JUDGES: Provides relative to judicial compensation (EG INCREASE GF EX See Note)
HB 597 establishes a new formula for adjusting judicial salaries in Louisiana. It requires annual salary increases for all Louisiana judges (Supreme Court, appellate, district, city, and parish courts) on July 1st, based on a five-year rolling average of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bill caps annual raises at the percentage increase for full-time state classified employees and mandates that the Louisiana Supreme Court and Judicial Budgetary Control Board must approve each increase before implementation, contingent on available funding. This replaces previous judicial compensation statutes (R.S. 13:42-50) with the new mechanism.
Bill status
in committee
1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 26, 2026
Last action May 11, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
HB597 Original
→
HB597 Engrossed
·
2 edits
MINOR
The bill was amended to add a specific effective date of July 1, 2028, replacing a previous line that mentioned compensation increases. Additionally, the digest text was updated to clarify that the salary increase cap is based on the percentage increase for state employees rather than just the raw average pay.
Scope change
The bill's scope remains focused on judicial salary adjustments, but the timeline for implementation is now explicitly defined.
TIMELINE
Added a specific effective date of July 1, 2028, to the bill text and the digest summary.
REQUIREMENT
Clarified in the digest that the salary increase cap is tied to the percentage increase in pay for state classified employees, rather than just the average pay amount.
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
6
Key actions
1
Committee
4
May 11, 2026
Committee
Read by title, amended, ordered engrossed, recommitted to the Committee on Appropriations.
lower
May 7, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported with amendments (15-0).
lower
Mar 9, 2026
Committee
Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
lower
Feb 26, 2026
Committee
Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Dixon McMakin
RRepublican
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