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Read. Follow. Verify.Louisiana restricts sensitive personal data in civil and criminal court filings starting January 1, 2026
Last action · May 15, 2026: Effective date: 08/01/2026.Sponsor: Nicholas Muscarello
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What This Bill Does
Attorneys filing civil and criminal court documents in Louisiana must ensure that private information—such as partial social security numbers, driver's license numbers, and full dates of birth—is excluded from all submissions beginning January 1, 2026.
Filers bear the direct responsibility for protecting sensitive data from public disclosure in official court records, impacting how legal documents are prepared and submitted across state courts.
Who It Affects
Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
attorneys
Attorneys must ensure that all civil and criminal court filings exclude specified private information starting January 1, 2026.
clerks of court
Clerks of court must adopt systems for the electronic filing and storage of pleadings, documents, and exhibits.
prosecuting agencies
Prosecuting agencies retain their required information-sharing duties under Article 388 without limitation from the new electronic filing rules.
Key Facts
- Beginning January 1, 2026, attorneys must ensure private information is excluded from all civil and criminal court filings.
- Prohibited information includes the first five digits of any social security number, tax identification numbers, state identification numbers, driver's license numbers, financial account numbers, and full dates of birth.
- Filings must be submitted either in person in paper form or electronically through a system established by a clerk of court or the Louisiana Clerks' Remote Access Authority.
- Expungement proceedings in criminal court are excepted from the electronic filing and restriction rules.
Show all 6 facts
- Nothing in the criminal procedure article limits information required to be provided by a prosecuting agency pursuant to Article 388.
- In courts accepting electronic filings under the criminal procedure article, the official record becomes the electronic record.
Frequently Asked Questions
What specific personal information is banned from court filings?
Who is responsible for keeping private information out of court documents?
Are criminal expungement proceedings subject to these new rules?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Current status: Became law without the governor's signature.
Procedural history
20 actions- May 15, 2026HouseBecomes Act No. 194 without the Governor's signature.
- May 15, 2026HouseEffective date: 08/01/2026.
- May 11, 2026SenateEnrolledSigned by the President of the Senate on 5/7/2026.
- May 8, 2026HouseSent to the Governor for executive approval.
- May 7, 2026HouseEnrolledEnrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.
- May 6, 2026HouseReceived from the Senate without amendments.
Show 14 earlier actions
- May 5, 2026SenateFloorRead by title, passed by a vote of 36 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
- Apr 27, 2026SenateFloorReported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.
- Apr 22, 2026SenateIntroducedRead by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
- Apr 21, 2026SenateCommitteeReported favorably.
- Apr 8, 2026SenateCommitteeRead second time by title and referred to the Committee on Judiciary B.
- Apr 7, 2026SenateReceived in the Senate. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.
- Apr 1, 2026HouseFloorRead third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 99, nays 1. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
- Mar 31, 2026HouseScheduled for floor debate on 04/01/2026.
- Mar 30, 2026HouseFloorRead by title, amended, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.
- Mar 26, 2026HouseReported with amendments (12-0).
- Mar 9, 2026HouseIntroducedRead by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
- Feb 13, 2026HousePrefiled.
- Feb 13, 2026HouseCommitteeUnder the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
- Feb 13, 2026HouseFirst appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/13/2026.
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →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.
Sponsors
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Sources
www.legis.la.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance60How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy10Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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