Justice of the Peace Bill Could Bring Faster, Lower Cost Justice to Capital

Woody Jenkins editor, Central City News

The House Committee on the Judiciary has approved by a vote of 13-3 House Bill 708, which would expand the jurisdiction of Justice of the Peace courts in East Baton Rouge Parish.

Justice of the Peace courts currently have jurisdiction only outside the City of Baton Rouge.  They can decide contract disputes of up to $5,000 and evictions. They also have criminal jurisdiction over littering.

Inside the City of Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge City Courts have jurisdiction over most small claims and evictions, as well as misdemeanors.

House Bill 708, which is authored by Rep. Lauren Ventrella,  would move the boundaries of Justice of the Peace courts into the City of Baton Rouge, so that businesses and individuals would have the ability to use Justice of the Peace courts. Rep. Ventrella says it would provide faster service and lower costs than going to Baton Rouge City Courts.

Under HB 708, the additional jurisdiction of Justice of the Peace courts would only extend to evictions by businesses and individuals.

At the committee hearing held on Wednesday, April 22, landlords complained that trying to deal with the City Court makes it very difficult and expensive to evict tenants who simply refuse to pay their rent.  This results in higher rents for the tenants who do pay, they said.

Several Baton Rouge City Court judges came to the meeting and denied there are unreasonable delays in their courts.

Property owners and landlords at the hearing strongly disagreed.

Most of Central is within the jurisdiction of Justice of the Peace Mark Miley and the Constable, Gordon Hutchinson.

Hutchinson has taken a leading role in explaining the legislation.

In an email to local landlords, he said, “Your extended wait times to get on already crowded dockets will come to an end—as will your travel time, expensive parking, and traffic headaches,” if this legislation passes.

In a separate email, Hutchinson said, “It sometimes takes weeks, even months to be placed on the docket to get before a Baton Rouge City Court for an eviction hearing.”

     “This is not the fault of the courts. The city only offers one court system to hear evictions in the city.”

“Extending the boundaries of the Justice of the Peace Courts so that they overlap the current boundaries of the BR City Court will make for a fairer and more efficient set of court systems in the city.  With this bill, waiting periods will be significantly reduced, and parking and traffic problems will be reduced in the downtown area.  Citizens will now have two court systems to hear their eviction hearings.”  

The bill now goes to the House floor for consideration.