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Read. Follow. Verify.Louisiana requires state prisons to provide ID cards, birth certificates, and employment records to inmates before release
Last action · June 8, 2026: Effective date: 08/01/2026.Sponsors: Barbara Reich Freiberg and 1 other
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What This Bill Does
Louisiana requires the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to coordinate with the office of motor vehicles to provide qualifying felony inmates with special identification cards, birth certificates, social security cards, and work or educational records prior to their release starting August 1, 2026.
Inmates released from state correctional facilities receive necessary identification and vocational records to assist in securing post-release employment.
Who It Affects
Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
inmates released from state correctional facilities
Inmates released from state custody receive special identification cards, birth certificates, social security cards, and employment records to assist with post-release employment.
Department of Public Safety and Corrections
The department must coordinate with the office of motor vehicles, gather documentation, and provide records and credentials to qualifying inmates prior to their release.
office of motor vehicles
The office must process special identification cards for eligible inmates, accept master prison records and birth certificates as photo ID, and determine a reasonable fee.
Key Facts
- The Department of Public Safety and Corrections must provide qualifying inmates released from state felony imprisonment with relevant employment and identification documentation.
- The department must coordinate with the office of motor vehicles to identify existing identification and begin gathering requirements for special ID cards within nine months prior to an inmate's release.
- Eligible inmates lacking a current state ID or driver's license receive a special identification card upon release from custody.
- The office of motor vehicles allows inmates to use a copy of their birth certificate and master prison record as valid photo identification to obtain a special ID card.
Show all 7 facts
- Special identification cards issued under this act are nonrenewable, nontransferable, and remain valid for six years from the month of issuance.
- The department may utilize available funds, including inmate trust funds, existing department funds, and donations, to cover implementation costs and ID card purchases.
- The department must provide inmates with copies of their educational and vocational training credentials, work records, birth certificates, and social security cards or replacements, if obtainable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which inmates are eligible to receive a special identification card under this law?
How long is the special identification card valid?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Current status: Signed into law.
Procedural history
24 actions- Jun 8, 2026HouseEnrolledSigned by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 785.
- Jun 8, 2026HouseEffective date: 08/01/2026.
- Jun 1, 2026SenateEnrolledSigned by the President of the Senate.
- Jun 1, 2026HouseSent to the Governor for executive approval.
- May 31, 2026HouseEnrolledEnrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.
- May 29, 2026HouseIntroducedRead by title, returned to the calendar.
Show 18 earlier actions
- May 29, 2026HouseCalled from the calendar.
- May 29, 2026HouseIntroducedRead by title, roll called, yeas 98, nays 0. The Senate amendments, having received two-thirds vote of the elected members, were concurred in.
- May 27, 2026HouseScheduled for concurrence on 05/29/2026.
- May 26, 2026HouseReceived from the Senate with amendments.
- May 25, 2026SenateFloorRules suspended. Senate floor amendments read and adopted. Read by title, passed by a vote of 37 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
- May 20, 2026SenateFloorReported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.
- May 19, 2026SenateIntroducedRead by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
- May 18, 2026SenateCommitteeReported favorably.
- May 4, 2026SenateCommitteeRead second time by title and referred to the Committee on Judiciary B.
- Apr 29, 2026HouseFloorRead third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 91, nays 0. The bill, having received two-thirds vote of the elected members, was finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
- Apr 29, 2026SenateReceived in the Senate. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.
- Apr 27, 2026HouseFloorRead by title, amended, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.
- Apr 27, 2026HouseScheduled for floor debate on 04/29/2026.
- Apr 23, 2026HouseReported with amendments (9-0).
- Mar 9, 2026HouseIntroducedRead by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.
- Feb 20, 2026HouseFirst appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/20/2026.
- Feb 18, 2026HousePrefiled.
- Feb 18, 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
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.la.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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