Rule Text
A. The following magistrates, throughout their several territorial jurisdictions, shall have authority to fix bail:
(1) District courts and their commissioners having criminal jurisdiction, in all cases.
(2) City or parish courts and municipal and traffic courts of New Orleans having criminal jurisdiction, in cases not capital.
(3) Mayor's courts and traffic courts in criminal cases within their trial jurisdiction.
(4) Juvenile and family courts in criminal cases within their trial jurisdiction.
(5) Justices of the peace in cases not capital or necessarily punishable at hard labor.
B. An order fixing bail shall be in writing, set the type and a single amount of bail for each charge, designate the officer or officers authorized to accept the bail, and shall be signed electronically or by any other means by the magistrate. An order fixing bail may issue on request of the state or defendant, or on the initiative of the magistrate.
Amendment history: Amended by Acts 1974, Ex.Sess. No. 18, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1975; Acts 1981, No. 438, §1; Acts 1993, No. 834, §1, eff. June 22, 1993; Acts 2016, No. 613, 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017.
Plain-English Summary (for reference only — not a substitute for the rule text above)
This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.
This rule explains which judges and courts have the power to set bail, and what that decision has to look like on paper.
Different courts can set bail depending on the type of case. District courts can set bail in any case, including the most serious ones. City, parish, municipal, and traffic courts can set bail too, but not in cases where the death penalty could apply. Mayor's courts, traffic courts, and juvenile or family courts can set bail only for cases that fall within what they normally handle. Justices of the peace have the most limited power. They can only set bail for less serious charges, not for capital cases or crimes that automatically carry hard labor as punishment.
The rule also says that once a judge decides to set bail, that decision cannot just be verbal. It has to be written down. The written order must state the amount of bail for each charge, name which officers can accept payment of that bail, and be signed by the judge, either electronically or through another approved method. This request to set bail can come from the prosecutor, the defendant, or the judge can decide to do it on their own without anyone asking.
