§1338. Transfer of cases

            A. All pending cases filed in the Civil District Court for the parish of Orleans over civil commitment proceedings where the Criminal District Court for the parish of Orleans has determined a mentally defective defendant is incapable of standing trial, is a danger to himself or others, and is unlikely in the foreseeable future to be capable of standing trial are hereby transferred to the Criminal District Court for the parish of Orleans for further proceedings in accordance with law. A judge of the civil district court or the criminal district court on his own motion, or upon motion by the district attorney of Orleans Parish or the attorney of the defendant, may have such case transferred upon the signing of the order to transfer by either a judge of the Criminal District Court for the parish of Orleans or a judge of the Civil District Court for the parish of Orleans. The Criminal District Court for the parish of Orleans shall hear and dispose of the case with the same legal effect as if it had been instituted in that court in the first instance.

            B. With respect to cases and jurisdiction transferred according to this Section, the sheriff for the parish of Orleans is vested with the power and authority to serve all notices, subpoenas, papers, writs, and orders and to make proper return thereto to the Criminal District Court for the parish of Orleans.

            Acts 2005, No. 174, §1; Acts 2006, No. 621, §19(A), eff. Jan. 1, 2009; Acts 2008, No. 675, §1, eff. July 1, 2008; Acts 2008, No. 873, §1, eff. July 9, 2008; Acts 2011, No. 340, §2, eff. June 29, 2011; Acts 2012, No. 474, §4(B)(2); Acts 2026, No. 15, §1, eff. April 30, 2026.