2023 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE BILL NO. 54
BY SENATOR MORRIS AND REPRESENTATIVE ECHOLS
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 211(A)(1), (B)(1), and (E), relative
3 to summons by officer instead of arrest and booking; to remove the requirement of
4 the issuance of a summons in lieu of arrest for certain offenses; to provide relative
5 to officer discretion to make an arrest under certain circumstances; and to provide
6 for related matters.
7 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
8 Section 1. Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 211(A)(1), (B)(1), and (E) are hereby
9 amended and reenacted to read as follows:
10 Art. 211. Summons by officer instead of arrest and booking
11 A.(1) When it is lawful for a peace officer to arrest a person without a
12 warrant for a misdemeanor, or for a felony charge of theft as defined by R.S. 14:67
13 or illegal possession of stolen things when the thing of value is five hundred dollars
14 or more but less than one thousand dollars as provided in R.S. 14:69(B)(4), he shall
15 may issue a written summons instead of making an arrest unless one or more if all
16 of the following conditions exist:
17 (a) The officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person will not
18 appear upon summons.
19 (b) The officer has no reasonable grounds to believe that the person will
20 cause injury to himself or another or damage to property or will continue in the same
21 or a similar offense unless immediately arrested and booked.
22 (c) There is a no necessity to book the person to comply with routine
23 identification procedures.
ACT No. 438
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 54 ENROLLED
1 (d) The If an officer issues a summons for a felony described in this
2 Paragraph, the officer issuing the summons has ascertained that the person has
3 two or more no prior felony criminal convictions.
4 * * *
5 B.(1) When a peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe a person has
6 committed the offense of issuing worthless checks as defined by R.S. 14:71, he shall
7 may issue a written summons instead of making an arrest unless either if both of the
8 following conditions exist:
9 (a) He has reasonable grounds to believe that the person will not appear upon
10 summons.
11 (b) He has no reasonable grounds to believe that the person will cause injury
12 to himself or another or damage to property unless immediately arrested.
13 * * *
14 E. The provisions of this Article shall not apply when When the officer has
15 reasonable grounds to believe a person committed the offense of domestic abuse
16 battery, battery of a dating partner, violation of a protective order, stalking, or any
17 other offense involving the use or threatened use of force or a deadly weapon upon
18 the defendant's family members, as defined in R.S. 46:2132, upon the defendant's
19 household member, as defined in R.S. 14:35.3, or upon the defendant's dating
20 partner, as defined in R.S. 46:2151, the officer shall make a custodial arrest.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.