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Terms Used In Louisiana Children's Code 818

  • Child: means any person under the age of twenty-one, including an emancipated minor, who commits a delinquent act before attaining seventeen years of age. See Louisiana Children's Code 804
  • Delinquent act: means an act committed by a child of ten years of age or older which if committed by an adult is designated an offense under the statutes or ordinances of this state, or of another state if the offense occurred there, or under federal law, except traffic violations. See Louisiana Children's Code 804
  • Misdemeanor-grade delinquent act: means any offense which if committed by an adult is other than a felony and includes the violation of an ordinance providing a penal sanction. See Louisiana Children's Code 804

A.  A child may be photographed or fingerprinted in connection with being taken into custody for the commission of either:

(1)  A felony-grade delinquent act.

(2)  A misdemeanor-grade delinquent act.

B.  Upon motion of the district attorney, the court in its discretion can order any child to submit to other reasonable identification procedures, such as to provide handwriting exemplars or to stand in a lineup.

C.  Fingerprints and photographs taken pursuant to Paragraph A of this Article shall be maintained and indexed separately from those of adults.  They shall be made available only to law enforcement and correctional agencies for purposes related to their official functions.  Fingerprints taken pursuant to Paragraph A of this Article shall be submitted to the central fingerprint repository maintained by the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information as specified under La. Rev. Stat. 15:590 et seq., and to the fingerprint repository, if any, maintained by the local law enforcement agency.

Acts 1991, No. 235, §8, eff. Jan. 1, 1992; Acts 1992, No. 1078, §1; Acts 2008, No. 641, §1; Acts 2009, No. 158, §1.