Art. 578 General rule

When someone gets charged with a crime in Louisiana, the state doesn't have unlimited time to bring that case to trial. This rule sets deadlines for how long prosecutors have to start a trial after charges are filed.

For the most serious cases, ones where the death penalty could apply, the state has three years to start the trial. For other felony charges, the deadline is two years. For misdemeanors, the state only has one year.

These deadlines start counting from the date charges are officially filed, not from the date of the alleged crime. If the state doesn't start the trial within these time limits, the case can be dismissed and any bail requirements tied to it stop being enforceable.

The type of charge someone faces determines which deadline applies. So if you're charged with a felony, the two year clock applies, even if the case later gets reduced to a lesser charge. There are other rules in this chapter that can pause or extend these deadlines in certain situations, but this rule sets the basic time limits that apply most of the time.