "voting district" in those parishes which so designate their election geography.
Section 13. The provisions of Section 1 of this Act shall become effective on January 1, 1991, but only if, as, and when the proposed constitutional amendment to Article V introduced as Senate Bill Number 68 of the 1989 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana is finally adopted by the electorate and becomes law. All other provisions of this Act shall become effective on November 1, 1989, but only if, as, and when the proposed constitutional amendment to Article V introduced as Senate Bill Number 68 of the 1989 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana is finally adopted by the electorate and becomes law.
Approved by the Governor, July 25, 1989.
Published in the Official Journal of the State:
August 23, 1989. A true copy:
W. Fox McKeithen
Secretary of State
