Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal

The Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal are the intermediate appellate courts for the state of Louisiana.

Baton Rouge (1st)

Shreveport (2nd)

Lake Charles (3rd)

New Orleans (4th)

Gretna (5th)

Court locations

There are five circuits, each covering a different group of parishes.[1] Each circuit is subdivided into three districts.[2]

As with the Louisiana Supreme Court, the regular judicial terms on the courts of appeal are ten years.

The courts of appeal are housed in the following cities in Louisiana:

First Circuit – Baton Rouge. See Samuel A. LeBlanc I, Luther F. Cole, Douglas Gonzales, John Michael Guidry, Jefferson D. Hughes III, Samuel A. LeBlanc I, Morris Lottinger Jr., Morris Lottinger Sr., Albert Tate Jr., and J. Louis Watkins Jr.

Second Circuit – Shreveport. See H. Welborn Ayres, Walter O. Bigby, James E. Bolin, Henry Newton Brown Jr., Jeff Cox, Harmon Caldwell Drew, Harmon Drew Jr., A. B. George, Fred W. Jones Jr., Pike Hall Jr., George W. Hardy Jr., Robert F. Kennon, Cecil Cherry Lowe (ad hoc), Charles A. Marvin, J. Frank McInnis, William Norris, III, Charles B. Peatross, O. E. Price, Robert Roberts Jr., Carl E. Stewart, Lynn Kyle Watkins, and Jeffrey P. Victory.

Third Circuit – Lake Charles. See William A. Culpepper, Alfred Briggs Irion, Jeannette Knoll, Jonathan Perry, Elizabeth Pickett, Albert Tate Jr., and Henry L. Yelverton.

Fourth Circuit – New Orleans. See Philip Ciaccio and Albert Estopinal Jr.

Fifth Circuit – Gretna. See Charles Grisbaum Jr., and Greg G. Guidry.

Jurisdiction

The Circuit Courts of Appeal have appellate jurisdiction over all civil matters, all matters appealed from family and juvenile courts, and most criminal cases that are tryable by a jury. A court of appeal also has supervisory jurisdiction to review interlocutory orders and decrees in cases which are heard in the trial courts within their geographical circuits. One unique feature of the Courts of Appeal of Louisiana is that they are able to review questions of fact, as well as questions of law, in civil cases. In appeals of criminal cases, however, the appellate jurisdiction of the courts of appeal extends only to questions of law.[2]

1st Circuit

Parishes Included:

• 1st District: Ascension, Assumption, Iberville, Lafourche, Pointe Coupee, St. Mary, Terrebonne, and West Baton Rouge
• 2nd District: East Baton Rouge
• 3rd District: East Feliciana, Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington, and West Feliciana

Circuit Seat: First Circuit Courthouse (Baton Rouge)

Current Judges[3]

Title	Name	District	Subdistrict	Election Section	Division	Party	Term
Chief Judge	Vanessa Guidry-Whipple	1			D	Democrat	1991–
Circuit Judge	John Michael Guidry	2	2		D	Democrat	1997–
Circuit Judge	J. Michael "Mike" McDonald	2	1		B	Republican	2003–
Circuit Judge	Page McClendon	3			B	Republican	2002–
Circuit Judge	Jewel E. "Duke" Welch	2	1		C	Republican	2004–
Circuit Judge	Toni M. Higginbotham	2	1		A	Republican	2010–
Circuit Judge	William J. Crain	3			D	Republican	2013–
Circuit Judge	Mitchell R. Theriot	1			B	Republican	2012–
Circuit Judge	Guy Holdridge	1		1	C	Republican	2015–
Circuit Judge	Wayne Ray Chutz	3			A	Republican	2015–
Circuit Judge	Allison H. Penzato	3			C	Republican	2017–
Circuit Judge	Walter I. Lanier, III	1			A	Republican	2019–

2nd Circuit

Parishes Included: Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, DeSoto, East Carroll, Franklin, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Red River, Richland, Tensas, Union, Webster, West Carroll, Winn

Circuit Seat: Second Circuit Courthouse (Shreveport)

Current Judges[4]

Title	Name	District	Election Section	Division	Party	Term
Chief Judge	Felicia Toney Williams	1	1	C	Democrat	1993–
Circuit Judge	D. Milton Moore, III	1	2	B	Democrat	2002–
Circuit Judge	John Larry Lolley	1	2	A	Democrat	2003–
Circuit Judge	Frances Jones Pitman	3	2	B	Republican	2013–
Circuit Judge	Jeanette G. Garrett	3	2	C	Independent	2013–
Circuit Judge	Shonda D. Stone	3	1	A	Democrat	2016–
Circuit Judge	"Jeff" Cox	2		C	Republican	2017–
Circuit Judge	James M. Stephens	2		A	Democrat	1998–
Circuit Judge	Jay McCallum	2		A	Independent	2018–
Circuit Judge	vacant	2		B

3rd Circuit

Parishes Included: Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Catahoula, Concordia, Evangeline, Grant, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Rapides, Sabine, St. Landry, St. Martin, Vermilion, Vernon

Circuit Seat: Third Circuit Courthouse (Lake Charles)

Current Judges[5]

Title	Name	District	Election Section	Division	Party	Term
Chief Judge	Ulysses Gene Thibodeaux	2	1	C	Democrat	1992–
Circuit Judge	Sylvia R. Cooks	3	2	D	Democrat	1992–
Circuit Judge	John D. Saunders	3	1	C	Democrat	1993–[6]
Circuit Judge	Elizabeth A. Pickett	1		A	Democrat	1997–
Circuit Judge	Billy H. Ezell	2	2	B	Republican	2003–
Circuit Judge	Shannon J. Gremillion	1		C	Democrat	2008–
Circuit Judge	Phyllis M. Keaty	3	5	A	Republican	2010–
Circuit Judge	John E. Conery	3	3	E	Republican	2013–
Circuit Judge	D. Kent Savoie	2	2	A	Republican	2015–
Circuit Judge	Van H. Kyzar	1		B	Democrat	2017–
Circuit Judge	Candyce Perret	1		C	Republican	2017–
Circuit Judge	Jonathan W. Perry				Republican	2019–

4th Circuit

Parishes Included: Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard

Circuit Seat: Fourth Circuit Courthouse (New Orleans)

Current Judges[7]

Title	Name	District	Division	Party	Term
Chief Judge	James F. McKay, III	at large		Democrat	1998–
Circuit Judge	Terri F. Love	1	E	Democrat	2000–
Circuit Judge	Edwin A. Lombard	1	A	Democrat	2003–
Circuit Judge	Roland Belsome	at large		Democrat	2004–
Circuit Judge	Daniel L. Dysart	3	A	Democrat	2010–
Circuit Judge	Joyce Cossich Lobrano	2	A	Republican	2010–
Circuit Judge	Rose Ledet	1	G	Democrat	2010–
Circuit Judge	Sandra Cabrina Jenkins	1	H	Democrat	2012–
Circuit Judge	Regina Bartholomew-Woods	1	D	Democrat	2017–
Circuit Judge	Paula A. Brown	1	C	Democrat	2017–
Circuit Judge	Tiffany G. Chase			Democrat	2017–
Circuit Judge	Dale N. Atkins			Democrat	2018–

5th Circuit

Parishes Included: Jefferson, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist

Circuit Seat: Fifth Circuit Courthouse (Gretna)

Current Judges[8]

Title	Name	District	Election Section	Division	Party	Term
Chief Judge	Susan M. Chehardy	1		D	Republican	1998–
Circuit Judge	Fredericka H. Wicker	1		B	Republican	2006–
Circuit Judge	Jude G. Gravois	2		H	Democrat	2011–
Circuit Judge	Marc E. Johnson	1	2	C	Democrat	2009–
Circuit Judge	Robert A. Chaisson	3		I	Democrat	2011–
Circuit Judge	Stephen J. Windhorst	1		E	Republican	2012–
Circuit Judge	Hans J. Liljeberg	1		F	Republican	2012–
Circuit Judge	John J. Molaison, Jr.			G	Republican	2018–

References

1. Map of judicial circuits of the Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal
2. Louisiana State Judiciary homepage
3. "Judges". Louisiana Court of Appeal First Circuit, 22 Nov. 2016. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.
4. "Court Personnel Overview". Court of Appeal, Second Circuit State of Louisiana. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.
5. "Personnel Directory: Judges". State of Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.
6. "John Saunders". Bloomberg. Accessed 3 Apr. 2017
7. "Judicial Biography: Active Judges". State of Louisiana Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.
8. "Court Personnel". Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal. Accessed 2 Apr. 2017.

External links

• Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal homepage
• Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal homepage
• Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal homepage
• Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal homepage
• Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal homepage