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HB 199 Louisiana House · 2025 Regular Session

CORRECTIONS/PRISONERS: Provides relative to proceedings in forma pauperis for prisoners (EN SEE FISC NOTE LF RV)

HB 199 changes how incarcerated individuals pay court filing fees. It requires correctional facilities to forward money from a prisoner's account to the court whenever the balance exceeds $10, continuing until all fees are covered. This directly affects prisoners seeking to file lawsuits or court documents by making fee payments more manageable through regular, smaller transfers instead of requiring large upfront payments. The bill modifies existing procedures to streamline the payment process for in forma pauperis (fee-free) proceedings.
Issues: ✓ Criminal JusticeSupports Criminal JusticeEases financial barriers for prisoners to file lawsuits via small regular fee payments, aligning with civil rights access in criminal justice reform.90% confidence
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Apr 2025
Committee Review
Jun 2025
House Passage
Jun 2025
Senate Passage
Jun 2025
Signed into Law
Jun 2025
Introduced Apr 1, 2025 Signed Jun 11, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB199 Original → HB199 Act 253 · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was enrolled and formatted for final passage, changing the header from 'Original' to 'Act No. 253'. Substantively, the law was reorganized to clarify that prisoners who are no longer incarcerated must submit an affidavit of present assets rather than a trust fund statement. The fee calculation rules were also restructured to explicitly distinguish between fees based on trust accounts versus present assets, while retaining the requirement for monthly payments of 20% of income until filing fees are paid.
Scope change
The scope of applicability was clarified by adding a specific provision for prisoners who are no longer incarcerated, requiring them to submit asset affidavits instead of trust fund statements.
REQUIREMENT

Reorganized the statute to explicitly separate fee calculation methods for prisoners with trust accounts versus those with present assets.

Added a specific requirement for released prisoners to submit an affidavit of present assets and supporting documentation.

TECHNICAL

Updated document headers and page counts to reflect the enrolled status of the Act.

Floor votes · Senate Jun 8, 2025 · House May 19, 2025

How they voted

35–0
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 37
Jun 8, 2025
D Democratic11
10 Yea 1
90% Yea
R Republican26
25 Yea 1
96% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
20
Key actions
5
Committee
4
Jun 9, 2025
Lower · Passed
Read by title, roll called, yeas 99, nays 0, Senate amendments concurred in.
lower
Jun 8, 2025
Upper · Passed
Rules suspended. The amended bill was read by title, passed by a vote of 37 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
upper
Jun 3, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported with amendments. Rules suspended. Committee amendments read and adopted. Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
upper
May 19, 2025
Lower · Passed
Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 96, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
lower
May 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported with amendments (9-0).
lower
Apr 14, 2025
Committee
Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Civil Law and Procedure.
lower
Apr 1, 2025
Committee
Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Civil Law and Procedure.
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Kathy Edmonston
Kathy Edmonston
RRepublican
LA
88