Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal
The Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal are the intermediate appellate courts for the state of Louisiana.
There are five circuits, each covering a different group of parishes.[1] Each circuit is subdivided into three districts.[2]
As with the Louisiana Supreme Court, the regular judicial terms on the courts of appeal are ten years.
The courts of appeal are housed in the following cities in Louisiana:
First Circuit – Baton Rouge
Second Circuit – Shreveport
Third Circuit – Lake Charles
Fourth Circuit – New Orleans
Fifth Circuit – Gretna
Jurisdiction
The Circuit Courts of Appeal have
1st Circuit
Parishes Included:
- 1st District: Ascension, Assumption, Iberville, Lafourche, Pointe Coupee, St. Mary, Terrebonne, and West Baton Rouge
- 2nd District: East Baton Rouge
- 3rd District: East Feliciana, Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington, and West Feliciana
Circuit Seat: First Circuit Courthouse (Baton Rouge)
Title | Name | District | Subdistrict | Election section | Division | Party | Term start |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chief Judge | Vanessa Guidry-Whipple | 1 | D | Democratic | 1991 | ||
Circuit Judge | John Michael Guidry | 2 | 2 | D | Democratic | 1997 | |
Circuit Judge | J. Michael "Mike" McDonald | 2 | 1 | B | Republican | 2003 | |
Circuit Judge | Page McClendon | 3 | B | Republican | 2002 | ||
Circuit Judge | Jewel E. "Duke" Welch | 2 | 1 | C | Republican | 2004 | |
Circuit Judge | Mitchell R. Theriot | 1 | B | Republican | 2012 | ||
Circuit Judge | Guy Holdridge | 1 | 1 | C | Republican | 2015 | |
Circuit Judge | Wayne Ray Chutz | 3 | A | Republican | 2015 | ||
Circuit Judge | Allison H. Penzato | 3 | C | Republican | 2017 | ||
Circuit Judge | Walter I. Lanier, III | 1 | 1 | A | Republican | 2019 | |
Circuit Judge | Elizabeth Wolfe | 3 | D | Republican | 2020 | ||
Circuit Judge | Christopher Hester | 2 | 1 | A | Republican | 2021 |
2nd Circuit
Parishes Included: Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, DeSoto, East Carroll, Franklin, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Red River, Richland, Tensas, Union, Webster, West Carroll, Winn
Circuit Seat: Second Circuit Courthouse (Shreveport)
Title | Name | District | Election section | Division | Party | Term start |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chief Judge | Frances Jones Pitman | 3 | 2 | B | Republican | 2012 |
Circuit Judge | Shonda D. Stone | 3 | 1 | A | Democratic | 2016 |
Circuit Judge | Jeff Cox | 2 | C | Republican | 2017 | |
Circuit Judge | James M. Stephens | 1 | 2 | A | Independent | 2018 |
Circuit Judge | Jeff R. Thompson | 2 | 2 | Republican | 2019 | |
Circuit Judge | Jeff Robinson | 2 | 1 | A | Republican | 2021 |
Circuit Judge | Marcus Hunter | 1 | 1 | C | Democratic | 2021 |
Circuit Judge | Craig O. Marcotte | 3 | 2 | C | Republican | 2022 |
Circuit Judge | Danny Ellender | 1 | 2 | B | Republican | 2023 |
3rd Circuit
Parishes Included: Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Catahoula, Concordia, Evangeline, Grant, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Rapides, Sabine, St. Landry, St. Martin, Vermilion, Vernon
Circuit Seat: Third Circuit Courthouse (Lake Charles)
Title | Name | District | Election section | Division | Party | Term start |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chief Judge | Sylvia R. Cooks | 3 | 2 | D | Democratic | 1992 |
Circuit Judge | Elizabeth A. Pickett | 1 | A | Independent | 1997 | |
Circuit Judge | Billy H. Ezell | 2 | 2 | B | Republican | 2003 |
Circuit Judge | Shannon J. Gremillion | 1 | C | Democratic | 2008 | |
Circuit Judge | John E. Conery | 3 | 3 | E | Republican | 2013 |
Circuit Judge | D. Kent Savoie | 2 | 2 | A | Republican | 2015 |
Circuit Judge | Van H. Kyzar | 1 | B | Democratic | 2017 | |
Circuit Judge | Candyce Perret | 1 | B | Republican | 2017 | |
Circuit Judge | Jonathan W. Perry | 3 | 4 | F | Republican | 2019 |
Circuit Judge | Sharon Wilson | 2 | 1 | C | Democratic | 2021 |
Circuit Judge | Charlie Fitzgerald | 3 | 5 | A | Republican | 2021 |
Circuit Judge | Gary J. Ortego | 3 | 3 | E | Republican | 2022 |
4th Circuit
Parishes Included:
Circuit Seat: Fourth Circuit Courthouse (
Title | Name | District | Division | Party | Term start |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chief Judge | Terri F. Love | 1 | E | Democratic | 2000 |
Circuit Judge | Edwin A. Lombard | 1 | A | Democratic | 2003 |
Circuit Judge | Roland L. Belsome | at large | Democratic | 2004 | |
Circuit Judge | Daniel L. Dysart | 3 | A | Independent | 2010 |
Circuit Judge | Joyce Cossich Lobrano | 2 | A | Republican | 2010 |
Circuit Judge | Rosemary Ledet | 1 | G | Democratic | 2010 |
Circuit Judge | Sandra Cabrina Jenkins | 1 | H | Democratic | 2012 |
Circuit Judge | Paula A. Brown | 1 | C | Democratic | 2017 |
Circuit Judge | Tiffany G. Chase | 1 | B | Democratic | 2017 |
Circuit Judge | Dale N. Atkins | 1 | F | Democratic | 2018 |
5th Circuit
Parishes Included: Jefferson, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist
Circuit Seat: Fifth Circuit Courthouse (Gretna)
Title | Name | Division | Party | Term start |
---|---|---|---|---|
Chief Judge | Susan M. Chehardy | D | Independent | 1998 |
Circuit Judge | Fredericka H. Wicker | B | Republican | 2006 |
Circuit Judge | Jude G. Gravois | H | Democratic | 2011 |
Circuit Judge | Marc E. Johnson | C | Democratic | 2009 |
Circuit Judge | Robert A. Chaisson | I | Democratic | 2011 |
Circuit Judge | Stephen J. Windhorst | E | Republican | 2012 |
Circuit Judge | Hans J. Liljeberg | F | Republican | 2012 |
Circuit Judge | John J. Molaison Jr. | G | Republican | 2018 |
Judicial misconduct scandal
In May 2007, Jerrold Peterson, staff director for the court, wrote a letter alleging that, starting in 1994, criminal pro se petitions were not being reviewed by a panel of three judges as required by Louisiana law. Instead, every pro se petition received a boilerplate response. At least 5,000 petitions have been disregarded under this policy over a 12 year period. On May 21, 2007, Peterson committed suicide at the age of 55.[8]
References
- ^ Map of judicial circuits of the Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal
- ^ a b Louisiana State Judiciary homepage
- ^ "Judges". Louisiana Court of Appeal First Circuit, 22 Nov. 2016. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.
- ^ "Court Personnel Overview". Court of Appeal, Second Circuit State of Louisiana. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.
- ^ "Personnel Directory: Judges". State of Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.
- ^ "Judicial Biography: Active Judges". State of Louisiana Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.
- ^ "Court Personnel". Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.
- ^ Rubin, Anat (November 4, 2023). "The Scandal That Never Happened". ProPublica. Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 23, 2023.