The Louisiana Legislature’s 2026 regular legislative session brought sweeping changes to the local judiciary in New Orleans. Through a package of legislative acts, including Acts 15, 746, and 748, lawmakers downsized benches, consolidated bureaucratic offices, and centralized financial control.
For litigators, practitioners, and MBLB’s clients, these updates mark a historic shift in how both trial-level and appellate dockets will operate moving forward. Below is a comprehensive analysis of the newly enacted changes.
Downsizing the Judiciary
A primary pillar of the 2026 legislative effort was the contraction of both trial and appellate benches.
Orleans Parish Criminal District Court (Act 748)
Sponsored by Senator Jay Morris, Act 748 permanently contracts the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court bench by reducing the number of judges from twelve to nine. Driven by workload studies reflecting lower annual case filings due to long-term population shifts, the text specifically abolishes Divisions A, E, and J. To ensure these seats vanish permanently, the law blocks the Louisiana Secretary of State from opening qualifying windows or holding elections for any successors.
However, the cuts sparked severe political friction during the final days of the legislative session. Late-stage maneuvering abandoned a seniority model, which would have eliminated the least-senior judges, to target specific divisions instead.
Moving forward, dispersing active cases from the three abolished divisions across the remaining nine benches will likely compress scheduling blocks and increase pre-trial delays. Additionally, displaced sitting judges who wish to remain on the bench are now forced to run against incumbent colleagues in the surviving divisions ahead of the fall 2026 election cycle.
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal (Act 746)
Another piece of legislation sponsored by Senator Jay Morris was Act 746. Act 746 restructures the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal (covering Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines parishes) by reducing its total number of judges from twelve to ten. The operational cuts eliminate one seat in the First District (Orleans Parish) through the attrition of Division G, and one Circuit At-Large seat, while the Second and Third districts remain unchanged with one judge each.
To satisfy constitutional protections for the sitting judiciary, no active judge will be deprived of office. Instead, these seats will be permanently retired upon the natural attrition (death, resignation, or term expiration) of the judge in Division G and Chief Judge Roland Belsome, whose current at-large term runs through December 31, 2031. This reduction in appellate personnel means heavier individual workloads for the remaining ten judges, which may ripple into case assignment speeds.
Streamlining Administration (Act 15)
In addition to the bench reductions, Act 15 (also authored by Senator Jay Morris) eliminated New Orleans’ historically divided dual-clerk framework. The law formally abolishes the separate clerk offices for the civil and criminal courts, replacing them with a singular Clerk of Court to oversee both operations in Orleans Parish. The consolidated clerk will be elected to a standard four-year term, officially taking office on the first Monday in May following their election.
To prevent operational issues during the integration of tracking, billing, and docketing systems into one, the law mandates that no employee of the former Criminal District Court Clerk’s office may be discharged prior to January 15, 2027, except for verified “good cause”. Temporary employees or external contractors may also be hired using unrestricted office funds through June 30, 2027, to help facilitate the transition.
Finally, while judges retain the power to appoint one minute clerk as a deputy clerk, their oversight is bound to uniform court rules, and their compensation will be regulated by a centralized fund. The City of New Orleans will maintain current salary funding levels until this centralized fund achieves self-sufficiency.
Financial Centralization & Jurisdictional Shifts
Beyond personnel numbers, Act 15 and Act 748 combine to restructure the judiciary’s jurisdictional authority and centralized financial governance.
Shifting Appellate Oversight
Under Act 748, the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court has been completely stripped of its historic supervisory and appellate jurisdiction over the lower Municipal and Traffic Courts of New Orleans. This appellate oversight, including supervisory writs and habeas corpus actions, is transferred entirely to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal.
Dissolution of “En Banc” Financial Control
The traditional power of the collective local judiciary (“en banc”) over spending, building operations, and personnel hiring has been dissolved. Financial control is now centralized under an Executive Committee of the Consolidated Judicial Expense Fund for the Parish of Orleans.
The committee consists of two civil district judges, two criminal district judges, one city court judge, and two sitting and two retired judges appointed directly by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
This newly formed Executive Committee holds unilateral control over fixing employee numbers, regulating salaries, and allocating funds. This includes money directed toward planning and constructing a centralized new courthouse.
Staffing Flexibility & Lower Court Expansion
Decades-old statutory mandates forcing fixed numbers of courtroom support staff has been repealed, placing staffing numbers entirely at the discretion of the Executive Committee. Courtroom crier compensation is similarly shifted to a negotiated agreement between the Sheriff and the Executive Committee after Fiscal Year 2026-2027. To balance these administrative cuts, lower-level Criminal District Court commissioners are granted expanded authority to review and issue formal recommendations to elected judges regarding complex post-conviction relief claims under strict Supreme Court supervision.
Looking Ahead for Litigators
For firms managing diverse corporate, civil, or criminal caseloads in New Orleans, this legislative package represents a massive move toward systemic modernization, though not without short-term friction. Practitioners should prepare for bureaucratic adjustments as filing systems merge, and keep a close eye on docket speeds as the courts compress.
Our firm will continue to closely monitor the implementation of Acts 15, 746, and 748, along with any potential constitutional challenges from local stakeholders. We will continue to keep you updated on how these shifting jurisdictions and downsized benches might impact your pending legal matters.
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