Background
Larry Ard filed a petition for judicial review in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court for East Baton Rouge Parish in a proceeding against the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
Ard applied to the Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit, for supervisory relief concerning the district court’s failure to act on his petition. The appellate court’s brief order did not address the petition’s merits.
The Court’s Holding
The First Circuit granted the writ for the sole purpose of directing the district court to act on Ard’s petition for judicial review by January 19, 2027, if the district court had not already done so.
The court also ordered the district court to provide the First Circuit with a copy of its action by January 29, 2027. The order did not dictate how the district court should decide the petition.
Key Takeaways
- The writ was granted only to require timely district-court action.
- The district court must act on the petition by January 19, 2027, unless it has already acted.
- The district court must send the First Circuit a copy of its action by January 29, 2027.
Why It Matters
The order shows that supervisory relief may be used to prompt a trial court to rule on a pending matter. It provides Ard with a timetable for action but grants no substantive relief on the underlying petition for judicial review.