Louisiana lawmakers have teed up a major shakeup for the New Orleans-based appeals court, advancing a bill that would cut two judgeships from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, which hears cases from Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes. The measure cleared the Legislature on May 27, has been formally enrolled and now sits on Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk, where it can be signed or become law by lapse of time.
Senate Bill 197, authored by Sen. John "Jay" Morris, passed the House on a recorded final vote and is listed as enrolled and awaiting the governor’s action, according to the Louisiana Legislature. The House journal captures the roll call on final passage, and the enrolled bill is now part of the official legislative record.
What SB197 Would Change
The bill would shrink the Fourth Circuit from 12 judges to 10. Under the enrolled text, no future elections would be held for Division G of the court’s first district, or for the at-large seat now held by Chief Judge Roland Belsome once that term ends. Supporters wrote into the law that, "No provision of this Act shall deprive any judge in office of the ability to serve the entire remainder of his or her term," language that appears in the enrolled version posted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Part of a Broader Package
SB197 is one piece of a larger court-restructuring push aimed at Orleans Parish, a package that would reorganize local courts and cut back on elected positions. Other measures in the bundle would merge clerk of court offices and trim judgeships at several levels of the Orleans system, a set of moves that has drawn statewide attention and more than a little national side-eye.
As The Guardian and other outlets have reported, the package has become a political flashpoint, with critics casting it as a high-stakes power struggle over how New Orleans’ justice system is run and by whom.
Why Opponents Object
Court-watchers, civil-rights advocates and local officials argue the cuts are barreling ahead on shaky data. They say the reductions rely on disputed caseload calculations that understate how much work New Orleans courts actually handle.
The Bureau of Governmental Research has urged lawmakers to hold off on eliminating any judgeships until a full Louisiana Supreme Court case-weight study is completed. At the same time, local reporting has highlighted gaps between the Supreme Court’s workload formula and the filing numbers seen on the ground in Orleans Parish, concerns that The Lens has tied to broader opposition to the package.
Legal Fights and Immediate Fallout
The broader court overhaul has already triggered lawsuits and political blowback. A separate bill in the package, which consolidates Orleans’ civil and criminal clerk offices, was signed by Gov. Landry in early May and almost immediately drew a federal challenge.
A temporary court order cleared incoming criminal clerk Calvin Duncan to take office while that litigation plays out, a procedural twist that underscored just how quickly the restructuring fight jumped from the Capitol to the courthouse, as reported by The Guardian.
What Happens Next
With SB197 now enrolled, the next move belongs to the governor. If he signs the bill, or simply lets the signature deadline pass, the two affected Fourth Circuit seats would be eliminated as the current terms expire, and the state would move ahead with the new judicial lineup.
Opponents are already signaling that the fight will not end there. They anticipate more legal challenges and sustained political pushback in New Orleans, while officials and advocates continue pressing for a comprehensive, statewide study of judicial workloads before any permanent cuts are locked in.
