HB 59 Louisiana House · 2026 Regular Session

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)

HB 59 requires East Baton Rouge Parish and its cities to fund specific expenses for the 19th Judicial District Court's public defender office, which serves people who cannot afford legal representation. The bill mandates that local governments cover salaries for staff (including public defenders, clerks, and investigators) and operational costs like supplies, travel, and equipment. Funding responsibility is shared proportionally between the parish and individual cities, as determined by their governing authorities. This complements existing state funding and directly affects the office's ability to provide indigent defense services in East Baton Rouge Parish.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

May 2026

House Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

May 2026

Signed into Law

Jun 2026

Introduced Jan 30, 2026 Signed Jun 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB59 Original → HB59 Act 611 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to formalize the text by replacing informal references to the '19th Judicial District Court' with the official 'Nineteenth Judicial District Court' and updating the list of sponsors to include additional representatives and senators. A new subsection was added to explicitly terminate the funding authorization on July 1, 2028, providing a clear end date for the expense allowance.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's applicability remains the same, but the text now includes a specific sunset date for the funding provision.

TECHNICAL

Replaced informal references to the '19th Judicial District Court' with the formal name 'Nineteenth Judicial District Court' throughout the text.

TIMELINE

Added a specific termination date of July 1, 2028, for the expense allowance provision.

ELIGIBILITY

Updated the list of bill sponsors to include additional representatives and senators who joined the original bill.

Floor votes · Senate May 27, 2026 · House May 7, 2026

How they voted

37–0

Passed · 3 other

Total votes 40

May 27, 2026

D Democratic12

10 Yea 2

83% Yea

R Republican28

27 Yea 1

96% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read by title, passed by a vote of 36 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

upper

May 25, 2026

Committee

Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.

upper

May 21, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported favorably.

upper

May 7, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 95, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

lower

Apr 15, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported favorably (11-0).

lower

Mar 9, 2026

Committee

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

lower

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

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

lower

1 primary · 20 co-sponsors