HB59 • 2026

INDIGENT DEFENSE: Provides relative to the funding of the office of the district public defender in the 19th Judicial District Court (EN SEE FISC NOTE LF EX)

Enacted

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

Sponsor: C. Denise Marcelle
Last action: 2026-06-02
Official status: Signed by the Governor - Act 611
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary text and digest do not provide additional details beyond the official source material provided.

Funding for Public Defenders in East Baton Rouge Parish

This act provides funding for the district public defender's office in East Baton Rouge Parish, including salaries and expenses.

What This Bill Does

Creates a new law that gives the district public defender’s office in East Baton Rouge Parish money to pay for staff salaries and other costs.
Requires the parish government of East Baton Rouge to give at least one million dollars each year from its general fund to cover these costs.
Limits this funding requirement to end on July 1, 2028.

Who It Names or Affects

The district public defender’s office in East Baton Rouge Parish
The parish government of East Baton Rouge

Terms To Know

Indigent Defense: Legal representation provided to people who cannot afford a lawyer.
General Fund: A main fund used by the government for various expenses and programs.

Limits and Unknowns

The funding requirement ends on July 1, 2028.
It does not specify what happens after this date.

Amendments

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

House Floor Amendment #5165 Marcelle Adopted

Adopted

Plain English: HFAHB59 4274 5165 FOR OFFICE USE ONLY HOUSE FLOOR AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by Representative Marcelle to Engrossed House Bill No.

HFAHB59 4274 5165 FOR OFFICE USE ONLY HOUSE FLOOR AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by Representative Marcelle to Engrossed House Bill No.
59 by Representative Marcelle 1 AMENDMENT NO.
1 2 On page 2, at the beginning of line 1, change "B." to "B.(1)" 3 AMENDMENT NO.
2 4 5 On page 2, line 1, after "governing" delete the remainder of the line and delete line 2 and 6 insert "authority of the parish of East Baton Rouge is hereby authorized to pay a sum of not 7 less than one million dollars from its" 8 AMENDMENT NO.

Bill History

2026-06-02 H
Effective date: 08/01/2026.
2026-06-02 H
Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 611.
2026-06-01 H
Sent to the Governor for executive approval.
2026-05-28 S
Signed by the President of the Senate.
2026-05-28 H
Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.
2026-05-28 H
Received from the Senate without amendments.
2026-05-27 S
Read by title, passed by a vote of 36 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
2026-05-27 S
Called from the Calendar.
2026-05-27 S
Read by title and returned to the Calendar, subject to call.
2026-05-26 S
Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.
2026-05-25 S
Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
2026-05-21 S
Reported favorably.
2026-05-12 S
Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Judiciary B.
2026-05-11 S
Received in the Senate. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.
2026-05-07 H
Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 95, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
2026-05-07 H
Called from the calendar.
2026-05-06 H
Scheduled for floor debate on 05/07/2026.
2026-05-06 H
Notice given.
2026-04-29 H
Read by title, returned to the calendar.
2026-04-29 H
Called from the calendar.
2026-04-27 H
Scheduled for floor debate on 04/29/2026.
2026-04-27 H
Notice given.
2026-04-27 H
Read by title, returned to the calendar.
2026-04-27 H
Called from the calendar.
2026-04-22 H
Scheduled for floor debate on 04/27/2026.
2026-04-22 H
Notice given.
2026-04-22 H
Read by title, returned to the calendar.
2026-04-21 H
Scheduled for floor debate on 04/22/2026.
2026-04-16 H
Read by title, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.
2026-04-15 H
Reported favorably (11-0).
2026-03-09 H
Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.
2026-01-30 H
First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 1/30/2026.
2026-01-30 H
Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.
2026-01-30 H
Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

INDIGENT DEFENSE: Provides relative to the funding of the office of the district public defender in the 19th Judicial District Court (EN SEE FISC NOTE LF EX)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

ENROLLED
ACT No. 6112026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 59
BY REPRESENTATIVES MARCELLE, BAYHAM, BILLINGS, EGAN, FREEMAN,
FREIBERG, KNOX, LAFLEUR, LYONS, MURRAY, TAYLOR, WALTERS,
WRIGHT, AND YOUNG AND SENATORS BARROW, CARTER, DUPLESSIS,
JACKSON-ANDREWS, JENKINS, LUNEAU, AND MIZELL
1 AN ACT
2 To enact R.S. 15:161.1, relative to the funding of the district public defender in the
3 Nineteenth Judicial District Court; to provide for funding of the office personnel; to
4 provide for funding of the expenses of the office; to provide for allocation of
5 responsibility for funding the office personnel and expenses of the office; and to
6 provide for related matters.
7 Notice of intention to introduce this Act has been published
8 as provided by Article III, Section 13 of the Constitution of
9 Louisiana.
10 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
11 Section 1. R.S. 15:161.1 is hereby enacted to read as follows:
12 §161.1. District public defender; Nineteenth Judicial District Court; East Baton
13 Rouge Parish
14 A. In addition to any funding provided by the office of the state public
15 defender, the office of the district public defender for the Nineteenth Judicial District
16 Court, East Baton Rouge Parish shall be entitled to an expense allowance for the
17 salaries of the public defenders, stenographers, clerks, and secretaries, and salaries
18 for special officers, investigators, and other employees, and an expense allowance
19 for stationery forms, telephone, transportation, travel, postage, hotel, and other
20 expenses incurred in the discharge of their official duties.
Page 1 of 2
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
HB NO. 59 ENROLLED
1 B.(1) The governing authority of the parish of East Baton Rouge is hereby
2 authorized to pay a sum of not less than one million dollars from its general fund for
3 any of the items of expense, as provided by this Section, incurred by the district
4 public defender when acting in his official capacity.
5 (2) This Subsection terminates on July 1, 2028.
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.