HB 211 Louisiana House · 2026 Regular Session

COURTS: Provides relative to the creation, administration, and eligibility requirements of the Homelessness Court program (EN SEE FISC NOTE GF EX)

HB 211 creates Louisiana's "Homelessness Court Program," establishing specialized court divisions to address homelessness through treatment and support instead of incarceration. It directly affects individuals experiencing homelessness charged with misdemeanors or felonies related to public camping or survival needs, requiring courts to screen eligible defendants for the program. Key provisions include mandatory substance abuse and mental health treatment, housing/job assistance partnerships, and a new criminal penalty for "unauthorized camping on public property" (with exceptions for shelter access). The program aims to reduce recidivism, court workloads, and prison overcrowding by integrating health care, housing, and rehabilitation services under judicial supervision.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

House Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

May 2026

Signed into Law

Jun 2026

Introduced Feb 19, 2026 Signed Jun 9, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB211 Original → HB211 Act 788 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was finalized into Act No. 788, changing the document title from 'Original' to 'Enrolled' and updating the page count from 23 to 21. The substantive policy text regarding the Homelessness Court Program remained unchanged, with the only modifications being a reordering of the legislative goals and a minor correction to the effective date language in the summary.

TECHNICAL

The document header was updated to reflect the final 'Enrolled' status of the bill, and the page count was adjusted from 23 to 21.

The summary of the act was slightly edited to change 'effective dates' to 'limitation of liability' in one instance, though the core intent remains the same.

The list of program goals was renumbered and reordered, shifting the position of goals related to accountability and employment to different numbers without changing their content.

Floor votes · Senate May 28, 2026 · House Apr 15, 2026

How they voted

20–17

Passed · 3 other

Total votes 40

May 28, 2026

D Democratic12

10 Nay 2

83% Nay

R Republican28

20 Yea 7 Nay 1

71% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 29, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read by title, roll called, yeas 72, nays 28, Senate amendments concurred in.

lower

May 28, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate floor amendments read and adopted. Read by title, passed by a vote of 21 yeas and 15 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.

upper

Apr 29, 2026

Committee

Committee amendments read and adopted. Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.

upper

Apr 28, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported with amendments.

upper

Apr 15, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 70, nays 28. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.

lower

Apr 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

Discharged from the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs.

lower

Apr 13, 2026

Committee

Read by title, amended, ordered engrossed, recommitted to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs.

lower

Apr 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported with amendments (12-4). To be recommitted to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs.

lower

Mar 9, 2026

Committee

Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Committee

Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors