A. An objection to the venue may not be waived prior to the institution of the action. B. The venue provided in Articles2006, 2811, 2812, 3941, 3993, 4031 through 4034, and 4542 may not be waived. C. Except as otherwise provided in this article or by other law, any objection to the venue, including one based on any article in this Chapter, is waived by the failure of the defendant to plead the declinatory exception timely as provided in Article928.
Art. 44.Waiver of Objections to Venue
Title I. Courts · Chapter 2. Venue · Last amended 2010 · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 44 governs when an objection to venue can be waived: never before suit is filed, never for a short list of venue rules the legislature has made unwaivable, and otherwise only by failing to raise it promptly through the proper procedural objection.
Full Text of Art. 44
Amendment History
Amended by Acts 1961, No. 23, §1; Acts 2010, No. 185, §1.
Plain-English Summary
Article 44 answers a practical question: can the parties agree in advance, or let the moment pass without objecting, on where a lawsuit gets filed? The answer depends on which part of the article you are reading. Subsection A forecloses one option outright — an objection to venue cannot be waived before the lawsuit even exists, so a contract clause purporting to fix venue for a future dispute cannot bind a party who never had the chance to object to a specific case.
Subsection B goes further for a short list of venue rules found elsewhere in the Code. For those specific proceedings, the legislature decided that venue serves a purpose beyond the two parties' convenience, so no one — plaintiff, defendant, or both together — can waive it, no matter what they agree to.
Subsection C covers everything else, including objections based on any article in this chapter. Once a suit is filed, a defendant who wants to contest venue must raise the objection through the declinatory exception under Article 928, and must do so within the time that article allows. Miss that window, and the objection to venue is waived — the case proceeds in the parish where it was filed, even if that parish was never the proper one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a contract fix venue for a lawsuit before any dispute exists?
No. Article 44(A) provides that an objection to venue cannot be waived before an action is instituted, so an advance agreement about where a future suit must be filed does not bind a party the way a waiver made during an actual pending case would.
Is venue always something the parties can agree to waive?
Not always. Article 44(B) singles out a handful of venue provisions elsewhere in the Code that no party may waive under any circumstances, because the legislature decided those particular proceedings need a fixed forum regardless of what the parties prefer.
How do you object to venue once a lawsuit is filed?
Through the declinatory exception described in Article 928, raised within the time that article sets. This applies to objections based on any article in the venue chapter.
What happens if a defendant does not object to venue in time?
The objection is waived under Article 44(C), and the case continues in the parish where it was filed even if that parish was not, in fact, the proper venue for the action.
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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