HLS 20RS-1 ORIGINAL
2020 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 555
BY REPRESENTATIVE DUPLESSIS
CRIME: Provides relative to the booking information of an arrested person
1 AN ACT
2To amend and reenact Code of Criminal Procedure Article 228(B) and to enact R.S.
3 44:3(A)(4)(d), relative to the booking of an arrested person; to provide relative to
4 booking information summaries; to prohibit public inspection of photographs
5 included in booking information summaries; to provide relative to initial reports of
6 arrested persons; to provide that the records available in an initial report shall not
7 include any photographs and shall not be open for public inspection; and to provide
8 for related matters.
9Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
10 Section 1. Code of Criminal Procedure Article 228(B) is hereby amended and
11reenacted to read as follows:
12 Art. 228. Booking of arrested person, submission of booking information summary
13 * * *
14 B. A person is booked by an entry, in a book kept for that purpose, showing
15 his name and address, a list of any property taken from him, the date and time of
16 booking, and the submission of a booking information summary as provided for in
17 Paragraph C of this Article to the person making the entry in the police or jail book.
18 Every jail and police station shall keep a book for the listing of the above
19 information as to each prisoner received. The book and booking information
20 summaries shall always be open for public inspection. Any photograph included in
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HLS 20RS-1 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 555
1 the book and booking information summaries shall only be used for administrative
2 purposes by a jail or police station or for investigative purposes by law enforcement
3 and shall not be open for public inspection. The person booked shall be imprisoned
4 unless he is released on bail.
5 * * *
6 Section 2. R.S. 44:3(A)(4)(d) is hereby enacted to read as follows:
7 ยง3. Records of prosecutive, investigative, and law enforcement agencies and
8 communications districts
9 A. Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to require disclosures of
10 records, or the information contained therein, held by the offices of the attorney
11 general, district attorneys, sheriffs, police departments, Department of Public Safety
12 and Corrections, marshals, investigators, public health investigators, correctional
13 agencies, communications districts, intelligence agencies, Council on Peace Officer
14 Standards and Training, Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and
15 Administration of Criminal Justice, or publicly owned water districts of the state,
16 which records are:
17 * * *
18 (4)
19 * * *
20 (d) The records available to the public in the initial report and in the booking
21 of a person in accordance with Code of Criminal Procedure Article 228 shall not
22 include any photographs of the person, and any photographs of the person associated
23 with the initial report or the booking shall only be used for administrative purposes
24 by a jail or police station or for investigative purposes by law enforcement and shall
25 not be released or open for public inspection pursuant to the provisions of this
26 Chapter.
27 * * *
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HLS 20RS-1 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 555
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 555 Original 2020 Regular Session Duplessis
Abstract: Prohibits the public inspection of any photographs included in booking
information summaries and initial reports of arrested persons, and provides that the
initial report shall not include any photographs.
Present law (C.Cr.P. Art. 228) provides that a person is booked by an entry in a book kept
for that purpose, showing his name and address, a list of any property taken from him, the
date and time of booking, and the submission of a booking information summary. Further
requires every jail and police station to keep a booking for the listing of the present law
information as to each prisoner received. The book and booking information summaries are
required to always be open for public inspection.
Proposed law provides that any photograph included in the present law book and booking
information summaries shall only be used for administrative purposes by a jail or police
station or investigative purposes by law enforcement and shall not be open for public
inspection.
Present law (R.S. 44:3(A)(4)) exempts a person's arrest records from the Public Records Law
until a final judgment of conviction or acceptance of a plea of guilty by a court of competent
jurisdiction. However, the initial report of the officer or officers investigating a complaint,
records of the booking of a person as provided in present law (C.Cr.P. Art. 228), records of
the issuance of a summons or citation, and records of the filing of a bill of information shall
be a public record.
Present law further provides that the initial report shall set forth:
(1)A narrative description of the alleged offense, including appropriate details as
determined by the law enforcement agency.
(2)The name and identification of each person charged with or arrested for the alleged
offense.
(3)The time and date of the alleged offense.
(4)The location of the alleged offense.
(5)The property involved.
(6)The vehicles involved.
(7)The names of the investigating officers.
Proposed law provides that the records available to the public in the initial report and in the
booking of a person in accordance with present law (C.Cr.P. Art. 228) shall not include any
photographs of the person, and any photographs of the person associated with the initial
report or the booking shall only be used for administrative purposes by a jail or police station
or investigative purposes by law enforcement and shall not be released or open for public
inspection pursuant to the provisions of present law.
(Amends C.Cr.P. Art. 228(B); Adds R.S. 44:3(A)(4)(d))
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.