Provides relative to court costs and fees in domestic abuse cases

This bill amends Louisiana Revised Statutes 46:2136.1(A) to modify the allocation of court costs and attorney fees in domestic abuse cases. Currently, existing law requires the perpetrator of domestic violence to pay all court costs, attorney fees, costs of enforcement and modification proceedings, costs of appeal, evaluation fees, and expert witness fees incurred in domestic abuse proceedings unless the court determines the petition was frivolous. The bill restructures this provision into two paragraphs, with the first paragraph remaining substantively similar but removing the phrase "and modification" from the enumerated costs the perpetrator must pay. The bill then adds a new second paragraph providing that after the initial hearing required under R.S. 46:2135, all remaining costs shall be assessed according to the rules applicable to other civil proceedings, meaning each party becomes responsible for paying their respective attorney fees rather than shifting all such costs to the alleged perpetrator.

The practical effect of this legislation is to limit the perpetrator's cost-shifting liability to the initial hearing stage in domestic abuse cases. During and before the initial hearing, the perpetrator remains responsible for costs of enforcement, appeal, evaluation fees, expert witness fees, and medical and psychological care expenses necessitated by the domestic violence, subject to the existing frivolous petition exception. However, once the initial hearing concludes, the cost allocation reverts to the standard civil litigation rule where each party bears its own attorney fees unless a different allocation is justified under general civil procedure law. This change particularly affects parties seeking modification of initial orders in domestic abuse matters, whose attorneys' fees would no longer automatically be assessed against the perpetrator but instead would be governed by ordinary civil cost principles.

This amendment operates within Louisiana's domestic abuse assistance statutory framework, primarily R.S. 46:2131 et seq., which establishes the legal protections and remedies available to victims of domestic violence. The change interacts directly with R.S. 46:2135, which establishes the initial hearing procedures in domestic abuse cases, and retains the existing structure that allows courts to decline cost-shifting when petitions are determined to be frivolous under Subsection B. The modification reflects a shift in legislative policy regarding which party should bear the financial burden of post-initial-hearing proceedings, moving away from the categorical assignment of all such costs to the perpetrator and toward the neutral baseline cost allocation used in civil litigation generally.