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HB858 • 2026

WILDLIFE & FISHERIES: Establishes a public records exemption for Global Positioning System data collected on wildlife and aquatic life

WILDLIFE & FISHERIES: Establishes a public records exemption for Global Positioning System data collected on wildlife and aquatic life

Privacy
Enacted

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

Sponsor
Neil Riser
Last action
2026-05-15
Official status
Signed by the Governor - Act 181
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide additional details on how the exemption is implemented beyond stating it applies to GPS data for individual animals.

Wildlife and Fisheries GPS Data Privacy

This act creates a rule that keeps certain wildlife tracking data private.

What This Bill Does

  • Creates an exemption for the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to keep global positioning system (GPS) data on individual animals secret from public records requests.

Who It Names or Affects

  • The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in Louisiana
  • People who request public records from the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Terms To Know

Global Positioning System (GPS)
A system that uses satellites to find the location of something on Earth.
Public Records
Documents, videos, or other information kept by a government agency that can be requested and viewed by the public.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The exemption only applies to GPS data collected by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
  • It does not affect how other wildlife tracking methods are treated in public records requests.

Bill History

  1. 2026-05-15 H

    Effective date: 08/01/2026.

  2. 2026-05-15 H

    Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 181.

  3. 2026-05-14 H

    Sent to the Governor for executive approval.

  4. 2026-05-14 S

    Signed by the President of the Senate.

  5. 2026-05-13 H

    Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.

  6. 2026-05-13 H

    Received from the Senate without amendments.

  7. 2026-05-12 S

    Rules suspended. Read by title, passed by a vote of 34 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

  8. 2026-05-04 S

    Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.

  9. 2026-04-29 S

    Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.

  10. 2026-04-28 S

    Reported favorably.

  11. 2026-03-31 S

    Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs.

  12. 2026-03-30 S

    Received in the Senate. Rules suspended. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.

  13. 2026-03-30 H

    Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 99, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

  14. 2026-03-26 H

    Scheduled for floor debate on 03/30/2026.

  15. 2026-03-25 H

    Read by title, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.

  16. 2026-03-24 H

    Reported favorably (12-0).

  17. 2026-03-09 H

    Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs.

  18. 2026-02-27 H

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

  19. 2026-02-27 H

    Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs.

  20. 2026-02-27 H

    Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

WILDLIFE & FISHERIES: Establishes a public records exemption for Global Positioning System data collected on wildlife and aquatic life

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
ENROLLED
ACT No. 1812026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 858
BY REPRESENTATIVE RISER
1 AN ACT
2 To enact R.S. 44:4(65), relative to global positioning data for individual animals; to
3 establish a public records exemption for Department of Wildlife and Fisheries data
4 that identifies the location of individual animals; and to provide for related matters.
5 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
6 Section 1. R.S. 44:4(65) is hereby enacted to read as follows:
7 §4. Applicability
8 This Chapter shall not apply:
9 * * *
10 (65) To any global positioning data on wildlife or aquatic life collected by
11 or in the possession of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries that would reveal
12 the location of individual animals.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
Page 1 of 1
CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.