A. When a district court judge of a court having two or more judges voluntarily recuses himself or is recused after a motion to recuse is heard, the cause shall be randomly assigned to another division or section of that court. B. When a district court judge in a single-judge district voluntarily recuses himself, the judge shall make a written request to the supreme court for the appointment of an ad hoc judge to hear the cause. When an ad hoc judge appointed by the supreme court to hear a recusal grants the motion to recuse, that judge shall request that an ad hoc judge be appointed to hear the cause.
Art. 156.Selection of Judge After Recusal
Title I. Courts · Chapter 3. Recusal of Judges · Last amended 2021 · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 156 sets how a case gets reassigned once a district judge is recused — random reassignment to another division in a multi-judge court, or a supreme court appointment of an ad hoc judge in a single-judge district.
Full Text of Art. 156
Amendment History
Amended by Acts 2021, No. 143, §1, eff. 8/1/2021. Amended by Acts 1962, No. 409, §1.
Plain-English Summary
Recusal solves one problem — the biased or conflicted judge is off the case — but it creates another: someone still has to hear it. Article 156 answers that for district courts. In a court with two or more judges, a case reassigns randomly to another division or section once the original judge is recused, whether voluntarily or after a contested motion.
A single-judge district doesn't have another division to send the case to, so Article 156 sends it up instead. The judge who voluntarily recuses must make a written request to the supreme court for an ad hoc judge to hear the entire cause. And if an ad hoc judge appointed only to decide the recusal motion itself ends up granting it, that ad hoc judge in turn asks the supreme court to appoint another ad hoc judge to hear the case.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to a case after the judge is recused in a court with several judges?
Article 156 has the case randomly reassigned to another division or section of that court.
What happens if the only judge in a single-judge district is recused?
The judge must make a written request to the supreme court for an ad hoc judge to be appointed to hear the case, since there's no other judge in that district to take it over.
Who hears the case if the ad hoc judge assigned to decide the recusal motion grants it?
That ad hoc judge requests that the supreme court appoint another ad hoc judge to hear the underlying cause, since the recusal-motion judge's role was limited to deciding the motion itself.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the vLex (Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, 2026 Edition). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
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