Bindinglaw

LA · rules

La. Child. Code art. 839

Availability of an informal adjustment agreement

activein force · 2026-09-15 – presentact-effective-date

A. Prior to the filing of a petition, the district attorney or the court with the consent of the district attorney may authorize an informal adjustment agreement.

B. After the filing of a petition but before the attachment of jeopardy pursuant to Article 811, the court may authorize the district attorney or probation officer to effect an informal adjustment agreement if the child and district attorney have no objection. The court may, with concurrence of the district attorney, dismiss the petition or allow the petition to remain pending during the period of informal adjustment.

C. When entering an informal adjustment agreement, the court may, with concurrence of the district attorney, utilize or initiate a teen or youth court program and may assess a fee to a participant in the program to offset costs.

D.(1) Where a petition involves an allegation of an unlawful act committed as a direct result of the child being a victim of human trafficking pursuant to R.S. 14:46.3(E)(1) and the child expresses a willingness to cooperate and receive specialized services for sexually exploited children, the district attorney may effect an informal adjustment agreement which includes specialized services for the child.

(2) If, however, the child has previously been adjudicated a delinquent or is unwilling to cooperate with specialized services for sexually exploited children, continuing with the delinquency proceeding shall be within the discretion of the district attorney.

(3) The specialized services referenced in Subparagraph (1) of this Paragraph may include but are not limited to the services provided pursuant to R.S. 46:2161, safe and stable housing, victim advocacy services, comprehensive onsite case management, integrated mental health and chemical dependency services, including specialized trauma recovery services, education and employment training, and referrals to offsite specialized services, as appropriate.

History

Acts 1991, No. 235, §8, eff. Jan. 1, 1992; Acts 1993, No. 897, §1; Acts 2003, No. 940, §1; Acts 2009, No. 213, §1; Acts 2013, No. 429, §3, eff. June 24, 2013; Acts 2026, No. 637, §2.

Provenance

Source
legis.la.gov
Retrieved
2026-09-15
Edition
2026-09-15
Content hash
152d9b433a381377bff39cf9510fc4bedcae76138279c4bac901cdf88c404c04
View the official source →

The link goes to the issuing authority’s own document — the one we read to produce this record. Where a source publishes whole titles rather than sections, your browser may need a moment to jump to the provision.

Unofficial copy of government-published law, reproduced from official sources with full provenance. Not an official publication; verify against official sources before relying on it in a filing. Records in the 'guidance' corpus, and only that corpus, are sub-regulatory (interpretive guidelines, survey procedures) and are not binding law. Validity bounds follow each jurisdiction's declared temporalBasis.

Coverage · API docs

Bindinglaw

Point-in-time US law with the receipt attached. Source URL, retrieval time, content hash, and validity dates on every answer.

curl api.binding.law/v1/law/coverage

© 2026 binding.law · a Jubal, Inc. productAttorneys and firms never pay. Ever.