DISTRICT ATTORNEYS: Provides relative to the appointment of a substitute for a recused district attorney

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not provide details on how long a substitute can remain in place or what happens if no suitable replacement is available.

District Attorneys Substitute Appointment

This bill changes how a substitute district attorney is chosen when the current one cannot take part in a case.

What This Bill Does

• Changes the rules for appointing someone else to do the job of a district attorney if that person can't work on a specific case due to recusal.
• Requires the judge to pick another lawyer who meets certain qualifications or tell the state's top lawyer about it.
• Gives the state's top lawyer (attorney general) the power to choose someone from their team or another district attorney to fill in.
• Ensures that the substitute has all the same powers as the original district attorney for that case.

Who It Names or Affects

• District attorneys who need a replacement when they can't work on a case
• Judges who have to appoint substitutes
• The state's top lawyer (attorney general) who might choose replacements

Terms To Know

Recusal

When someone, like a district attorney, steps back from working on a case because they can't be fair or have a conflict of interest.

Substitute

A person chosen to do the job of another when that person cannot work on something.

Limits and Unknowns

• Does not specify what happens if no one is available to be a substitute.
• The bill does not explain how long the substitute can stay in place.
• It's unclear who decides which option (judge or attorney general) should be used for finding a replacement.

Official Summary Text

DISTRICT ATTORNEYS: Provides relative to the appointment of a substitute for a recused district attorney

Current Bill Text

ENROLLED
2026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 243
BY REPRESENTATIVE WILDER
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact Code of Criminal Procedure Article 682, relative to the recusal of a
3 district attorney; to provide for the notification to the attorney general; to provide for
4 the appointment of an attorney for the recused district attorney; and to provide for
5 related matters.
6 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
7 Section 1. Code of Criminal Procedure Article 682 is hereby amended and reenacted
8 to read as follows:
9 Art. 682. Appointment of substitute for a recused district attorney
10 When a district attorney is recused, or recuses himself, the trial judge shall
11 either appoint an attorney at law, who has the qualifications of a district attorney and
12 is not an assistant to the recused district attorney, to act in the place of the district
13 attorney in the case, or shall notify the attorney general in writing of the recusation.
14 In the latter instance, it It shall be the duty of the attorney general to appoint a
15 member of his staff or a district attorney of another district to act in the place of the
16 recused district attorney. The substitute appointed for the recused district attorney
17 shall have all powers of the recused district attorney with reference to the case.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.