To amend title 28, United States Code, to redefine the eastern and middle judicial districts of Louisiana.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill replaces the parish lists in title 28 that define Louisiana's Middle and Western federal judicial districts. The revised Middle District list contains Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, Saint Helena, and West Baton Rouge. The revised Western District list contains the parishes enumerated in the bill, including West Feliciana.
The amendments apply prospectively. Any federal action commenced or pending in a Louisiana judicial district before enactment remains governed by the prior district boundaries. The bill does not create a court, judgeship, or appropriation.
Who Benefits and How
Litigants and attorneys in already pending Louisiana federal cases benefit from continuity because their cases are not reassigned. Future litigants, federal prosecutors, and federal defenders gain an updated statutory parish map for selecting the proper district. Middle District and Western District clerks receive definitive lists for new filings.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Louisiana federal court clerks, judges, attorneys, and agency litigation staff must update venue references, filing guidance, case-intake systems, and public materials for future actions. Federal prosecutors and defenders must apply the new lists to post-enactment cases while retaining the old lists for pending matters. Court information-technology staff must support both prospective and grandfathered treatment.
Key Provisions
- Replaces the parish list defining the Middle District of Louisiana.
- Replaces the parish list defining the Western District of Louisiana.
- Applies the revised boundaries to future federal actions.
- Protects actions commenced or pending before enactment from reassignment.
- Requires clerks and attorneys to use the revised lists for new cases.
- Does not create a new court, judgeship, or spending program.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Replaces the statutory parish lists defining Louisiana's Middle and Western federal judicial districts while preserving the district assignment of every federal action commenced or pending before enactment.
Key Policy Areas
Federal Courts, Judicial Districts, Louisiana, Venue, Pending Litigation
Primary Purpose
Replaces the statutory parish lists defining Louisiana's Middle and Western federal judicial districts while preserving the district assignment of every federal action commenced or pending before enactment.
Policy Domains
Section 1 Louisiana federal judicial district definitions
Identified Gains
- Litigants in pending Louisiana federal cases
- Attorneys in pending Louisiana federal cases
- Future Louisiana federal litigants
- Middle District court clerks
- Western District court clerks
Identified Costs
- Middle District court administrators
- Western District court administrators
- Louisiana federal prosecutors
- Louisiana federal defenders
- Federal court information-technology staff
- Attorneys filing future Louisiana cases
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in House
Ms. Letlow introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Attorneys in pending Louisiana federal cases, Future Louisiana federal litigants, Litigants in pending Louisiana federal cases
Positive-direction: Attorneys in pending Louisiana federal cases, Litigants in pending Louisiana federal cases
Negative-direction: Louisiana federal defenders
Federal court information-technology staff, Middle District court clerks, Western District court clerks
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "middle_district"
- → United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana
- "pending_litigant"
- → Party to a Louisiana federal action commenced before enactment
- "western_district"
- → United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The revised district lists do not apply to an action commenced or pending before enactment.
The eight Louisiana parishes enumerated in revised section 98(b).
The Louisiana parishes enumerated in revised section 98(c).
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology