Senate panel opens study on deferred court costs taxing 19th Judicial District Court; security funding raised as immediate need

A Senate committee on Jan. 9 opened a study resolution on deferred court costs after judicial administrators told legislators the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge is absorbing roughly $700,000 a year in fees that state agencies and political subdivisions are allowed by statute to defer.

"The nineteenth JDC has accounted for approximately an average of about $700,000 a year," said Diana Gibbons, judicial administrator for the 19th Judicial District Court, as she presented a 2018–2025 breakdown of deferred fees and outstanding balances. She said venue rules and collection gaps have concentrated the burden in Baton Rouge.

The issue stems from Louisiana’s statutory scheme that permits the State of Louisiana and "political subdivisions" — parishes, municipalities, school boards and similar entities — to defer court costs during litigation. Gibbons told the panel deferred costs are not waived but are billed only when a definitive final judgment is entered, a process that can take years and leave the court fronting administrative expenses for long periods.

"We are paying for all of those things in the interim until the case is final," Gibbons said, describing the situation as an ‘‘effective subsidy’’ the court currently provides while cases remain unresolved.

Larry Freeman, chief deputy attorney general, told senators the Department of Justice wants case-level spreadsheets — names, docket numbers and amounts owed — so the office can reconcile whether the state itself owes unpaid fees and to help address collection shortfalls. "If the Department of Justice, the state, owed any money that wasn't paid, I wanted to get it paid," Freeman said.

Committee members pressed for more granular accounting. Several senators asked the clerk of court for year-by-year spreadsheets showing amounts billed, amounts collected and outstanding balances so the legislature can assess whether an appropriation or statutory change is warranted.

Clerk of Court staff said their case-management system tracks billing by type — paying entities, government (deferred) and pauper — and that they can provide updated reports. Brandon Abidi of the clerk's office said the slides presented reflect totals from the office’s records and that the clerk can return with detail on collections and unpaid cases.

The hearing also focused on an immediate operational problem tied to the deferred-cost burden: courthouse security. Gibbons and judges described a staffing shortfall at the courthouse. Judge Carson Marcantel said the court historically had about 38 deputies assigned to provide security, is currently down to roughly 22, and seeks a short-term bridge until a more robust statewide funding proposal is expected from the Supreme Court in a future year.

"We should have ideally about 38 deputies ... Currently, right now, we have, as of today, roughly 22," Marcantel said, urging temporary funding to address the gap.

Judge William Jordan stressed that judges do not write collection law but must operate within it, and he described how long timelines to final judgments hinder immediate collection efforts. "We don't make the law. We only interpret what those statutes say," Jordan said.

Options discussed by legislators and presenters included: (1) a short-term appropriation or dedicated fund to offset local costs and security needs; (2) statutory clarifications to reduce inconsistent interpretation about who can be assessed costs and when; (3) improved clerk-DOJ coordination to produce case-level reconciliation; and (4) stronger mechanisms to compel timely payment by municipal or parish defendants, including using capital-outlay eligibility as leverage or requiring partial upfront payments in limited circumstances.

No bill vote was taken; the item was considered a study resolution and the committee asked staff and the clerk's office to provide more detailed spreadsheets and case-level data to the DOJ. The hearing ended with a motion to adjourn, which the committee adopted without objection.

What comes next: Senators said they will request the clerk's case-level reports and that the DOJ will work to reconcile any state liabilities once it receives the data. The committee signaled interest in pursuing short-term funding for security and in drafting statutory clarifications if the data show significant unpaid obligations concentrated at the 19th JDC.

(Reporting note: Quotes and figures in this article are drawn from testimony and slides presented at the Jan. 9 committee hearing. The clerk's office and judicial administrators said some figures reflect deferred amounts recorded by filing year and that portions may already have been collected; exact collectible balances were not specified at the hearing.)