Senate panel adopts amendments requiring inmate administrative review before most lawsuits

Senate Bill 39, which would require inmates to exhaust the Department of Corrections( DOC) administrative remedy process before filing most civil suits, was reported with amendments by the Senate Committee on Judiciary A on May 13, 2025.

The billauthorwas represented at the hearing by Larry Freeman, Chief Deputy Attorney General, who told the committee the measure "doesn't eliminate any rights, it doesn't change any rights, it doesn't affect the prisoners' rights whatsoever." Freeman said the bill merely clarifies that the departmentprocess already in law must be followed before litigation proceeds.

The change follows two amendment packages adopted in committee. The panel first adopted amendment set 12-02 to narrow the bill to "one specific, very small issue" of exhaustion. Later the committee approved amendment set 16-39, adding language that the act would have prospective application. After debate the committee voted to report SB 39 with amendments (roll-call recorded 5-2).

Opponents said the amended bill could leave some people without a practical route to court. Caroline Gabriel, an attorney with Mosin Associates, said the bill would make it "nearly impossible for individuals, whether they are incarcerated or released, to file actions for damages related to overdetention." Gabriel cited the case of Keith Bryant, whom she represents, saying he was overdetained for 54 days while held in a local jail and therefore had no practical ability to use the DOC administrative remedy process while in custody.

Chris Alexander of the Louisiana Citizen Advocacy Group also opposed the measure. "We don't believe that making it more difficult for [inmates] to seek relief is appropriate," Alexander said, urging the department to fix time-computation errors that have led to many overdetention cases.

Natalie Ward, Assistant Chief Deputy at the Attorney General's Office and a former DOC counsel, told the committee that DOC administers an ARP (Administrative Remedy Procedure) that inmates are told about at intake and that the department has been building an online submission portal for clerks and sheriffs to submit sentencing paperwork to DOC. Ward said the department has rolled parts of that system out across parishes and that further regulatory changes would follow if the Legislature amends statute.

Senator Carter emphasized concerns about inmates who never had access to a DOC decision because they were held in local jails or because the department only computed the time close to release; those people, Carter said, could be barred by exhaustion rules and lose a remedy. Freeman and Ward said the bill did not strip rights and that existing regulations allow ARP submissions from facilities that are not DOC-operated.

The committee adopted the narrower amendment package and the prospective-application amendment, then voted to report SB 39 with amendments.