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Panel advances bill to shield juror names and contact details from public disclosure

Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice (Louisiana House) · March 31, 2026

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Summary

The House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee on March 31 advanced HB 55, a bill creating a new Code of Criminal Procedure article to bar public disclosure of juror identifying information after prosecutors and law enforcement reported examples of harassment and intimidation. The committee adopted a narrow amendment addressing clerks’ record concerns and reported the bill favorably.

Representative Debbie Villio and 18th JDC District Attorney Tony Clayton urged the committee to approve HB 55 on grounds of juror safety and to modernize protections against social-media harassment.

"They would harass them, and they would intimidate them," District Attorney Tony Clayton said, recounting a death-penalty case in which a juror’s offhand remark was used to challenge a sentencing phase. "We should . . . catch up with all the other states. Please allow us as prosecutors. Give us this to protect our jurors." He identified himself as Tony Clayton, district attorney for the 18th Judicial District Court.

The bill would add a new article to the Code of Criminal Procedure to prohibit public sharing of juror details such as name, address and contact information. Rep. Villio said the measure follows practices used by most states and the federal government to protect jurors from doxxing and intimidation.

Committee members and witnesses discussed practical implementation. The committee adopted an on-the-floor amendment removing language that could have required clerks to retroactively change longstanding records. Clayton noted clerks had also raised administrative questions, including how to handle payment records and whether law‑enforcement requests would be affected; committee staff said they would work with clerks to fix technical language before the floor.

Rep. Boudreaux moved to report the bill favorably with the agreed amendment. Seeing no objection, the committee reported HB 55 favorably for floor consideration. The transcript does not record a roll-call vote tally on the motion.

Next steps: HB 55 was reported to the full House calendar and will be scheduled for floor debate.