The 2026 Legislative Session is Now Over!

Keep reading to see how we impacted the policies that matter to you.

We vehemently advocated for our children's rights this session by testifying against bills threatening to harm them. With a focused strategy and the help of our amazing partners, we achieved meaningful wins for Louisiana's children and laid the foundation for future progress.

Front: LCCR Policy Associate Lauren Hall; Middle: LCCR Executive Director Kristen Rome; Back: Former LCCR Legal Director Hannah Van De Car.

Watch LCCR Testify Against SB 201

Watch LCCR Testify Against HB 140

Through testimony, advocacy, and negotiations, we helped narrow some of the session’s most harmful proposals and secured key protections for children and families.

   Our Top Wins 🏆

✔️ HB 140 – Juvenile Court Trial Timelines: This bill would have greatly extended the amount of time children could be held in the juvenile legal system before trial, creating longer delays and undue trauma.

Our win: LCCR successfully negotiated major reductions to the proposed timeline expansions, preventing some of the most harmful delays. We also secured added confidentiality protections for children’s arrest photos and intake records

✔️ SB 396 – Review Hearings for Incarcerated Youth: This bill sought to eliminate in-person review hearings for incarcerated children, limiting young people’s ability to appear before a judge during critical review proceedings.

Our win: LCCR secured amendments requiring incarcerated youth to receive in-person review hearings at least every six months, while also guaranteeing confidential attorney access before any virtual hearing. 

✘ SB 201 – Juvenile Life Without Parole: SB 201 expanded the state’s ability to seek life without parole sentences for children and removed longstanding safeguards intended to reserve these sentences for only the rarest cases.

Our outcome: Despite two rounds of testimony and sustained advocacy from LCCR and partners, the bill ultimately advanced. This marks a major setback for youth justice reform in Louisiana and expands one of the harshest punishments that can be imposed on children.

   What Other Bills Affect Our Children?

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HB 283 – School Expulsions: required expulsions for incidents involving battery of a teacher or another student. LCCR helped narrow the bill so expulsions apply only to on-campus battery & children facing expulsion still have access to alternative educational placement.

HB 133 – Mandatory Minimums for Battery of a School Teacher: imposed mandatory minimum sentences on children accused of battery of a school teacher. LCCR helped to remove the mandatory minimum sentencing, preserving judicial discretion.

Our Policy Associate, Lauren Hall, took a leading role in our policy efforts this legislative session. She tirelessly researched, collaborated with legal staff, tracked harmful bills, drafted talking points, testified, and organized with partners to coordinate advocacy efforts. Her leadership helped strengthen our stance and sent a clear message to legislators that we will not stand for policies that harm our young people. Thank you, Lauren!

This legislative session, LCCR's policy team worked hard to protect children from harmful policies that would push more kids deeper into the legal system, increase incarceration, and weaken educational access and due process protections. We are grateful for the progress we have achieved and are furthering it every day through our continued work.

Stay connected for updates and opportunities to help us shape progressive policy and protect our kids. 

 From The Policy Team 

Policy Director Tiye Davis, Policy Associate Lauren Hall, Communications Manager Anjanae Goins

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