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HB 255LOUISIANASession 2026State Billdead
Did Not Advance

Louisiana House Bill 255 Adds Two-Year Prison Surcharge for Specified Crimes Committed While Wearing a Mask

Original title: CRIMINAL/PENALTIES: Provides relative to wearing masks in public (OR SEE FISC NOTE GF EX)

Last action · May 20, 2026: Becomes HB 1259.Sponsor: Mike Bayham

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓
Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
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What This Bill Proposed

Louisiana House Bill 255 authorizes courts to add an extra two years of imprisonment, with or without , for individuals convicted of any of 40 listed offenses if they wore a mask, hood, or facial disguise to conceal their identity during the crime. The bill adds provision R.S. 14:313(F) to state law.

Why it matters

Defendants convicted of specific offenses face lengthened prison terms solely due to wearing a facial disguise during the commission of the crime, affecting sentencing lengths across forty distinct criminal statutes.

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.

Directly affected

Individuals convicted of specified crimes

Offenders convicted of any of the 40 listed offenses while wearing a facial disguise face an additional two years of imprisonment.

Key Facts

  • Courts may impose an additional two years of imprisonment, with or without hard labor, for offenders wearing a mask or facial disguise to hide their identity during the commission of specified crimes.
  • The sentencing enhancement applies to R.S. 14:28, covering inciting a felony.
  • The sentencing enhancement applies to battery, disarming, aggravated assault, unlawful laser use, and motor vehicle assault upon a peace officer.
  • The sentencing enhancement applies to various arson offenses, including simple, aggravated, negligent, and religious building arson.
Show all 10 facts
  • The sentencing enhancement applies to property damage offenses, including criminal damage, graffiti, historic building defacing, and crime camera tampering.
  • The sentencing enhancement applies to criminal mischief, critical infrastructure entry and damage, looting, and trespassing violations.
  • The sentencing enhancement applies to highway and public passage obstructions, injuring or killing police animals, and disturbing the peace.
  • The sentencing enhancement applies to resisting an officer, fleeing from an officer, resisting with force, and approaching a law enforcement officer on duty.
  • The sentencing enhancement applies to criminal anarchy, flag desecration, flag burning, terrorism, and aiding others in terrorism.
  • The sentencing enhancement applies to institutional vandalism, obstructing a fireman, engaging in a riot, and inciting to riot.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does House Bill 255 do?
It authorizes courts to add an additional two years of imprisonment, with or without , to anyone convicted of specific listed crimes if they wore a mask, hood, or facial disguise to conceal their identity while committing the offense.
Does the sentencing enhancement apply to all crimes in Louisiana?
No, it applies only to a specific list of 40 crimes enumerated in the bill, such as certain arsons, property damage, resistance to officers, and riots.

What else do you want to know?

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Where This Stands

This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.

Procedural history

6 actions
  1. May 20, 2026House
    Becomes HB 1259.
  2. May 19, 2026House
    Reported by substitute (8-3).
  3. Mar 9, 2026HouseIntroduced
    Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice.
  4. Feb 27, 2026House
    First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.
  5. Feb 23, 2026House
    Prefiled.
  6. Feb 23, 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.

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

Mike BayhamHouse · District 103RepublicanPrimary sponsor

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift95% confidence

Expansion of Mask-Related Penalties

The measure systematically tacks an extra two-year prison sentence onto 40 distinct felony and misdemeanor statutes when identity concealment is present.

Connected Entities

Mike Bayham
PersonMike Bayham“Representative who authored House Bill 255”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.legis.la.gov

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance20
    Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
  • Controversy50
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment10
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz30
    Current news / social attention level

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