JUVENILE JUSTICE: Provides that children in custody of the office of juvenile justice may attend review hearings via secure video conference. (8/1/26)
Summary
SB 396 amends Louisiana’s Children’s Code provisions governing review hearings for children committed to the custody of the Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJ). The bill requires that a child be physically transported to the committing court for an in-person review hearing no later than six months after commitment and every six months thereafter, unless the child’s counsel and the court waive the in-person appearance. It also allows the court to order additional review hearings more frequently, but those additional hearings must be conducted through a video conferencing platform, with OJJ staff and contract staff appearing in the same manner as the child.
The bill also expands the definition of a child “committed by a court to the custody of the office of juvenile justice” to include children held in a range of placements, including state-run secure and nonsecure facilities, private contracted facilities, and juvenile detention centers. In addition, it creates an express right for the child to have a private and confidential virtual consultation with counsel of record before any review hearing or other proceeding, using a secure video platform that provides end-to-end confidentiality.
Impact
SB 396 changes court procedure for juvenile justice cases by establishing when in-person review hearings are required and when video conferencing may be used. It affects the Office of Juvenile Justice, juvenile courts, children committed to OJJ custody, their attorneys, and facility staff by formalizing remote participation rules and confidentiality protections. The bill also broadens the statutory reach of the review-hearing requirement to cover children in multiple types of custody settings, not just state-run facilities.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have broad bipartisan support and little visible opposition. It passed the Senate 36-0, the House 88-0, and the Senate concurrence vote 34-0, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. The lack of committee transcript material suggests no recorded controversy in the available context, and the final enactment as Act 504 reflects a generally favorable view of the measure.
Contention
No major points of contention are evident in the available record. The main policy choices in the bill are the balance between in-person judicial review and the use of secure video conferencing, and the requirement that children have confidential virtual access to counsel before hearings. Any potential concern would likely center on whether remote participation adequately protects due process and attorney-client confidentiality, but the bill addresses that by requiring secure, end-to-end confidential video conferencing. The unanimous votes suggest these issues were not politically divisive.
Requests the office of juvenile justice to provide specific information in a report to the Senate committees on Finance and Judiciary B relative to complaints, investigations, and litigation at secure and non-secure care facilities under the jurisdiction of the office of juvenile justice, youth services.