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Read. Follow. Verify.Louisiana enacts law allowing autopsy photographs in criminal trials
Last action · May 29, 2026: Effective date: 08/01/2026.Sponsor: Dixon McMakin
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What This Bill Does
Louisiana permits to be admitted as evidence in any criminal proceeding starting August 1, 2026.
Changes evidentiary rules in criminal trials by explicitly allowing to be introduced in court.
Who It Affects
Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
criminal defendants and prosecutors
Autopsy photographs are explicitly permitted as evidence in criminal proceedings.
Key Facts
- Enacts Code of Evidence Article 416 to explicitly allow photographs taken during an autopsy to be admissible in any criminal proceeding.
- Becomes effective on August 1, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are autopsy photographs allowed in criminal court under this law?
When does this new evidence rule take effect?
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News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Current status: Signed into law.
Procedural history
20 actions- May 29, 2026HouseEnrolledSigned by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 549.
- May 29, 2026HouseEffective date: 08/01/2026.
- May 26, 2026HouseSent to the Governor for executive approval.
- May 25, 2026HouseReceived from the Senate without amendments.
- May 25, 2026HouseEnrolledEnrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.
- May 25, 2026SenateEnrolledSigned by the President of the Senate.
Show 14 earlier actions
- May 21, 2026SenateFloorRules suspended. Read by title, passed by a vote of 27 yeas and 8 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
- May 14, 2026SenateFloorReported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.
- May 13, 2026SenateIntroducedRead by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
- May 12, 2026SenateCommitteeReported favorably.
- Apr 22, 2026SenateCommitteeRead second time by title and referred to the Committee on Judiciary C.
- Apr 21, 2026HouseFloorRead third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 79, nays 16. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
- Apr 21, 2026SenateReceived in the Senate. Rules suspended. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.
- Apr 20, 2026HouseScheduled for floor debate on 04/21/2026.
- Apr 15, 2026HouseFloorRead by title, amended, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.
- Apr 14, 2026HouseReported with amendments (10-0).
- 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 25, 2026HousePrefiled.
- Feb 25, 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.
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Sources
www.legis.la.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance40How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy25Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz15Current news / social attention level
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