HB126 • 2026

COURTS: Provides relative to the use of a facility dog by a witness during certain circumstances

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Mandie Landry
Last action: 2026-06-02
Official status: Signed by the Governor - Act 616
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Facility Dogs for Court Witnesses

This act allows certain witnesses, including those under eighteen years old, with developmental disabilities, and victims of sex offenses, to be accompanied by a facility dog during court testimony.

What This Bill Does

Allows witnesses who are under eighteen years old or have a developmental disability to bring a trained facility dog into court when they testify.
Permits victims in sex offense cases to use a facility dog while testifying.
Requires the judge to ensure that the jury does not see the facility dog and instructs them about its role.
Ensures that the entry and exit of the facility dog happen outside the presence of the jury.

Who It Names or Affects

Witnesses under eighteen years old
People with developmental disabilities who are witnesses
Victims in sex offense cases

Terms To Know

Facility dog: A trained animal that provides emotional support to people during stressful situations, like court testimony.
Developmental disability: A condition that affects a person's physical or mental development and can include things like autism or intellectual disabilities.

Limits and Unknowns

The act does not specify what happens if there is no facility dog available.
It does not explain how the presence of the dog will be obscured from the jury.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Summary of Senate Amendments to HB126

Filed

Plain English: The amendment requires courts to take steps to hide the presence of a facility dog from the jury in sex offense trials.

Courts must ensure that the jury does not see or know about the facility dog when it is present during testimony in sex offense cases.

The amendment text does not specify how exactly the presence of the dog should be obscured, leaving some details unclear.

House Floor Amendment #2584 Landry Mandie Adopted

Adopted

Plain English: The amendment changes how a judge can order the presence of a facility dog during certain court cases, ensuring it is not visible to the jury and instructing the jury about its role.

Adds that the court may order the facility dog's presence to be hidden from the jury at all times.
Specifies that the court must inform the jury about the purpose of the facility dog either on its own or when asked by one of the parties involved in the case.

The amendment does not specify what happens if a party disagrees with the judge's decision regarding the visibility of the facility dog.
It is unclear how detailed the instructions to the jury about the role of the facility dog must be.

House Floor Amendment #2284 Landry Mandie Adopted

Adopted

Plain English: The amendment changes a part of the bill to specify that a witness who needs a facility dog during certain court proceedings is referred to as 'who is' instead of 'any'.

Changes the phrase from 'any' to 'who is' in reference to a witness needing a facility dog.

The amendment text does not provide additional context about why this change is necessary or what specific circumstances it applies to, making it hard to understand its full impact.

House Committee Amendment #2084 JUD Adopted

Adopted

Plain English: The amendment adds new rules for using a facility dog during certain types of trials and names the section after Duvall's Duvall and Karissa's Law.

Adds references to R.S. 15:284(D) and (F) in addition to (A).
Allows any witness, not just victims of sex offenses, to use a facility dog during trials for sex offenses.
Requires the court to hide the presence of the facility dog from the jury and instruct them on its role.
Names the section as 'Duvall's Duvall and Karissa's Law'.

The amendment text does not explain what R.S. 15:284(D) and (F) are, so their specific roles are unclear.

House Committee Amendment #1918 JUD Draft

Draft

Plain English: The amendment adds a new section (F) to R.S. 15:284 and changes references to include this new section, also giving the entire section a specific name.

Adds a new part F to R.S. 15:284 that allows the section to be called 'Duvall's Duvall and Karissa's Law'.
Changes existing references from 'R.S. 15:284(A)' to include the new part (F), making them 'R.S. 15:284(A) and (F)'.

The exact content of R.S. 15:284 is not provided, so it's unclear what changes this amendment will make to the existing law beyond adding a new section and renaming the whole.

House Vote on HB 126 CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENTS (#1662)

Filed

Plain English: The amendment to HB126 allows for the use of a facility dog by a witness during certain court proceedings.

Adds provisions allowing witnesses to have a facility dog present when testifying in specific circumstances.

The official text does not specify which 'certain circumstances' are referred to, making it unclear exactly when the use of a facility dog would be permitted.
Details about how the presence of a facility dog will be managed or regulated during court proceedings are not provided.

Senate Floor Amendment #4386 Barthelemy Adopted

Adopted

Plain English: The amendment adds a requirement for courts to take steps to hide the presence of a facility dog from the jury during certain proceedings.

Adds language that all precautions should be taken to obscure the presence of the facility dog from the jury.

The exact nature and extent of these precautions are not specified in the amendment text.

Bill History

2026-06-02 H
Effective date: 08/01/2026.
2026-06-02 H
Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 616.
2026-06-01 H
Sent to the Governor for executive approval.
2026-06-01 S
Signed by the President of the Senate.
2026-05-31 H
Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.
2026-05-29 H
Read by title, roll called, yeas 99, nays 0, Senate amendments concurred in.
2026-05-27 H
Scheduled for concurrence on 05/29/2026.
2026-05-26 H
Received from the Senate with amendments.
2026-05-26 S
Senate floor amendments read and adopted. Read by title, passed by a vote of 36 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
2026-05-26 S
Rules suspended. Called from the Calendar.
2026-05-05 S
Read by title and returned to the Calendar, subject to call.
2026-04-27 S
Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.
2026-04-22 S
Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
2026-04-21 S
Reported favorably.
2026-03-31 S
Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Judiciary B.
2026-03-30 S
Received in the Senate. Rules suspended. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.
2026-03-26 H
Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 91, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
2026-03-26 H
Called from the calendar.
2026-03-26 H
Read by title, returned to the calendar.
2026-03-25 H
Scheduled for floor debate on 03/26/2026.
2026-03-24 H
Read by title, amended, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.
2026-03-23 H
Reported with amendments (14-0).
2026-03-09 H
Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
2026-02-13 H
First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/13/2026.
2026-02-13 H
Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
2026-02-13 H
Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

COURTS: Provides relative to the use of a facility dog by a witness during certain circumstances

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

ENROLLED
ACT No. 6162026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 126
BY REPRESENTATIVES MANDIE LANDRY, ADAMS, AMEDEE, BAYHAM,
BOUDREAUX, BOYD, CHASSION, CHENEVERT, CREWS, DOMANGUE,
EGAN, FREIBERG, GALLE, GREEN, DANA HENRY, HILFERTY, JORDAN,
KERNER, KNOX, LACOMBE, LAFLEUR, TERRY LANDRY, LARVADAIN,
MARTINEZ, MCMAHEN, MCMAKIN, MOORE, MURRAY, OWEN, PHELPS,
SAWYER, STAGNI, TAYLOR, THOMPSON, VENTRELLA, AND WYBLE
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 15:284(A), (D), and (F), relative to the use of facility dogs; to
3 provide for the use of facility dogs by victims of sex offenses; and to provide for
4 related matters.
5 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
6 Section 1. R.S. 15:284(A), (D), and (F) are hereby amended and reenacted to read
7 as follows:
8 §284. Facility dogs; use in court; procedure
9 A. The court shall allow a any witness who is either under eighteen years of
10 age, or who has a developmental disability as defined in R.S. 28:451.2, or who is in
11 a trial for a sex offense as defined in R.S. 15:541 to have be accompanied by a
12 facility dog, if available, accompany them while testifying in court.
13 * * *
14 D. To ensure that the presence of a facility dog does not influence the jury
15 or is not a reflection on the truthfulness of any testimony that is offered by the victim
16 or witness, the court shall may order that the presence of the dog be obscured from
17 the jury at all times and may instruct the jury on the role of the facility dog and, on
18 the court's own motion or upon request of either party. The court shall ensure that the
19 facility dog is a trained animal. The facility dog's entry into and exit from the
20 courtroom shall be done outside the presence of the jury and all precautions should
21 be taken to obscure the presence of the dog from the jury.
22 * * *
Page 1 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
HB NO. 126 ENROLLED
1 F. This Section may be referred to and may be cited as "Duvall's Duvall and
2 Karissa's Law".
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
Page 2 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.