BATON ROUGE, LA – East Baton Rouge Parish Family Court officials announced this week that reform is forthcoming, just as soon as the court completes its current backlog of long-standing personal favors.
According to court representatives, the institution remains deeply committed to fairness, transparency, and public trust, once it finishes “wrapping up a few things” for people the court has known for years.
“We fully acknowledge concerns raised in the report,” said one official familiar with the process, noting that reforms are already drafted, reviewed, and waiting patiently behind several conversations that began sometime during the Jindal administration. “We simply believe it would be inappropriate to disrupt existing expectations midstream.”
The report alleges a culture in which outcomes can vary based on familiarity with judges, staff, or attorneys, an accusation court leadership disputes while also emphasizing the importance of continuity, relationships, and not making things awkward. Officials stressed that discretion should not be confused with favoritism, especially when discretion consistently benefits the same people.
Sources inside the courthouse say the reform timeline remains flexible, dependent largely on lunches, phone calls, and a few matters that “need to be handled the right way.”
Court officials reassured the public that once all outstanding favors have been honored, reforms will proceed swiftly, uniformly, and with the same discretion that has defined the system for years.
