Louisiana
Louisiana’s Council on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST Council) certifies peace officers and must revoke certification for listed convictions. Since 2023 the State has given part-time and reserve officers 3 years to finish training, brought auxiliary officers into certification and revocation, required the POST Council to adopt a policy on reporting force that causes serious bodily injury, and, from August 1, 2026, required most peace officers to be U.S. citizens. A 2026 act that limits the powers of marshals in smaller jurisdictions takes effect January 1, 2027.
- Sources checked
- Part of
- Officer Ledger
At a glance
- Certifying body
- Council on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST Council), within the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice (LCLE) in the governor’s office. Members are the attorney general, 3 sheriffs, 3 police chiefs, 2 district attorneys, the LCLE executive director, the state police superintendent, and, since August 1, 2024, the president of the Louisiana City Marshals and City Constables Association or a designee (La. R.S. 40:2403). It may suspend or revoke certification for misconduct (40:2404(12)).
- Statute
- La. R.S. 40:2401 to 40:2405.10 (POST, training, and revocation in 40:2405(J)); 40:2404.3 (auxiliary officers, 2025); 40:2554 (use-of-force reporting policy, 2025); 40:2531 to 40:2535 (Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights); 44:3 (law enforcement records). Rules: LAC 22:III, ch. 47 (4731 revocation; 4733 suspension).
- Minimum standards
- Full-time peace officers must complete a POST-certified training program and pass the POST exam within 1 year of hire, or lose peace-officer authority except for administrative duties. Part-time and reserve officers hired on or after January 1, 2022 have 3 years (40:2405(A)). Auxiliary officers need 100 to 120 hours of core curriculum and must pass a POST exam within 1 year (40:2404.3). Since August 1, 2026, most peace officers must be U.S. citizens; lawful permanent residents already employed have until August 1, 2031 (R.S. 40:2402(3), as amended by Acts 2026, No. 283). By rule, POST exams require 70% in each block and firearms qualification requires 80% (LAC 22:III.4703).
- Decertification
- Mandatory: POST certification of any full-time, part-time, reserve, or auxiliary officer “shall be revoked” on a conviction for malfeasance in office or for an offense that takes away the right to bear arms. Discretionary: the Council “may” hold a revocation hearing when an officer was fired and has exhausted all administrative remedies, or was allowed to resign or retire, over conduct that “would constitute an unreasonable use of force”; for a domestic-abuse-battery misdemeanor or any felony conviction; for failing required training; on voluntary surrender; or on a judicial disposition. 30 days’ notice is required, with appeal under the Administrative Procedure Act (40:2405(J)). By rule, the Council may suspend for up to 3 years on referred misconduct such as excessive force, dishonesty, bias, or misuse of authority, “shall” hold a suspension hearing on resignation in lieu of termination or while under investigation, and its chairman may order an emergency suspension on a felony arrest or indictment (LAC 22:III.4733). Rule 4731, last amended in 2018, still describes older revocation grounds and omits auxiliary officers.
- Public decertification list
- None found. LCLE’s POST pages post forms and training materials, but no revocation or suspension list.
- National Decertification Index
- None found. La. R.S. 40:2401 to 40:2405 and LAC 22:III, ch. 47 do not name the Index.
- Continuing training
- Full-time, part-time, and reserve officers need at least 20 hours of POST in-service training a year, and auxiliary officers too since 2025 (40:2404.3(B)). By rule, the 20 hours include 2 hours legal, 8 hours firearms, 4 hours officer survival, and 6 hours of electives, plus annual firearms requalification at 80%. Missing hours triggers temporary suspension, then revocation if not cured within 90 days (LAC 22:III.4750). Since August 1, 2024, officers must also complete trauma-informed training on domestic violence, sexual assault, and sex trafficking (40:2405.8(J)).
Changes, 2023 to 2026
Peace officers must be U.S. citizens
Peace officers described in the renumbered items (i), (ii), (iv), (v), and (vi) of 40:2402(3)(a) “shall be a United States citizen” by law, birth, or naturalization. That covers state, local, and sheriff’s officers, sheriff’s deputies who handle inmates, Supreme Court and appellate court security, and legislative security. Military Department police in item (iii) are not listed. A currently employed lawful permanent resident is exempt if he or she becomes a citizen by August 1, 2031.
For officers: If you are a lawful permanent resident already serving, you must become a U.S. citizen by August 1, 2031.
POST must adopt a statewide policy on reporting force that causes serious bodily injury
By January 1, 2026, the POST Council “shall adopt a policy” requiring a report whenever a peace officer uses physical force on a member of the public that causes serious bodily injury, as defined in R.S. 14:2(C), whether or not an arrest follows. The policy must say when a report is required and who completes it. It applies to all law enforcement agencies, which may adopt stricter policies. Whether the Council has adopted the policy could not be confirmed from official sources. Senate Resolution 187 (2026) asked LCLE to report by September 1, 2026 on progress implementing the act, including a timeline of remaining tasks.
For officers: Once the policy is in place, force that causes serious bodily injury must be reported even when no arrest follows.
Auxiliary officers: a certification track, and revocation now covers them
Auxiliary officers are sheriff’s-office volunteers certified by POST. They need at least 100 and at most 120 hours of core curriculum, including de-escalation and use of force, and must pass a POST exam within 1 year. They serve under a POST-certified deputy and may not arrest, cite, or search except under that deputy’s direct supervision. Auxiliary and reserve officers need 20 in-service hours a year. The Council had to build an updated auxiliary program by January 1, 2026; a POST form posted in September 2026 certifies auxiliary training under Council guidelines. Mandatory and discretionary revocation under 40:2405(J) now expressly reach auxiliary officers.
For officers: If you are an auxiliary officer, you need POST training, a POST exam within 1 year, and 20 in-service hours a year.
POST rule sets basic-training deadlines: 1 year for full-time, 3 years for part-time, reserve, and auxiliary officers
The rule now says full-time peace officers must complete POST basic training within 1 year of employment, and “part-time, reserve, or auxiliary peace officers” within 3 years. It puts the 2024 statutory change into the rules and also lists auxiliary officers.
For officers: Part-time, reserve, and auxiliary officers have 3 years under the rule to finish basic training.
Trauma-informed training on domestic violence, sexual assault, and sex trafficking
The POST Council “shall” develop and keep updated trauma-informed materials on domestic violence, sexual assault, and sex trafficking for basic and in-service curricula. The initial sex-trafficking orientation must be in a classroom at a POST academy or approved center unless the Council designates another method. Officers employed on August 1, 2024 with at least 1 year of service must finish within 1 year after the curriculum is approved. The materials “shall not include” diversity, equity, and inclusion materials.
For officers: Complete the trauma-informed training within 1 year after the Council approves the curriculum.
POST Council seat moves to the City Marshals and City Constables Association
The seat held by the president or director of the Louisiana Chapter of the National Constables Association now goes to the president of the Louisiana City Marshals and City Constables Association or a designee. Standards are unchanged.
For officers: No new duty for officers.
Part-time and reserve officers get 3 years, not 1, to finish POST training
Part-time and reserve officers who start on or after January 1, 2022 must complete POST training and pass the exam within 3 calendar years. Before, the same 1-year rule applied to them as to full-time officers. The clock does not restart when they move to another Louisiana agency. Missing the deadline bars them from exercising peace-officer authority, but an agency’s lack of training funds cannot stop them from serving. Lack of timely training is never grounds to suppress evidence.
For officers: As a part-time or reserve officer, you have 3 years from your start date to pass POST, and changing agencies does not restart the clock.
Not yet in force and pending
- Limits on marshals and deputy marshals (from January 1, 2027): Acts 2026, No. 866 (HB 1038), approved June 9, 2026. Sec. 1 rewrites R.S. 13:1881. A city or ward marshal is a peace officer under 40:2402, with the powers of regular law enforcement officers except as limited by new Subsections C and D; marshals and deputy marshals are public officers for immunity under 9:2793.1. Where a marshal serves 40,000 people or fewer, the marshal and deputies have listed powers only: executing city-court attachments and warrants, detaining people when needed to serve civil process, and arrests for direct contempt or offenses in the court’s presence or on its grounds. Unless the local governing authority expressly authorizes it, they may not exercise general law enforcement authority, make traffic stops, criminal investigations, or warrantless arrests, execute other courts’ warrants, or obtain commissions from the agency with primary jurisdiction. Acting outside that scope can bring civil liability. Declared emergencies and permitted special events are excepted, as are marshals who also serve as police chief. Sec. 2 adds deputy marshals to the “peace officer” definition used for POST certification. Act 866 (2026)
- Numbering of R.S. 40:2402(3)(b): Act 283 makes (3)(b) the citizenship rule from August 1, 2026. Act 866, approved later, re-enacts (3)(b) as the inmate-deputy and deputy-marshal clauses from January 1, 2027. The legislature’s 40:2402 page had not been updated on October 19, 2026, and no reconciliation by the Law Institute was found. 2026 citator, R.S. 40
These 2026 Regular Session bills failed when the session ended: HB 341 (rights of officers under investigation) and HB 1259 (wearing masks in public, a general crime bill). No bill requiring officers to unmask or display identification was found. The legislature’s law pages for R.S. 40:2402 and 40:2405 do not yet show the 2026 acts; this page relies on the act texts.
Checked and unchanged
- La. R.S. 40:2531 to 40:2535 (Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights): no 2023–2026 amendment. 40:2404 (Council powers, including suspension or revocation for misconduct): last amended in 2021.
- LAC 22:III.4731 (revocation) and 4733 (suspension): no 2023–2026 amendment. The only 2023–2026 amendment found in the POST chapter is 4703.
- 2026 Acts 276 (supplemental pay for court security deputies, 40:2405(B)), 814 (“gender” to “sex” in the hate-crime training list, 40:2403(H)(1)), 308 (40:2405.10), 347 (40:2522), 739 (40:2405.2), and 809 (40:2401.4 and 2401.5) amend or add sections in or near the POST chapter. None changes certification or decertification.
- Not counted: Acts 2024, No. 259 (R.S. 14:109, a crime to approach within 25 feet of an officer after a warning; court rulings not checked); Acts 2025, No. 125 (witness names removed from public initial reports under 44:3); Acts 2024, No. 538 (New Orleans inspector general investigators may carry firearms if they qualify annually with POST).
Last updated October 19, 2026Source: United States Council for Law & InvestigationCite as: United States Council for Law & Investigation, “Louisiana officer certification: Officer Ledger,” uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/louisiana (last updated October 19, 2026). Text licensed CC BY 4.0.