Opinion ID: 1766927
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the orleans parish criminal district court

Text: There is one Criminal District Court for the parish of Orleans, which shall be composed of ten judges. LSA-R.S. 13:1335(A). [C]ases pending in the criminal district court shall be allotted equally among Sections A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J of the court. LSA-R.S. 13:1343. In addition to the sections of the Criminal District Court for the parish of Orleans now existing, LSA-R.S. 13:1346(C) creates the Magistrate Section of the Criminal District Court, which shall be presided over by the Magistrate Judge. In addition to the judgeships, including the judge of the magistrate section of the Criminal District Court for the parish of Orleans, LSA-R.S. 13:1347(A) creates the four magistrate commissioners. Generally, the operation of the criminal district court is outlined in Local Rule II, Section 1 of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, which provides: There shall be ten Sections of the Court, which shall be known and designated as Sections A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J; and the Magistrate Section, which shall be presided over by the Judges respectively elected or appointed, and by their successors in office. Each Judge shall be known and designated as the Judge of the Section over which he presides. There are four Commissioners who shall be appointed by the Judges of the Criminal District Court. Particularly, the operation of the magistrate section is outlined by Local Rule IV, which provides: Section 1. The Magistrate Section shall be composed of the Magistrate Judge and four Commissioners. The purpose of this Section of the Court is to provide every arrested person (hereinafter called defendant), who has been arrested under State Statute, prompt access to a committing Magistrate Commissioner who shall conduct a hearing within a reasonable time after a person has been arrested: (a) To advise the defendant of the charges against him; (b) To advise the defendant of his rights under the Constitution of the State of Louisiana; (c) To appoint counsel for the proceedings in Magistrate Court if defendant is indigent; (d) To set a date and time for a Preliminary Hearing to determine whether there is probable cause to believe that the defendant committed the offenses with which he is charged. The hearing shall be set on written motion by the Defendant or the District Attorney. (e) To set bail upon request of a defendant. Section 2. In order to perform these functions, the Magistrate Court shall be open seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. (emphasis supplied). In sum, the one criminal district court is comprised of (i) ten regular sections, designated as sections A through J, and each presided over by an elected district court judge; and (ii) a magistrate section, comprised of one elected magistrate judge and four appointed magistrate commissioners. The functions of each of the sections of the criminal district court are defined by the constitution and statutes as follows. (i) The Regular District Court Sections: The constitution vests district courts with exclusive original jurisdiction of felony cases. LSA-Const. Art. 5, § 16(A). The constitution also continues the separate existence of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. LSA-Const. Art. 5, § 32. [7] Consistent with the constitution, LSA-R.S. 13:1336(A) provides that the criminal district court has exclusive jurisdiction of the trial of felony cases. LSA-R.S. 13:1336(B) vests jurisdiction over bail matters in the criminal district court, providing: The judges of the Criminal District Court for the Parish of Orleans shall have power to act as committing magistrates in all felony charges and to hold preliminary examinations, with authority to bail, or discharge, or to hold for trial, in all cases before said court. They also may adopt all necessary rules with respect thereto. (emphasis supplied). (ii) The Magistrate Section: LSA-R.S. 13:1346(C) creates the magistrate judge and vests that judge with jurisdiction over bail matters, providing: [T]he additional judge created herein shall be known as the Magistrate and shall preside over the Magistrate Section. Said judge shall have jurisdiction to act as committing magistrate in felony and misdemeanor charges and to hold preliminary examinations, with the authority to bail or discharge, or to hold for trial, in all cases before the Criminal District Court for the Parish of Orleans, and shall have the power to adopt all necessary rules with respect hereto. (emphasis supplied). Significantly, the underscored language in LSA-R.S. 13:1346(C), which vests jurisdiction over bail matters in the magistrate judge, tracks virtually verbatim the underscored language set forth above in LSA-R.S. 13:1346(B), which vests jurisdiction over bail matters in the regular judges. [8] The magistrate commissioners, while not judges, are vested with all the same powers, duties, jurisdiction and functions of the magistrate judge by LSA-R.S. 13:1347(A)(1), which provides: The [four] persons appointed to the offices of commissioner created by this Section shall be known as commissioners and shall not be judges, but shall have the same qualifications, powers, duties, jurisdiction, and functions, all as is now or hereafter provided for the judge in the magistrate section of said criminal district court. As a result, the magistrate commissioners, like the magistrate judge, are statutorily vested with the same bail jurisdiction as are the regular judges. [9]