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Brief History of
Orleans Parish Juvenile Court
In its 1908 session, the Louisiana Legislature,
in Act No. 83, created a Court to deal with the "children" of
Louisiana. This basic concept was further developed through various
statutes and amendments to the Constitution of the State of
Louisiana. However, the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court, as it exists
today, came into existence via the Louisiana Constitution of 1921.
Prior to 1937, the Court was known as the
Juvenile Court of the Parish of Orleans and it had only one judge. A
second judgeship was created that year to deal with the increased
juvenile population of the City of New Orleans. By 1956, the
juvenile population resulting from the post world War II "baby boom"
necessitated the addition of a third judgeship, so Section "C" was
created by the Legislature.
In 1962, the name of the Court was changed, by
legislative Act, to the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court. An increase
in the numbers of juveniles handled annually by the Court resulted
in the addition of Section "D" by the Legislature in 1969. In
response to a dramatic increase in the amount of serious crime
perpetrated by juveniles in the early 1970's, the Legislature
established Section "E" of the Court in 1979. In 1991 Section "F"
was created.
The Court has developed steadily from its
earliest days, with a staff of fewer than ten persons and a budget
of less than $10,000.00 per year. Although the Court is a state
district court, by statute the expense of its operation is borne
primarily by the City of New Orleans, with the exception of the
salaries of the Judges and the cost of the Protective Care
Monitoring Program, which items are paid in full by the State of
Louisiana.
The jurisdiction of the Court is broad and
varied. It handles all juvenile delinquency (criminal) matters,
juvenile status offenses, cases of neglect and/or abuse of
juveniles, criminal non-support and U.R.E.S.A. cases, adoptions,
abandonment proceedings, voluntary transfers of custody, termination
of parental rights cases, and juvenile traffic cases for the Parish
of Orleans.
©2010 Orleans Parish Juvenile Court
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