Louisiana voters will likely have the opportunity in April to decide whether the mandatory retirement age of judges should be raised from 70 to 75 years old. The Louisiana Senate has approved the proposed constitutional amendment. Norco Senator Gregory Miller says 70-years-old is too young to force a judge into retirement.
“People who are 75 are vigorous. We have no other term limit like that for age on any other office in all of Louisiana.”
The measure needed a two-thirds vote to pass and it got exactly that as it passed on a 26-13 vote. Shreveport Senator Alan Seabaugh questioned why put this measure on the ballot again, when voters recently rejected a similar constitutional amendment.
“We put this on the ballot before. It failed in 62 out of 64 parishes. Your constituents voted no.”
Miller says Louisiana is an outlier when it comes to this issue.
“Texas has a 75 year old mandatory retiring age. Florida has a 75 year retirement age. Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky have no mandatory retirement age.”
Under Louisiana law, a judge can serve after the age of 70 if their term extends past their 70th birthday or if they are appointed as an ad hoc judge by the Louisiana Supreme Court. The House and Senate have not agreed on the exact language of the proposal, so it is in a conference committee. Details still have to be ironed before it ends up on the ballot in April of 2026.
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