BAIL: (Constitutional Amendment) Restricts post-conviction bail for certain offenders (EN SEE FISC NOTE LF EX)
HB 51 proposes a constitutional amendment to Louisiana's Constitution that would prohibit bail after a conviction for certain offenses. Specifically, it would ban bail for defendants convicted of an "aggravated offense" (as defined in state law) committed against a minor victim. This change would apply only after a conviction and before sentencing or final judgment, affecting individuals found guilty of these specific crimes against children. The amendment requires voter approval in the 2026 election to take effect.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
May 2026
House Passage
Apr 2026
Senate Passage
May 2026
Signed into Law
May 2026
Introduced Jan 30, 2026
Signed May 21, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 5 comparisons
What changed between versions
HB51 Original
→
HB51 Act
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill was finalized and enrolled for the 2026 election, changing the ballot language to explicitly prohibit post-conviction bail for defendants convicted of aggravated offenses against minor children. The substantive policy remains the same: it adds a new constitutional restriction preventing bail for specific serious crimes involving minors, while retaining the general right to bail for other cases.
Scope change
The scope of the restriction is now explicitly defined on the ballot as applying to 'aggravated offenses against a minor child,' clarifying the specific victim class and offense severity required to trigger the ban.
REQUIREMENT
The ballot proposition text was rewritten to change the wording from 'shall not be allowed' to 'prohibit a defendant from being released,' and clarified the scope to 'aggravated offense against a minor child.'
TECHNICAL
The document header was updated from 'ORIGINAL' to 'ENROLLED' and the Act number was assigned as 271, indicating the bill has passed all legislative stages and is ready for the election.
The Legislative Services digest and explanatory notes were removed as the bill is now in its final enrolled form.
Floor votes · Senate May 13, 2026 · House Apr 20, 2026
How they voted
32–1
Passed · 7 other
Total votes 40
May 13, 2026
D
Democratic12
58% Yea
R
Republican28
89% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
26
Key actions
5
Committee
7
May 13, 2026
Upper · Passed
Rules suspended. Read by title, passed by a vote of 31 yeas and 1 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
upper
May 6, 2026
Committee
Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
upper
May 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
Rules suspended. Reported favorably.
upper
Apr 20, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 92, nays 0. The bill, having received two-thirds vote of the elected members, was finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
lower
Apr 7, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported with amendments (8-0).
lower
Mar 26, 2026
Committee
Read by title, ordered engrossed, recommitted to the Committee on Civil Law and Procedure.
lower
Mar 25, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported favorably (11-0. To be recommitted to the Committee on Civil Law and Procedure.
lower
Mar 9, 2026
Committee
Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.
lower
Jan 30, 2026
Committee
Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Debbie Villio
RRepublican
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