Contributed by Bob Harper.

The status of bills filed to create/modify Crime Prevention and Improvement Districts in East Baton Rouge Parish in the current legislative session are as follows:

House Bill 127-Victoria Farms-passed the House and referred to the Senate Committee on Local and Municipal Affairs

House Bill 138-Parkwood Terrace- passed the House and referred to the Senate Committee on Local and Municipal Affairs

House Bill 139-Parkview Oaks- passed the House and referred to the Senate Committee on Local and Municipal Affairs

In summary these bills are moving along well.

The status of bills filed affecting current Districts in the parish are
as follows:

House Bill 162-Increases allowable assessment for Jefferson Place/Bocage District- referred to the House Committee on Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs  

House Bill 788-Adjusts the boundaries of the Melrose East District- referred to the House Committee on Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs  

In summary these bills have not moved. Unfortunately, another bill has arisen that is moving and will apparently have the effect of requiring boards that have the ability to assess fees (Crime Districts) to broadcast in real time, then record and place on line all public meetings regardless of their size, purpose or amount of revenue generated.

House Bill 615 has been reported out of committee and is awaiting debate on the house floor.

A link to this bill:
https://legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=26RS&b=HB615&sbi=y

Also, the hearing for this bill can be viewed here:
https://house.louisiana.gov/H_Video/VideoArchivePlayer?v=house/2026/Apr/0401_26_hg

The bill discussion begins 34 minutes into the video and lasts just under one hour. The only real opposition to the bill was from the Louisiana Municipal Association toward the end of the hour. The simplistic explanation to the committee was all you have to do is have someone with a cell phone record the meeting and then download it to YouTube.

A more thorough discussion of the bill can be found in the fiscal note, link below:
https://legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1458852

It would be best if small boards, especially those with small budgets and without staff (Crime Districts) could be made an exception.