Louisiana Constitution, adopted Jul. 23, 1879
Article 97
Art. 97. The State, with the exception of the parish of Orleans, shall be divided into five circuits, from each of which two judges shall be elected. Until otherwise provided by law, the parishes of Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Bienville, De Soto, Red River, Claiborne, Union, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Sabine, Jackson,
Winn and Caldwell shall compose the First Circuit.
The parishes of Ouachita, Richland, Morehouse, West Carroll, Catahoula, Franklin, Madison, East Carroll, Concordia and Tensas shall compose the Second Circuit.
The parishes of Rapides, Grant, Avoyelles, St. Landry, Vernon, Calcasieu, Cameron, Lafayette, Vermilion, St. Martin and Iberia shall compose the Third Circuit.
The parishes of East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Iberville, East Feliciana, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Livingston, St. Tammany, Washington, Pointe Coupee and West Feliciana shall compose the Fourth Circuit.
And the parishes of St. Mary, Terrebonne, Ascension, Lafourche, Assumption, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist and St. James shall compose the Fifth Circuit.
Article 128
Art. 128. There shall be in the parish of Orleans a court of appeals for said parish, with exclusive appellate jurisdiction in all matters, civil or probate, arising in said parish, when the amount in dispute or fund to be distributed exceeds two hundred dollars, interest excluded, and is less than one thousand dollars, exclusive of interest. Said court shall be presided over by two judges who shall be elected by the General Assembly in joint session; they shall be residents and voters of the city of New Orleans, possessing all the qualifications ' necessary for judges of circuit courts of appeals throughout the State.
They shall each receive an annual salary of four thousand dollars, payable monthly upon their respective warrants.
Said appeals shall be upon questions of law alone in all cases involving less than five hundred dollars, exclusive of interest, and upon the law and the facts in other cases.
It shall sit in the city of New Orleans, from the first Monday of November to the last Monday of June of each year.
It shall have authority to issue writs of mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and habeas corpus in aid of its appellate jurisdiction.