On Monday, April 20, 2026, the Louisiana Legislature is scheduled to vote on two bills— House Bill 911 and Senate Bill 217 — that would eliminate nine judgeships in Orleans Parish, consolidating courts and potentially saving millions for the State and City of New Orleans. BGR has long called for careful review of potential excess judgeships in the parish, and the City’s financial crisis makes that review more urgent than ever.
But in a new report, BGR finds that the proposed cuts are moving faster than the evidence supports.
The bills rely largely on a preliminary caseload formula developed by the Louisiana Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court’s own chief justice has said that formula is just a starting point. A final determination of how many judges the courts need requires court visits, interviews with judges, and supplemental research that hasn’t been done yet.
Without it, the Legislature risks cutting too many judgeships, particularly at Criminal District Court where case backlogs, jail overcrowding, and rising detention costs could end up wiping out the projected savings.
The Supreme Court has delayed action on this question three times since Hurricane Katrina. BGR is calling on it to finish the job, and on the Legislature to wait for the results before making cuts that could take years to undo.
BGR RISK ANALYSIS BREAKS DOWN THE POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES IN DETAIL
