New Orleans’ court races are drawing intense statewide attention in the midterms as all 12 Orleans criminal court justices face reelection on November 3, 2027, with a major institutional shrinking looming just weeks later. WWNO reported that come January 1, 2027, there will be three fewer judges on the bench, following a state law that went into effect in June cutting three judgeships from the Orleans criminal court.
Trimming the Orleans Parish Bench
The legislation was advanced as part of a package aimed at trimming what supporters labeled waste within the Orleans Parish court system, which remains unique in Louisiana as the only parish maintaining entirely separate civil and criminal courts. The bill’s initial draft targeted the three judges with the lowest seniority. While those individuals were not named explicitly in the original text, the original bill identified them by their sections: Section A Judge Simone Levine, Section J Judge John Fuller, and Section I Judge Leon Roché.
A Late Shift in the Legislature
A late shift altered that trajectory. Two days before the legislative session ended, a conference committee swapped Roché for District E Judge Rhonda Goode-Douglass, specifically naming District Judges A, E, and J in the revised text. Committee members offered no public explanation for the adjustment, though Morris credited the governor’s office and the local Orleans delegation. The measure passed the House by a 62-34 vote on the final day of the session before the governor signed it into law over the summer.
A Scramble Among Affected Jurists
Levine is running against incumbent judge Kimya Holmes for the Section D seat, while Goode-Douglass challenged Roché for the Section I seat. Roché announced on social media that he would not run against another Black judge, opting instead to challenge incumbent judge Camille Buras for the Section H seat. Meanwhile, Fuller announced he would not seek reelection after the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the law shrinking the court system in July. The remaining seven incumbents secured reelection during the primary.
Criminal Court Judges Face Pressure to Enhance Efficiency
A recent report from the New Orleans crime watchdog Metropolitan Crime Commission found that Orleans Parish criminal court judges will need to enhance their efficiency following the midterms to handle the reduced bench size.
Over the preceding two years, the 12 criminal court judges managed to keep pace with incoming caseloads while simultaneously reducing existing backlogs, according to the Metropolitan Crime Commission report. The share of open cases declined compared to previous evaluations, and the median time required to clear cases held steady at seven months.
Nearly a third of the criminal district court felony cases opened in 2024 had been pending for more than a year. Those figures run counter to the American Bar Association’s best practice standards, which dictate that criminal cases should be resolved within a twelve-month window.
Operational Hurdles for a Nine-Judge Bench
The Metropolitan Crime Commission report emphasizes the operational hurdle ahead. The only path for the judiciary to maintain or improve its current clearance rates relies on individual judges managing their dockets with greater effectiveness. That requirement intensifies significantly entering 2027, when the total number of active judges drops from twelve to nine.
