Bunkie City Court, Louisiana
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The Bunkie City Court resides in Louisiana. Click on the links below to learn more about the court's...
Jurisdiction
This court holds the following jurisdiction:[1]
| “ | Original Jurisdiction. City courts have jurisdiction over the following: (a) criminal offenses not punishable at hard labor, including violations of parish and city ordinances, state DWI cases, peace bonds and preliminary examinations in non-capital cases; and (b) civil cases when the amount in dispute, or the value of the property involved, ranges from $15,000 to $50,000, except for those matters in which parish courts have no jurisdiction, and also except for tutorship, curatorship, emancipation and partition proceedings. City courts also exercise juvenile jurisdiction, except where separate juvenile courts with exclusive original juvenile jurisdiction have been established.
The municipal court has exclusive original jurisdiction over violations of municipal ordinances, excluding traffic. The traffic court has exclusive original jurisdiction over violations of municipal traffic ordinances. R.S. l3:5200, et seq., authorizes the establishment of small claims divisions in the city courts. Claims not exceeding $5,000 may be filed in such divisions. Procedures thereafter are simplified, as technical rules of evidence are relaxed.[2] |
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Selection method
- See also: Judicial selection in the states
- See also: Partisan elections
Judges of the Louisiana City Courts are each elected to six-year terms. The elections for this court are partisan contested elections. To serve on this court, a judge must be a local resident for two years, younger than 70 years old, and have five years experience of practicing law in the state and a law degree.[3]
Judicial elections in Louisiana
- See also: Louisiana judicial elections
Louisiana is one of 11 states that uses partisan elections to select judges and does not use retention elections for subsequent terms. To read more about how states use judicial elections to select judges across the country, click here.
Primary election
Judges compete in a primary election against candidates of all parties. If no candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote (a "majority vote"), the top two candidates run against each other in the general election. If a candidate does receive a majority vote in the primary, he or she is declared elected as an unopposed candidate and will not be listed on the general election ballot.[4]
In even-numbered years, Louisiana's primary elections are held in November during the general elections of other states.
For two or more open seats
In the event that candidates are competing for more than one open seat on a court, the majority vote is decided by "dividing the total votes cast for all of the candidates by the number of offices to be filled [and] dividing the result so obtained by two," according to the Secretary of State website. The SOS goes on to give the following example:
- 1,040 total votes cast ÷ 3 offices to be filled ＝ 346.6
- 346.6 ÷ 2 ＝ 173.3
In the above example, 174 votes are necessary to win for each of the 3 offices.[4]
General election
A general election is won by obtaining the highest number of votes. In the case of races with two or more open seats, the two or more candidates with the highest votes are declared the winners. If there is a tie, an additional election will be scheduled for the third Saturday after the announcement of the election results.[4]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Louisiana State Bar Association, "City Courts," accessed May 15, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Louisiana; Limited Jurisdiction Courts," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Louisiana Secretary of State, "How are Candidates Elected?" accessed May 1, 2014
Federal courts:
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Louisiana, Middle District of Louisiana, Western District of Louisiana • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Louisiana, Middle District of Louisiana, Western District of Louisiana
State courts:
Louisiana Supreme Court • Louisiana Courts of Appeal • Louisiana District Courts • Louisiana City Courts • Louisiana Family Courts • Louisiana Justice of the Peace Courts • Louisiana Juvenile Courts • Louisiana Mayor’s Courts • Louisiana Municipal Courts • Louisiana Parish Courts • Louisiana Traffic Courts
State resources:
Courts in Louisiana • Louisiana judicial elections • Judicial selection in Louisiana
