RÉSUMÉ DIGEST
HB 11 2019 Regular Session Bacala
Present law (Ch.C. Art. 814) provides that a child may be taken into custody without a court
order or warrant by a peace officer or probation officer if the officer has probable cause to
believe that the child has committed a delinquent act.
If a child is taken into custody without a court order or warrant, present law (Ch.C. Art. 814)
provides that the officer shall have the responsibility to either:
(1)Counsel and release the child to the care of his parents upon their written promise to
bring the child to court at such time as may be fixed by the court.
(2)Promptly escort the child to the appropriate facility in accordance with present law
(Ch.C. Art. 815).
In this regard, present law (Ch.C. Art. 815) requires the peace officer or an
appropriate representative of the arresting agency to transport the child to the
appropriate place of detention specified in present law, unless the child has been
released to the care of his parents pursuant Paragraph (1) above.
Present law (Ch.C. Art. 804) provides that a 17-year-old who commits, on or after March 1,
2019, a delinquent act that is not a crime of violence may be subject to delinquency
proceedings of the appropriate court exercising juvenile court jurisdiction instead of being
subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the appropriate court exercising criminal jurisdiction.
Proposed law would have required the officer to counsel and release the child to the care of
his parents upon their written promise to bring the child to court upon notice issued by the
court.
Proposed law would have further provided that if a child who is 17 years of age or older is
taken into custody without a court order or warrant for a misdemeanor-grade delinquent act,
the peace officer would have had the additional option of releasing the child upon the
issuance of a summons or upon the child's written promise to appear in court upon notice
issued by the court.
(Proposed to amend Ch.C. Art. 814(B)(1) and 815(A); proposed to add Ch.C. Art. 814(B)(3))
VETO MESSAGE: "Please be advised that I have vetoed House Bill 11 of the 2019 Regular
Session. This bill authorizes the release of a seventeen-year-old taken into custody for the
commission of a misdemeanor-grade delinquent act upon the issuance of a summons or
counsel and release the child, without notice to the child's parents, upon the child's written
promise to appear in court.
Currently, if a peace officer or probation officer has probable cause to believe that a child has
committed a delinquent act, the officer has the following two options: (1) counsel and
release the child to the care of his parents upon their written promise to bring the child to
court at such time as may be fixed by the court; (2) promptly escort the child to the
appropriate facility in accordance with Article 815 of the Children's Code.
The third option proposed by House Bill 11 is flawed. Seventeen-year olds are deemed to
be children and minors under state law and lack the capacity to enter into contract or written
promise to appear. La. Ch. Code Arts. 116(3), 116(4), 804(1)(a), La. Civ. Code Art. 1918.
Under this new scenario, parents would never know that their child has had contact with the
juvenile justice system. Parents should be provided notice and given the opportunity to
participate in each step of the juvenile justice system process when their child has committed
a delinquent act. House Bill 11 relieves parents of this important responsibility without their
knowledge or consent to do so."