THE CANDIDATES

The state representative of a particular district is elected by voters in that district to represent the district at the state legislature.The House is composed of 105 representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people. Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of three terms (total 12 years).

Website link: http://house.louisiana.gov/

Primary duties of a state representative are creating, debating, and voting on legislation that either makes new laws or modifies existing ones. Legislation must be approved by the House of Representatives, as well as the Senate, before being signed into law by the Governor of the state.

The laws either created or modified by the state legislature are an important addition to the laws that must be followed at the local level as well as at the federal level.

The Baton Rouge Metro Council is the legislative branch of the city-parish of East Baton Rouge. There are 12 Council members; one elected from each district of East Baton Rouge Parish.

Website link: https://www.brla.gov/561/Metropolitan-Council

Metro Council Members vote on policy decisions governing the city-parish of East Baton Rouge, hold regular, public meetings twice monthly, and approve the city budget set forth by the Mayor. Metro Council Members also vote to appoint members of several city-parish commissions, including the Central Area Transit Authority (CATS), the Baton Rouge Airport Commission, and Civil Service Boards. A full list of commissions can be found at http://city.brla.gov/dept/council/boards.asp.

Council Member decisions directly impact you, your family, and your community. They decide how your tax dollars are spent, and their policies touch many aspects of daily life in East Baton Rouge Parish.

Judges for the 19th Judicial District Court serve the parish of East Baton Rouge. This Court is divided into either Civil Court Divisions or Criminal Court Divisions.

Website link: http://www.19thjdc.org/judges.html

The jurisdiction of district courts in Louisiana is set out in Louisiana Constitution Article 5. http://senate.legis.state.la.us/Documents/Constitution/Article5.htm

The district courts have original jurisdiction of all civil and criminal matters, except they do not have jurisdiction over some civil matters, such as issues of probate, succession, and matters heard in family court. In civil cases, district courts may have concurrent jurisdiction with justices of the peace and city courts for lower-amount disputes. They have exclusive original jurisdiction of felony cases and most cases involving property. Criminal cases against those younger than age 17 are referred to juvenile courts, but the legislature may provide laws for exceptions to this rule for serious cases such as murder, rape, kidnapping, drug dealing, and armed robbery. The district courts generally have appellate jurisdiction of criminal cases tried by city, municipal, and traffic courts. Exceptions to this rule are those cases in city, parish, and municipal courts tried under a state statute, in which case the matter is appealed to the appropriate court of appeal. District courts also have appellate jurisdiction over justice of the peace courts in parishes where no parish court exists.

Judges sitting on district courts make important decisions in civil and criminal cases, impacting not only the parties who appear in court in specific cases, but also the community at large, by the decisions made in the cases tried before the court.