ACT No. 369
HOUSE BILL NO. 854 BY REPRESENTATIVE LAMBERT
AN ACT
To amend and reenact R.S. 13:312 (1) (b) and 312.1(A), relative to court of appeal judges; to divide the first district of the Court of Appeal for the First Circuit into geographical election sections for the purposes of qualification and election; to provide relative to the term of office for such judges; to provide for effective dates; and to provide for related matters.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
Section 1. R.S. 13:312 (1) (b) and 312.1(A) are hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
§312. Courts of appeal; circuits and districts
There shall be five court of appeal circuits, which shall be subdivided into districts as follows:
1.
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(b) Districts of first circuit. 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; the The first district shall be further divided into two election sections. Election section one shall be composed of Ascension Parish, Assumption Parish, Iberville Parish, Pointe Coupee Parish, and West Baton Rouge Parish. Election section two shall be composed of Lafourche Parish, St. Mary Parish, and Terrebonne Parish. The parish of East Baton Rouge shall compose the second district of the first circuit; and the The parishes of East Feliciana, Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington, and West Feliciana shall compose the third district of the first circuit.
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§312.1. Circuit court of appeal; domicile; number of judges; election
A. The Court of Appeal for the First Circuit, domiciled in the city of Baton Rouge, shall have twelve judges. Four judges shall be elected from each of the three districts composing the circuit by the qualified electors of each district, respectively. However, in the first district, one judgej Division C. shall be elected from election section one by the qualified electors of election section one, and one judge, Division A, shall be elected from election section two by the qualified electors of election section two. The remaining two judges in the first district, Divisions B and D, shall be elected by the qualified electors of the entire first district.
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Section 2. (A) The election to fill the judgeship currently designated as Division C of the first district shall be held at the congressional elections to be held in 2014 from election section one as established by this Act or at any specially called election due to the earlier of the death, resignation, retirement, or incapacity of a judge serving on the effective date of this Act.
(B) The election to fill the judgeship currently designated as Division A of the first district shall be held at the congressional elections to be held in 2018 from election section two as established by this Act or at any specially called election due to the earlier of the death, resignation, retirement, or incapacity of a judge serving on the effective date of this Act.
Section 3. This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2009.
Approved by the Governor, June 21, 2008.
Published in the Official Journal of the State: July 9, 2008.
A true copy:
Jay Dardenne
Secretary of State
