HB 277 Louisiana House · 2025 Regular Session

CRIMINAL/PROCEDURE: Provides relative to certain pretrial procedures (RE INCREASE GF EX See Note)

HB 277 amends criminal procedure law to define "conclusion of the case" for pretrial purposes. The bill specifies that a case concludes with a final court decision (conviction, acquittal, or dismissal) or after sentencing is completed. This definition directly affects courts and defendants navigating pretrial procedures by clarifying when case timelines end. The bill focuses solely on this procedural definition without creating new legal obligations or altering substantive rights.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Apr 2025

Committee Review

Jun 2025

House Passage

May 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Apr 2, 2025 Last action Jun 3, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB277 Reengrossed → HB277 Engrossed · 3 edits · May 22, 2025

MINOR

This bill removes a definition for 'conclusion of the case' and corrects a grammatical error in the appointment of counsel section. The changes clarify that indigent defendants have a right to appointed counsel from their initial appearance until the case concludes, unless they hire private counsel. These updates ensure the law is grammatically correct and removes an outdated definition that may have caused confusion about when a case ends for the purpose of legal representation.

DEFINITION

Deleted the definition of 'conclusion of the case' which previously specified that it means the entry of a final judgment or completion of sentencing.

REQUIREMENT

Corrected a sentence structure error in the appointment of counsel section to clearly state that the court shall assign counsel to indigent defendants.

TECHNICAL

Removed the provision allowing the court to review a prior determination of bail amount at the initial appearance.

Floor votes · House May 22, 2025

How they voted

78–0

Passed · 24 other

Total votes 102

May 22, 2025

D Democratic31

20 Yea 11

64% Yea

R Republican71

58 Yea 13

81% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jun 3, 2025

Committee

Read by title. Recommitted to the Committee on Finance.

upper

Jun 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

Rules suspended. Reported favorably.

upper

May 22, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 81, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

lower

May 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

Discharged from the Committee on Appropriations.

lower

May 15, 2025

Committee

Read by title, amended, ordered engrossed, recommitted to the Committee on Appropriations.

lower

May 14, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported with amendments (11-0).

lower

Apr 14, 2025

Committee

Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.

lower

Apr 2, 2025

Committee

Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors