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HB 171LOUISIANASession 2026State BillSigned into law

Enacted

Louisiana Updates Personal Surety Requirements for Bail and Updates Legal Cross-References

Original title: BAIL: Provides relative to personal sureties

Last action · May 11, 2026: Effective date: 08/01/2026.Sponsor: Annie Spell

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What This Bill Does

Act 59 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to update the criteria for secured and unsecured personal sureties in bail undertakings, requiring secured sureties to mortgage state-located and updating statutory cross-references effective August 1, 2026.

Why it matters

Changes the legal standards that individuals must meet when acting as personal sureties to secure pretrial release from custody in criminal proceedings.

Who It Affects

Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Personal sureties

Must meet updated statutory criteria regarding property mortgages and residency when backing bail undertakings.

Directly affected

Criminal defendants

Subject to updated legal standards when utilizing personal sureties for release from custody.

Key Facts

Amends Code of Criminal Procedure Article 323(A) to specify that a secured personal surety must meet the requirements of Article 311(5) and mortgage immovable property located in Louisiana.
Amends Code of Criminal Procedure Article 324(A) to specify that an unsecured personal surety must meet the requirements of Article 311(5) and reside in Louisiana without mortgaging property.
Provides technical corrections to certain cross-references regarding bail and personal sureties.
Becomes effective on August 1, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is required for a secured personal surety under the new law?

A must satisfy the requirements of Article 311(5) and specifically mortgage located in the state of Louisiana.

Does an unsecured personal surety need to mortgage property?

No, an lives and resides in Louisiana without specifically mortgaging or giving a security interest in any property.

What else do you want to know?

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Where This Stands

Current status: Signed into law.

Procedural history

20 actions

May 11, 2026HouseEnrolled
Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 59.
May 11, 2026House
Effective date: 08/01/2026.
May 7, 2026SenateEnrolled
Signed by the President of the Senate.
May 7, 2026House
Sent to the Governor for executive approval.
May 6, 2026House
Received from the Senate without amendments.
May 6, 2026HouseEnrolled
Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.

Show 14 earlier actions

May 5, 2026SenateFloor
Read by title, passed by a vote of 35 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
Apr 27, 2026SenateFloor
Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.
Apr 22, 2026SenateIntroduced
Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
Apr 21, 2026SenateCommittee
Reported favorably.
Mar 25, 2026SenateCommittee
Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Judiciary C.
Mar 24, 2026HouseFloor
Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 97, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
Mar 24, 2026Senate
Received in the Senate. Rules suspended. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.
Mar 23, 2026HouseFloor
Read by title, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.
Mar 23, 2026House
Scheduled for floor debate on 03/24/2026.
Mar 18, 2026HouseCommittee
Reported favorably (11-0).
Mar 9, 2026HouseIntroduced
Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.
Feb 20, 2026House
First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/20/2026.
Feb 18, 2026House
Prefiled.
Feb 18, 2026HouseCommittee
Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

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Lobbying Activity

No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Connected Entities

Annie Spell, Louisiana

PersonAnnie Spell“Representative who authored House Bill 171.”Map →

locationLouisiana“State where immovable property must be mortgaged or where sureties must reside.”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.legis.la.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance35
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy10
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment5
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz15
Current news / social attention level

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