Part G Section 5 - Supreme Court Rules - Louisiana Supreme Court

<div>
 <div class="content">
 <div class="bcrumb">
 <ol class="row breadcrumb offprint">
 <li><a href="/">Home</a></li>
 <li><a href="Court_Rules">Court Rules</a></li>

<li><a href="/SupremeCourtRules">Supreme Court Rules</a></li>
 <li class="active">
Part G Section 5 
 </li>

</ol>

</div>
 </div>

<div id="mainbodycontent" class="col col-md-12 mainbodycontent" style="margin-top:-10px;"> 
<h3 style="text-align:center;">RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA</h3><h4 style="text-align:center;">PART G. GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE RULES </h4>&nbsp;Section 5. Appointment of Pro Tempore and Ad Hoc Judges to City, Municipal, Traffic, Parish, Juvenile or Family Courts (a) The appointment of judges pro tempore to city, municipal, traffic, parish, juvenile or family courts shall be made only for the emergency or necessary temporary absence of the elected judge or for vacation as provided by law or by such local rules governing vacations as are approved by this court. (b) Whenever it is necessary for a judge of a city, municipal, traffic, parish, juvenile or family court to be absent temporarily from his duties, the judge may submit a request to the supreme court for the appointment of a retired or sitting judge or an attorney from the list of approved attorneys compiled in accordance with subsection (c) below as a temporary replacement. [Amended effective November 13, 2025] (c) Every city, municipal, traffic, parish, juvenile or family court, which intends to request the appointment of attorneys as judges pro tempore, shall submit to the judicial administrator a list of attorneys that the court desires to be approved by the supreme court for appointment as temporary judges. The attorneys included on the list must, in the opinion of the submitting court, be qualified for appointment as temporary judges of the court. The judges of the appointing court may also require or provide for judicial training of the appointee under the direction of the court. The list may be supplemented from time to time as is necessary, and the supreme court may supplement the list in its discretion. The list and supplemental list shall include a qualification form (Attachment A) completed by each attorney on the list.&nbsp; The approval of any attorney shall expire on December 31 of the third full calendar year following the supreme court&rsquo;s approval of the attorney for temporary appointments. Previously approved attorneys may be reapproved for temporary judicial appointments. In the event a court wishes to have an attorney reapproved, the court requesting approval of an attorney shall submit an updated qualification form for approval by the supreme court. [Added effective August 15, 1999, amended effective November 13, 2025] (d) An attorney who accepts an appointment as provided herein shall agree in writing (Attachment B) that: (i) the attorney will not qualify as a candidate for election to any judicial office for a period of one year immediately following the termination of the appointment, and (ii) the attorney will not use the title of judge or use any photograph in a judicial robe in any campaign for any elective office, or use any other advertising that may mislead the public into believing that the attorney is or has been elected to a judicial office, and (iii) the attorney is not enrolled in any pending cases, other than uncontested matters, before the court that he or she is appointed to. [Amended effective November 13, 2025; Amended effective February 5, 2026] (e) The request for appointment (the &ldquo;Request&rdquo;) shall contain in detail the specific reason that the appointment is necessary, and, if an attorney is requested, a copy of Attachment B executed by the attorney, and shall be sent to the judicial administrator of the supreme court.&nbsp; The Request shall be presented for approval by the supreme court and it shall be received in the supreme court at least three judicial days prior to the date upon which the appointee is to serve (except in cases of a bona fide emergency).&nbsp; The supreme court may approve the Request, deny the Request, or appoint any sitting judge, retired judge, or qualified attorney, from the list of approved attorneys compiled in accordance with Subsection (c) above, it deems appropriate. The supreme court shall issue an order following approval of the Request.&nbsp; The supreme court&rsquo;s order of appointment shall be entered into the minutes of the court.&nbsp;[Amended effective May 28, 2020, amended effective November 13, 2025] (f) Attorney appointees shall not perform marriages. (g) No person holding elective or appointive office or employment in state government or any local elected office shall be eligible for appointment as a judge ad hoc or pro tempore under this Section. Attorneys for local governing authorities, including prosecutors and public defenders, within the territory of that court&rsquo;s jurisdiction, and announced candidates for public office shall also be ineligible for appointment as a judge ad hoc or pro tempore under this Section. This paragraph shall not be applicable to sitting or retired judges.&nbsp;[Amended effective November 13, 2025] (h) This Section shall be considered an Administrative Responsibility under Section B of Canon 3 of the Code of Judicial Conduct. (i) Recusal Appointments or Assignments. Applicable provisions of law apply to motions to recuse and the recusal of city, municipal, traffic, parish, juvenile, and family court judges.&nbsp; In any case in which an ad hoc judge must be appointed by this Court pursuant to such provisions of law to hear a motion to recuse or, in the case of a recused judge, to preside over the matter, the city, municipal, traffic, parish, juvenile, or family court judge shall forward the appropriate pleadings to this Court, requesting that a sitting or retired judge, or an approved attorney, be appointed or assigned to hear the matter. If the reason for the motion to recuse, or the judge&rsquo;s actual recusal, is not clear from the pleadings, the judge shall also convey the reasons for the motion or the recusal. The recusal pleadings and the request for appointment/assignment shall be received in the Supreme Court at least seven judicial days prior to the date upon which the case or motion is to be heard.The Supreme Court shall assign a sitting or retired judge to try all motions to recuse. In addition, the Supreme Court may appoint or assign a sitting or retired judge or a qualified attorney, from the list of approved attorneys compiled in accordance with Subsection (c) above, to preside over any case in which a city, municipal, traffic, parish, juvenile or family court judge recuses himself or herself.Whenever a city, municipal, traffic, parish, juvenile or family court having only one judge is recused after a trial of the motion to recuse, the sitting or retired judge previously assigned to try the motion to recuse shall continue to act as judge ad hoc for the trial of the case or this Court may appoint another judge or qualified attorney in the same manner as if the judge recused himself or herself.This subsection does not prohibit random reallotment procedures which are, or have been, instituted by local court rule which serve to reallot cases involving voluntary or involuntary recusation among the judges in any city, municipal, traffic, parish, juvenile or family court. [Amended effective November 13, 2025] (j) Cap on Temporary Appointments. There shall be a thirty-seven (37) day cap on the number of days that this Section may be utilized by any judge of a city, municipal, traffic, parish, juvenile or family court for the appointment of temporary judges in any year. No city, municipal, traffic, parish, juvenile or family court judge shall appoint temporary judges, and no such appointments may be approved by this Court, for more than thirty-seven (37) days per year. Exceptions to the 37-day cap may be granted by the Supreme Court of Louisiana for extraordinary circumstances, such as serious illness. The 37-day cap shall not apply to recusal appointments or assignments made in accordance with subsection (i). [enacted effective January 1, 2013; amended December 21, 2012, effective January 1, 2013] ATTACHMENT A&nbsp; QUALIFICATION FORM FOR APPOINTMENT AS JUDGE AD HOC OR PRO TEMPORE&nbsp; FULL NAME:&nbsp; EMAIL: HOME AND BUSINESS ADDRESS OF ATTORNEY:&nbsp; HOME AND BUSINESS TELEPHONE NUMBERS:&nbsp; BAR ADMISSION (YEAR):&nbsp; PRESENT AGE:&nbsp; NATURE OF ACTIVE LAW PRACTICE:&nbsp; PRIOR JUDICIAL SERVICE (DATES, PLACES, LENGTH):&nbsp; SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE WHICH QUALIFIES APPLICANT FOR APPOINTMENT IN ___________________________________________ COURT: (NAME OF COURT TO WHICH APPLICANT WISHES TO BE APPROVED FOR APPOINTMENT)&nbsp; ADVERSE COMPLAINTS FILED WITH STATE BAR: (DATE, NATURE, DISPOSITION)&nbsp; PERSONAL REFERENCES: (NAMES, ADDRESSES, TELEPHONE NOS.)&nbsp; I attest that the foregoing information is correct, to the best of my knowledge and belief. I also attest that I am not prohibited from serving as judge ad hoc or pro tempore by Section 5(g) of the Louisiana Supreme Court's General Administrative Rules, which provides:&nbsp; No person holding elective or appointive office or employment in state government or local elected office shall be eligible for appointment as a judge ad hoc or pro tempore under this Section.&nbsp; Attorneys for local governing authorities, including prosecutors and public defenders, within the territory of that court&rsquo;s jurisdiction, and announced candidates for public office shall also be ineligible for appointment as a judge ad hoc or pro tempore under this Section. ___________________________________ __________________________________________ (Date) (Signature of Attorney)&nbsp; The approval of any attorney by the Louisiana Supreme Court for temporary appointments shall expire on December 31 of the third full calendar year following the Louisiana Supreme Court's approval of the attorney for temporary appointments. Previously approved attorneys may be reapproved for judicial appointments, provided a new qualification form is submitted by any court who wishes to have an attorney or attorneys reapproved.[Amended effective November 13, 2025]&nbsp;ATTACHMENT B.&nbsp; I, _________________, do hereby certify that, as a condition of my appointment to serve as a judge of the ________________________________________________________ (Name of Court) I do now hereby express to the Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of Louisiana that I will not qualify as a candidate for election to any judicial office for a period of one year immediately following the termination of the appointment, and I will not use the title of judge or use any photograph in a judicial robe in any campaign for any elective office, or use any other advertising that may mislead the public into believing that I am or have been elected to a judicial office.&nbsp; I further certify that I am not currently enrolled in any pending case, other than uncontested matters, before the court to which I am being appointed. _________________________ (Date) _________________________ (signature) [Amended effective November 13, 2025; Amended effective February 5, 2026]
 </div>

</div>