House approves putting judicial retirement age increase to voters after floor debate

The Louisiana House voted Thursday to send a proposed constitutional amendment to the public that would raise the maximum age at which a person may qualify for election as a judge from 70 to 75.

Representative Barbara Hughes, who carried the measure on the floor, offered an amendment that reworked the bill into a clean proposal raising the age limit. “This amendment set does, it guts the bill completely. And it makes the bill a clean bill. Retirement age for judges is 70 years,” Hughes said on the House floor while explaining the change in posture.

Supporters said modestly raising the age would reflect longer, healthier working lives and let voters decide whether to keep experienced judges on the bench. Representative Brett Marcel said he backed the change because current law singles judges out for an age limit that other elected offices do not have: “I rise in support of this bill because I believe that 70 having that on the judges is discriminatory.”

Opponents warned that raising the age would let some judges serve substantially longer than the current cap, given multi‑year judicial terms, and could make it harder for challengers to replace incumbents. Representative Robbie Carter argued…