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Read. Follow. Verify.Louisiana House Bill 479 Requires Quarterly Sentencing Reports and Five-Year Incarceration Cost Projections
Last action · March 9, 2026: Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.Sponsor: Alonzo Knox
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What This Bill Proposed
Louisiana HB 479 creates the Fiscal Truth in Sentencing Act, requiring district clerks of court to submit quarterly reports on sentencing data and the to project five-year incarceration costs annually starting in late 2026.
The measure establishes regular fiscal reporting for the state's criminal justice system, affecting district courts, the , and budget committees by tying local sentencing data directly to multi-year state cost projections.
- House Bill 479 was introduced during the 2026 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature by Representative Alonzo Knox and referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
District clerks of court
District clerks of court must compile and transmit quarterly sentencing data reports to the legislative auditor starting in the final quarter of 2026.
Legislative auditor
The legislative auditor is required to collect quarterly sentencing data and budget figures to produce an annual five-year incarceration cost projection report for legislative committees.
Division of Administration
The Division of Administration must report final annual budget figures for specified criminal justice and corrections units to the legislative auditor by October 15.
Key Facts
- Establishes the Fiscal Truth in Sentencing Act under Chapter 44 of Title 13 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.
- Requires district clerks of court to provide the legislative auditor with no less than quarterly reports containing sentencing data, excluding traffic violations.
- Requires the clerk of the Juvenile Court for the parish of Orleans and other juvenile court clerks to transmit quarterly reports of cases involving juveniles sentenced to incarceration, applicable to sentences issued on or after August 1, 2026.
- Defines required sentencing data to include the number of individuals sentenced to confinement per presiding judge, the total number of years of confinement per presiding judge, and the age at sentencing for each person receiving twenty years or more.
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- Requires the Division of Administration to report final budget figures by October 15 of each year for specified corrections, juvenile justice, supplemental pay, public defender, judiciary, and district attorney budget units.
- Requires the legislative auditor to submit an annual report by December 15 to the House Committee on Appropriations and Senate Committee on Finance projecting five-year incarceration costs.
- Grants civil immunity to clerks of court, their employees and agents, the legislative auditor, and participating state or local entities from liability arising from compliance acts or omissions.
- Mandates that reporting by clerks of court shall commence with the last quarter of 2026 and continue at the conclusion of every quarter thereafter.
Frequently Asked Questions
What data must district clerks of court report under this bill?
When do the reporting requirements begin?
Who receives the five-year incarceration cost projections?
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
4 actions- Mar 9, 2026HouseIntroducedRead by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.
- Feb 27, 2026HouseFirst appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.
- Feb 26, 2026HousePrefiled.
- Feb 26, 2026HouseCommitteeUnder 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.
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
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Integration of Local Court Data into State Fiscal Projections
The legislation connects local district court sentencing metrics directly to statewide five-year corrections cost modeling handled by the legislative auditor.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.la.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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