New Laws - Expungements & Booking Photos

The Louisiana Legislature is, once again, in session, and has been busy passing new legislation that impacts all aspects of Louisianan’s lives. Of specific interest to us over the next few weeks are the changes they have made to various criminal offenses and procedures.

The legislature has passed another article in an attempt to make expungements easier to obtain. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 999 establishes the grounds for an “expedited expungement”:

A. A person shall be entitled to the expedited expungement of his arrest, at no cost to him, if he meets all of the following:

(1) He is seventeen years of age when he is arrested or charged with any criminal offense as provided in Title 14 or 40 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.

(2) The district attorney, for any reason, declined to prosecute all offenses arising out of that arrest, including the reason that the person successfully completed a pretrial diversion program.

(3) Prosecution was instituted an dusk proceedings have been finally disposed of by dismissal, sustaining of a motion to quash, or acquittal.

La. C.Cr.P. Art. 999.

The Legislature also amended Article 978 to clarify that, in order to expunge a felony, the applicant must have no convictions for the 10 years immediately preceding the motion for expungement. This does not change the law, but merely clarifies language that was somewhat confusing before.

Finally, the Legislature has repealed the provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure Article 234 which prohibited the publication of booking photographs.