No person arrested or found guilty for the first offense of direct contempt of court either for failure to attend court as a member of a jury venire when proof of service of the summons appears on the record or for failure to comply with a subpoena to attend court to serve as a witness when proof of service of the subpoena appears on the record shall be subject to fingerprinting or have his photograph taken in any arrest or postsentence procedure.
Art. 222.1.Direct Contempt; Fingerprinting and Photographing; Exception
Title I. Courts · Chapter 4. Power and Authority · Enacted 1985 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 222.1 shields a person found guilty of a first-offense direct contempt — for missing jury duty after being properly summoned or for failing to comply with a witness subpoena — from being fingerprinted or photographed during the arrest or post-sentence process.
Full Text of Art. 222.1
Amendment History
Acts 1985, No. 937, §1.
Plain-English Summary
Article 222.1 carves out a narrow protection for two of the direct-contempt categories Article 222 defines: failing to attend court as a summoned member of a jury venire, and failing to comply with a subpoena to appear as a witness. Both involve ordinary citizens who missed a civic obligation rather than people who set out to defy the court.
For a first offense in either category, the article bars fingerprinting or photographing the person in connection with any arrest or post-sentence procedure tied to that contempt. Without this protection, someone held in contempt for a missed jury summons could otherwise be processed the same way as someone arrested for a crime, generating a booking photo and fingerprint record over what may amount to a scheduling failure.
The protection is limited by its own terms: it applies to a first offense. A person who repeatedly ignores jury summonses or witness subpoenas does not carry this protection forward indefinitely, and the article does not touch fingerprinting or photographing in connection with any other kind of direct or constructive contempt.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone be fingerprinted for missing jury duty in Louisiana?
Not for a first offense. Article 222.1 bars fingerprinting or photographing a person found guilty, for the first time, of direct contempt for failing to attend court as a summoned juror.
Does this protection apply to every kind of direct contempt?
No. It applies only to the two categories the article names — failing to attend as a member of a jury venire and failing to comply with a witness subpoena — and only for a first offense.
What happens on a second offense?
Article 222.1 protects only the first offense in these categories. It does not extend the same protection to repeat violations.
Why does this protection exist?
It reflects that missing a jury summons or a witness subpoena, standing alone, is not the kind of conduct that should subject an ordinary citizen to the same booking procedures used for criminal arrests.
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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