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HB517 • 2026

JUVENILE PROCEDURE: Provides for the right to a jury trial for certain juvenile offenders

JUVENILE PROCEDURE: Provides for the right to a jury trial for certain juvenile offenders

Children
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Wilford Carter , Sr.
Last action
2026-05-19
Official status
Involuntarily deferred in House Administration of Criminal Justice - Considered 5/19/26
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details on how jury trials will be conducted or specify other constitutional rights retained by juveniles.

Juvenile Rights to Jury Trials

This bill changes Louisiana's Children's Code to allow certain juvenile offenders charged with violent or sexual felonies to request a jury trial.

What This Bill Does

  • Adds the right for juveniles accused of violent or sexual felonies to request a jury trial in court.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Juveniles charged with violent or sexual felonies
  • Courts handling juvenile delinquency cases

Terms To Know

Constitutional rights
Basic freedoms and protections guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and Louisiana's state constitution.
Juvenile court proceedings
Legal processes for dealing with young people who break laws or are accused of crimes.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how jury trials will be conducted in juvenile cases.
  • It is unclear if and when this bill will become law after being involuntarily deferred in committee.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-19 H

    Involuntarily deferred in committee.

  2. 2026-03-09 H

    Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.

  3. 2026-02-27 H

    First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.

  4. 2026-02-26 H

    Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.

  5. 2026-02-26 H

    Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

JUVENILE PROCEDURE: Provides for the right to a jury trial for certain juvenile offenders

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HLS 26RS-1219 ORIGINAL
2026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 517
BY REPRESENTATIVE WILFORD CARTER
JUVENILE PROCEDURE: Provides for the right to a jury trial for certain juvenile
offenders
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact Children's Code Article 808, relative to constitutional rights of
3 accused delinquents; to provide relative to the right to a jury trial; to provide a right
4 to a jury trial for a juvenile charged with certain offenses; and to provide for related
5 matters.
6 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
7 Section 1. Children's Code Article 808 is hereby amended and reenacted to read as
8 follows:
9 Art. 808. Constitutional rights of accused delinquents
10 A. All rights guaranteed to criminal defendants by the Constitution of the
11 United States or the Constitution of Louisiana, except the right to jury trial, shall be
12 applicable in juvenile court proceedings brought under pursuant to this Title.
13 B. The right to a jury trial does not apply to juvenile court proceedings
14 brought pursuant to this Title unless the juvenile is charged with a felony-grade
15 delinquent act that constitutes either a crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(B)
16 or a sex offense as defined in R.S. 15:541.
Page 1 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
HLS 26RS-1219 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 517
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 517 Original 2026 Regular Session Wilford Carter
Abstract: Provides for the right to a jury trial for certain juvenile offenders.
Present law provides that all constitutional rights guaranteed to criminal defendants, except
the right to a jury trial, apply in juvenile court proceedings.
Proposed law generally retains present law relative to the inapplicability of jury trials in
juvenile proceedings, but also provides that a juvenile has a right to a jury trial if he is
charged with a felony-grade delinquent act that constitutes either a crime of violence or a sex
offense.
(Amends Ch.C. Art. 808)
Page 2 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.