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Louisiana’s criminal justice system, the one a New Orleans arrest actually moves through, is built on a civil-law tradition unique among U.S. states, not the common-law framework nearly every other state’s courts use. The real bail standard, the counsel-appointment deadline, and how Louisiana actually grades and sentences an offense are covered further down this page. Working through these details early, rather than after an arrest has already happened, is usually the more effective approach.
Bail and Pretrial Release in Orleans Parish
Bail in Louisiana isn’t automatic or fixed to a schedule: La. C.Cr.P. art. 316 requires a judge to individually weigh the offense’s seriousness, particularly whether it’s a crime of violence or involves a controlled dangerous substance, alongside the evidence, the defendant’s record, and whether releasing the defendant would endanger the community or any specific person. Whatever amount is set, a defendant who can’t pay it in cash directly to the court can instead use a licensed commercial bail bondsman, whose premium is set by La. R.S. 22:1443 at 12% of the bond’s face value or $120, whichever is greater, and is kept by the bondsman regardless of the case’s outcome.
Right to Counsel After an Arrest in New Orleans
Louisiana’s right-to-counsel deadline is uniform statewide, not tied to a parish’s population the way some states scale it: under La. C.Cr.P. art. 230.1, an arrested person has to be brought before a judge within 72 hours for the purpose of appointing counsel, with Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays excluded from that count. If that 72-hour appearance doesn’t happen, the arrested person has to be released on their own recognizance. The attorney appointed at that hearing comes from the district public defender’s office, one of which the Louisiana Public Defender Board maintains in each of the state’s 42 judicial districts under La. R.S. 15:161, and having one appointed doesn’t prevent hiring private counsel later if that becomes an option.
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Louisiana Doesn't Grade Crimes Into Classes
A real structural difference worth understanding early: Louisiana has no felony-class system at all. La. R.S. 14:2 draws the felony/misdemeanor line at whether death or hard labor imprisonment is possible, and beyond that binary, every offense in Title 14 is sentenced according to its own specifically written penalty, not a shared class range the way a Class B felony might work elsewhere.
The Charges We See Most in Louisiana Criminal Defense
A theft charge in Louisiana is graded entirely by value under La. R.S. 14:67: below $1,000 is a misdemeanor, but the felony tiers above that escalate fast, up to 5 years for $1,000 to under $5,000, up to 10 years for $5,000 to under $25,000, and up to 20 years at hard labor for $25,000 or more, with fines climbing alongside each tier. Not all battery charges in Louisiana carry the same weight: a simple battery under La. R.S. 14:35 is a misdemeanor capped at 6 months, while the presence of a dangerous weapon moves it to aggravated battery under La. R.S. 14:34, up to 10 years. Domestic abuse battery under La. R.S. 14:35.3 is its own, more serious track entirely, with mandatory jail even on a first conviction and a real strangulation enhancement carrying up to 50 years if serious bodily injury results. A drug possession charge’s real exposure in Louisiana depends heavily on what’s involved: marijuana at 14 grams or less has been decriminalized down to a $100 fine with no jail exposure since 2021 (La. R.S. 40:966(E)), a genuinely different track than other Schedule I substances, which can still carry up to 10 years at hard labor and a $5,000 fine under the same statute. OWI, Louisiana’s own term for what other states call DUI or DWI, escalates quickly under La. R.S. 14:98: a first offense within a 10-year lookback is a misdemeanor (10 days to 6 months, up to $1,000), a second is still a misdemeanor but with mandatory minimum jail or community service if probation is granted, and a third becomes a felony (1 to 5 years, $2,000). A fourth or subsequent offense can mean 10 to 30 years and a $5,000 fine, with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15% or higher adding mandatory enhancements at any offense level. Refusing the breath, blood, or urine test doesn’t avoid the case either: under Louisiana’s implied consent law (La. R.S. 32:666), refusing triggers its own license suspension separate from any criminal penalty, 365 days for a first refusal and 2 years for a second or later one, and that suspension can’t be softened with a hardship license at all if the stop involved a crash causing serious injury or death. An ignition interlock device isn’t optional even on a first offense: La. R.S. 14:98.1 requires the court to bar the offender from driving any vehicle without a functioning interlock device installed for the duration of the license suspension, and La. R.S. 14:98.2 extends that same requirement to at least 6 months on a second offense. That first-offense license suspension itself isn’t fixed either: a BAC of 0.15% or higher on a first offense extends the suspension to 2 years under the same statute, well beyond the shorter suspension that applies below that threshold, and the interlock device itself has to stay installed and functioning for the entire suspension period regardless of which threshold applies. Illegal carrying of weapons under La. R.S. 14:95 doesn’t mean what it used to before Louisiana’s 2024 permitless-carry law: most adults 18 or older who can legally own a firearm no longer need a permit to carry one concealed, so this charge now typically comes down to age, a firearm disqualification, carrying somewhere restricted, or not telling an officer about the weapon during a stop. The base penalty is up to 6 months and a $500 fine, climbing to up to 5 years on a second conviction and up to 10 years on a third, with an additional 5-to-10-year mandatory sentence if a firearm was used during a separate violent or drug offense. Burglary and robbery carry some of the heaviest exposure in Louisiana’s criminal code. Simple burglary under La. R.S. 14:62, unauthorized entry into a home, vehicle, or other structure with intent to commit a felony or theft inside, is punishable by up to 12 years at hard labor and a $2,000 fine, and being armed with a firearm during the burglary raises the mandatory minimum to 3 years. Armed robbery under La. R.S. 14:64, taking property from another person by force or intimidation while armed with a dangerous weapon, is far more severe: a mandatory minimum of 10 years at hard labor and up to 99 years, with no parole, probation, or suspended sentence available at any point.
How Expungement Actually Works Under Louisiana Law
Under La. C.Cr.P. arts. 971-999, clearing a Louisiana record takes real time: misdemeanors require a 5-year wait since completing the sentence or supervision, with only one expungement allowed per 5-year period, while felonies require 10 years, and a DWI/OWI conviction is limited to one expungement every 10 years regardless of how the rest of the record looks. A 2025 update added an expedited path for arrests that happened at age 17, along with a new automated request system through the state’s own criminal records bureau. The petition process has its own timeline too: once filed under arts. 976-978, the district attorney and any involved law enforcement agency get notice and 60 days to object, a hearing only happens if someone actually does, and an unopposed petition can be granted without ever going in front of a judge for argument.
Orleans Parish's Uniquely Split Court System
Orleans Parish is structurally unique among all 42 of Louisiana’s judicial districts: it’s the only parish with completely separate Civil District Court and Criminal District Court, in different buildings with different benches, rather than one district court handling both civil and criminal matters the way every other Louisiana parish does. A 2006 legislative attempt to consolidate Orleans Parish’s courts into a single district court never actually took effect, and the separate structure remains in place today.
A New Orleans arrest is booked at the Orleans Justice Center at 2800 Perdido Street, a medium-security facility run by the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office that serves as the parish’s central intake, processing, and pretrial detention site.
Closest service areas: Westwego criminal defense attorneys, the Gretna criminal defense resource.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I be released without posting money in Louisiana?
The same factors that set the bail amount under La. C.Cr.P. art. 316, including offense seriousness and criminal history, also inform whether a personal recognizance release without posting money is appropriate for a given case.
How fast does an appointed attorney have to be assigned in Louisiana?
Within 72 hours of arrest under La. C.Cr.P. art. 230.1, with Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays excluded from that count, the same deadline statewide regardless of parish population.
Does Louisiana’s felony/misdemeanor line depend on the specific offense or a general rule?
A general rule under La. R.S. 14:2: any offense punishable by death or hard labor imprisonment is a felony, everything else a misdemeanor, then each of Louisiana’s roughly 600 Title 14 offenses is sentenced individually within that binary.
What’s the mandatory minimum for armed robbery in Louisiana?
10 years at hard labor under La. R.S. 14:64, with no parole, probation, or suspended sentence available, up to a maximum of 99 years.
How long do I have to wait to expunge a Louisiana conviction?
5 years for a misdemeanor, 10 years for a felony, both counted from completing the sentence, probation, or parole, under La. C.Cr.P. arts. 971-999.
Does every parish in Louisiana have the same court structure?
No. Orleans is the one exception among all 64 parishes: it’s the only parish with completely separate Civil District Court and Criminal District Court, while every other parish’s district court handles both civil and criminal matters in one court.
What You Do Next Matters
Whether it’s a misdemeanor or a felony under Louisiana’s own definition, a New Orleans case starts moving immediately, and decisions made in the first few days can shape everything that follows.
