CRIMINAL PENALTIES IN LOUISIANA

Crimes in Louisiana can be classified as either misdemeanor or felony offenses. Penalties for convictions are usually statute specific.

Louisiana Revised Statute § 14:2(4) defines a felony as “any crime for which an offender may be sentenced to death or imprisonment at hard labor.” A misdemeanor is defined under Louisiana Revised Statute § 14:2(6) as being any crime other than a felony.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signed the new criminal justice reform, on June 15, 2017, including a bipartisan package of 10 bills that sought to help reduce what had been the nation’s highest imprisonment rate by the end of 2018. On June 28, 2018, the Advocate reported that Louisiana’s Justice Reinvestment Reforms First Annual Performance Report showed a 20 percent decrease in the number of people imprisoned for nonviolent crimes, a 42 percent decrease in the number of people imprisoned for drug possession, and a 9 percent decrease in the number of people under community supervision by probation and parole officers.

The criminal justice reform measures signed into law in 2017 included a number of important changes for alleged offenders in Louisiana. Judges were finally allowed to shorten or suspend the sentences of defendants convicted of third nonviolent felony offenses, and people convicted of first-time violent crimes punishable by 10 years or more imprisonment.

People convicted of a subsequent DWI/DUI offense or multiple felony offenses can now be sentenced to treatment instead of imprisonment. Mandatory minimum sentences were eliminated for a number of crimes, including arson, theft, and possession of two grams or less of many different controlled substances.

Maximum sentences for many crimes, including using a car without an owner’s permission, several drug crimes, and many other nonviolent crimes, were also lowered. The threshold for when a misdemeanor becomes a felony was also raised to $1,000 for theft (which had been $500) and worthless checks (which had been $500).

ALTERNATIVES TO IMPRISONMENT IN LOUISIANA

Not all people charged with criminal offenses necessarily have to serve jail or prison time. Judges in Louisiana may have the discretion to impose other possible punishments.

Article 893 of the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure allows for the court to suspend the imposition or execution of a criminal sentence for a first, second, or third conviction of a noncapital felony, and place a defendant on probation under the supervision of the Division of Probation and Parole. This is known as a suspended sentence.

The conditions of probation are established under Article 895 of the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure. This law provides that a court that places a defendant on probation must require the defendant to refrain from criminal conduct and to pay a supervision fee, as well as impose specific conditions reasonably related to their rehabilitation and require the defendant to do all of the following:

• Make a full and truthful report at the end of every month.
• Meet their specified family responsibilities (child support).
• Report to their probation officer as directed.
• Allow the probation officer to visit them at their home or elsewhere.
• Devote themself to an approved employment or occupation.
• Do not own or possess firearms or other dangerous weapons.
• Make reasonable reparations or restitution.
• Avoid “frequenting unlawful or disreputable places or consorting with disreputable persons.”
• Remain within court jurisdiction and obtain the permission of the probation officer before changing address or employment.
• Devote themself to an approved reading program if they are unable to read the English language.
• Perform community service work.
• Submit to available medical, psychiatric, mental health, or substance abuse examination or treatment or both when deemed appropriate and ordered to do so by the probation and parole officer.
• Agree to searches of their person, property, place of residence, vehicle, or personal effects, or any or all of them, at any time, by the probation or parole officer assigned to them or by any probation or parole officer who is subsequently assigned or directed by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

It is important to comply with the terms of your probation, as a violation could result in new charges, as well as the imposition of your original sentence.

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