Louisiana’s full Senate voted 25-11 Tuesday to pass Senate Bill 256, a proposal that would merge the clerk’s offices for Orleans Parish civil and criminal district courts into a single office.

The vote eliminates the position of Calvin Duncan, the incoming clerk of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.

Supporters say the Orleans consolidation, authored by Sen. Jay Morris of Monroe, streamlines operations and improves efficiency, while critics warn it is likely to create confusion, reduce funding, and override the will of the voters who recently elected Duncan.

Senate Bill 256 legislation is part of a larger Orleans-centered push by Morris, who authored a trio of bills focused on drastically overhauling New Orleans courts. 

Altogether, bills that Morris authored could cut 11 judgeships across Orleans Parish judiciary and eliminate the clerkship that Duncan was slated to step into in May, after being elected by 68% of the electorate in December. 

The Senate passed one bill cutting judgeships on Tuesday and another on Wednesday. 

Senate Bill 197, amended by Morris on the floor, will cut two of the 12 judges on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, down from an initial proposed cut of four. Senate Bill 217 would cut a total of nine judges; four of 12 judges in the Orleans Parish criminal court, two of 14 from civil court, two of four from municipal and traffic court; and one of four from juvenile court.

The bills now go to the House for approval, as does Senate Bill 256.

Critics question intent of bills

The bills were about power, not efficiencies, said Sen. Royce Duplessis, the Democrat from New Orleans, the most vocal critic of the bills during Wednesday’s floor debate. 

When the bills were heard before the Senate judiciary committee last week, his Democratic colleagues also reacted with skepticism to the legislation, which was authored by a senator from northern Louisiana who admitted in committee that he didn’t speak with Duncan or any Orleans judges before filing the legislation. 

Morris said that the intent of Senate Bill 256 is to bring Orleans Parish in line with the rest of the state, where each parish has a single clerk’s office that handles both civil and criminal functions.

“This bill is to provide some efficiencies,” Morris said. 

He also acknowledged that the legislation was timed to Duncan’s entrance. “Otherwise we’d probably have to pay him for four years in a job that’s going to be eliminated,” Morris said.

Duncan saw the merger as folly, because the work of the two clerk’s offices is not interchangeable, he said, describing the type of evidence and files that are specific to his office and not used within civil proceedings. 

“The civil district court clerk doesn’t have a clue, doesn’t have a clue on how the records are supposed to be preserved, and how to preserve evidence,” he said. “She has no clue of how that works. Victims of crime will be affected by this.”

Duncan in the crosshairs 

Since the clerk-consolidation bill was introduced in the Senate last month, some lawmakers and judicial officials raised grave concerns about how the change could affect day-to-day court functions, particularly in a system as large as Orleans Parish.

Some opponents of the bill also decried the move as politically motivated, because it seemed laser-focused on unseating Duncan, who served 28 years on a wrongful murder conviction before he was released and eventually exonerated, in 2021. 

During Duncan’s campaign, state Attorney General Liz Murrill was publicly critical of his use of the word “exonerated” to describe himself, since he had initially pleaded guilty to earn his release, later returning to file paperwork that led to a judicial exoneration.

Morris had told Duncan that the bill’s aims were not personal, but instead were

“what the governor wants,” to “right-size” a courts system seen as bloated, which is unlike any other in Louisiana. 

During the committee hearing last week, some residents spoke in defense of Duncan and warned lawmakers that the legislation would have a broader impact on the citizenry. “It’s hard to convey what that kind of process does to people’s trust in government,” said Steve Cochran, a New Orleans voter. “Those of you who keep voting yes are responsible for that loss of trust.”

Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, a Democrat from Lafayette, felt similarly. “We had an election there, and a candidate was selected by the people, he said. “My preference would have been for us to allow this individual to serve.”

Duplessis, who argued that the measure disregarded the will of the voters who had overwhelmingly elected Duncan, proposed an amendment that would have delayed the merger until May 2030, after Duncan’s four-year term. 

The amendment was voted down..

Will it save money or create efficiencies?

During the floor debate, Duplessis asked about any data or formal analysis that could support the bill’s actions.

“So there was no study, no report that we’re aware of that pointed to any inefficiencies. within the clerk’s office?” Duplessis said.

Morris cited Supreme Court data from a report he had read from on the floor.

“Was there anything in the Supreme Court data that suggested that the civil district court was inefficient or that the criminal district court was inefficient?” Duplessis said.

“No, I don’t know that,” Morris responded.

“Well, we’re talking about the clerk’s office,” Duplessis said.

“I don’t recall there being any. There might be some, but I don’t know,” Morris said.

Duplessis also raised questions about the bill’s fiscal impact, because there was no fiscal note attached to the clerk-merger legislation.

“So, we don’t know. So we could end up spending more than we save,” said Duplessis, who — in closing — described the move as unprecedented in his time at the Legislature.

“I have seen some things in my eight years here, but nothing like this,” he said. “This is deeply troubling.” 

Related

• A Louisiana bill to increase the daily reimbursement rate for housing state inmates advanced with bipartisan support.
• The proposed rate would increase from $26.39 to $29.39 per day, starting in the 2027-28 fiscal year.
• Lawmakers acknowledge the proposed increase is a step forward but still does not cover the full costs for local facilities.
• A separate bill also advanced, seeking to impose stricter penalties for repeat DWI offenders.

BATON ROUGE — A bill to raise the daily reimbursement rate for housing state inmates advanced with broad bipartisan support Tuesday, as Louisiana lawmakers seek to ease financial pressure on local correctional facilities while acknowledging the increase still falls short of covering true costs.

The House Appropriations Committee also advanced House Bill 82 by Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner, which seeks to impose stricter penalties on individuals convicted of a third or fourth offense for impaired driving.

Penalties include increasing mandatory minimum sentences and raising fines. A person guilty of a third DWI would spend at least five years in prison, while a fourth offense would result in 12 years with no parole or probation.

House Bill 143, the prison-reimbursement bill authored by Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville, focuses on increasing the per diem rate paid to local correctional facilities that house state inmates. The bill would increase the rate from $26.39 to $29.39 beginning in Fiscal Year 2027-28 and each year after.

The prison-reimbursement bill moved forward with no opposition, signaling widespread agreement among lawmakers that adjustments are overdue.

The bill carries a fiscal note of approximately $17 million, but Bacala said this would not be entirely new spending. He described the measure as a way to align existing appropriations with statutory requirements, noting that the increase has effectively already been budgeted for Fiscal Year 2026-27.

The discussion around HB 143 centers on the growing role of local correctional facilities, often overseen by parish sheriffs. These facilities have expanded services for inmates in recent years, offering programs such as GED education, technical training and work-release opportunities that allow certain inmates to transition back into the workforce.

Despite these enhancements, reimbursement rates from the state have not kept pace with the rising costs and expanded responsibilities.

The Louisiana State Police have identified the dirt bike rider who was involved in a deadly crash while evading police on Canal Boulevard.

Landon Smith, 24, of Winnfield, was killed in the crash.

Police say the crash happened around 5 p.m. on Canal Boulevard at City Park Avenue.

Preliminary investigation revealed that New Orleans police were attempting to conduct a traffic stop on Canal Street in the French Quarter involving a dirt bike, driven by Smith.

Police say Smith was driving recklessly and refused to stop, and continued to flee from police.

Troop NOLA was made aware of the attempted traffic stop, and minutes later, they say Smith was traveling at a high rate of speed on Orleans Avenue while driving the wrong way into oncoming traffic.

Troopers attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but Smith continued to evade police.

Both NOPD and the troopers lost sight of the dirt bike.

Troopers eventually located a crash involving the dirt bike and a truck at the intersection of City Park Avenue and Canal Boulevard.

Law enforcement rendered aid to Smith, and he was transported to a local hospital, where he later died.

According to state police, Smith was traveling west on City Park Avenue at a high rate of speed on the right shoulder, while passing westbound traffic stopped at a red light.

As he approached the intersection of Canal Boulevard and disregarded the red light and continued straight through the intersection, hitting the right side of the truck, which was making a left turn onto Canal Boulevard from eastbound City Park Avenue.

This is an ongoing investigation.