Provides relative to maximum penalties for violations of ordinances in St. Bernard Parish
Summary
HB 32 creates a new local law for St. Bernard Parish by adding R.S. 33:1243(A)(3) to Louisiana law. It authorizes the parish to impose a maximum penalty of up to a $1,500 fine, up to three months in parish jail, or both, for violations of certain parish ordinances. The covered ordinances are those in Chapters 5, 12, 19, and 22, and Chapter 11 except for Section 11-20(e), Section 11-20(f), and Article VI of the St. Bernard Parish code of ordinances.
The bill does not change statewide criminal penalties generally; instead, it specifically sets the ceiling for penalties that St. Bernard Parish may apply to selected local ordinance violations. By enacting this provision into Title 33, the Legislature gives the parish express authority to use the stated fine and jail term notwithstanding any other contrary law, thereby standardizing and limiting enforcement authority for those ordinance provisions.
Impact
HB 32 amends Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 33 to add a parish-specific maximum penalty rule for St. Bernard Parish ordinances. Its practical effect is to permit local enforcement of certain parish code violations with penalties up to $1,500 and/or three months in jail, while excluding specified provisions from that penalty cap. The bill affects St. Bernard Parish government, local ordinance enforcement, and individuals cited for violations of the covered parish code chapters.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the House and Senate with overwhelming margins, including unanimous Senate passage and near-unanimous House votes, followed by House concurrence in Senate amendments without opposition. The voting pattern suggests general agreement that the measure was a routine local-government penalty authorization rather than a contested policy change.
Contention
No committee debate or transcript material is available, and the recorded votes show little to no opposition. Any potential point of contention would likely have been the scope of local punitive authority—specifically the ability to impose jail time and a relatively high fine for ordinance violations—but the legislative record provided does not show organized resistance or disagreement. The bill also carves out certain Chapter 11 provisions, indicating some tailoring of the penalty authority, but no dispute over those exclusions is reflected in the available materials.