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Your Plaquemine Criminal Defense Attorney
Facing a criminal charge in Plaquemine, Louisiana means navigating a legal system that doesn’t work like the other 49 states: Louisiana’s civil-law foundation shapes its criminal statutes, its court structure, and the vocabulary used to describe both, starting with parishes instead of counties. How bail actually gets set, what the right-to-counsel timeline looks like, and how Louisiana’s sentencing framework works are all covered further down this page. A local attorney who works in Iberville Parish regularly can matter here, since Louisiana’s own rules aren’t the same as what a case would look like in a common-law state.
There's No Fixed Bail Schedule in Louisiana
Louisiana doesn’t set bail off a fixed schedule tied only to the charge: under La. C.Cr.P. art. 316, a judge has to weigh the seriousness of the offense, the weight of the evidence, the defendant’s criminal history, the danger release would pose to any other person or the community, and whether the defendant voluntarily participates in pretrial drug testing. Whether the defendant is already out on bail for a pending felony arrest is also a factor the court has to consider.
The 72-Hour Rule for Appointed Counsel
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.
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Louisiana Doesn't Grade Crimes Into Classes
Louisiana defines the felony/misdemeanor line itself, rather than sorting crimes into severity classes the way many states do: under La. R.S. 14:2, a felony is any crime that may be punished by death or imprisonment at hard labor, and a misdemeanor is any crime that isn’t. There’s no Class A, B, or C felony system here (a felony class system was studied by a legislative task force in 2017-18 but was never enacted), which means each of Louisiana’s roughly 600 criminal offenses in Title 14 carries its own individually-written penalty range rather than a shared bracket.
Theft, Battery, Drug Charges, and OWI in Louisiana
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. If you’ve been charged with battery, the specific statute matters a great deal: simple battery under La. R.S. 14:35 tops out at 6 months and a $1,000 fine, while aggravated battery, meaning a dangerous weapon was involved, under La. R.S. 14:34 can mean up to 10 years and a $5,000 fine. If the charge is domestic abuse battery under La. R.S. 14:35.3, Louisiana treats it more seriously from the start: mandatory jail time applies even on a first offense, and a fourth offense escalates all the way to 10 to 30 years. 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. Not every concealed firearm is a crime in Louisiana anymore: the state’s 2024 permitless-carry law lets most legally-eligible adults 18 and older carry a concealed handgun without a permit, so a charge under La. R.S. 14:95 for illegal carrying of weapons today generally means the person was underage, barred from possessing a firearm, carrying in a location the law restricts, or didn’t notify police of the weapon during an official stop. First offenses cap at 6 months and $500, but a second conviction can mean up to 5 years, a third up to 10 years, and a firearm used in a separate violent or drug crime triggers its own 5-to-10-year mandatory add-on. 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.
Iberville Parish's Own Courthouse and Jail
A Plaquemine criminal case is heard at the Iberville Parish Courthouse on Meriam Street, home to the 18th Judicial District Court, a district that also covers Pointe Coupee and West Baton Rouge Parishes, each with its own dedicated division of judges. An arrest is booked at the Iberville Parish Jail on Bayou Road, run by the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Also serving: the Baker criminal defense resource, Denham Springs criminal defense attorneys.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is bail set after an arrest in Louisiana?
A judge has to weigh several real factors under La. C.Cr.P. art. 316, including the offense’s seriousness, the evidence, your criminal history, and the danger release would pose, not read a number off a fixed chart.
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.
Is marijuana possession still a serious charge in Louisiana?
Not for small amounts: 14 grams or less is a fine-only offense (up to $100, no jail) for any offense number under La. R.S. 40:966(E), following Louisiana’s 2021 decriminalization.
Does filing an expungement petition guarantee it gets granted?
Not automatically: under La. C.Cr.P. arts. 976-978, the district attorney and any arresting agency get 60 days’ notice to object once a petition is filed, and a hearing only happens if someone actually objects.
If my city isn’t the parish seat, does that change which laws apply to my case?
No. The same Title 14 offenses, bail standards, and sentencing rules apply parish-wide regardless of which city within the parish the courthouse sits in; only where the case is physically filed and heard changes.
Don't Face This Alone
A criminal charge in Plaquemine doesn’t pause while someone decides how to respond; the sooner those decisions get real attention, the more options usually remain.
