Today, the Metropolitan Crime Commission (MCC) launched a new search engine that enables the public to access the financial disclosure statements of all 289 Louisiana District Court Judges, Appellate Court Judges, and Supreme Court Justices for the past five years.
Prior to today, the only way to access judicial financial disclosures was by filing a public records request with the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Judicial Administrator. In fact, these records were obtained from the Supreme Court’s Judicial Administrator in response to a MCC public records request.
Providing these records online brings financial transparency of the judicial branch of government in line with that of the legislative and executive branches. The Louisiana Board of Ethics provides online access to all financial disclosures required of elected officials and public servants serving on boards and commissions, with the exception of the judiciary.
Campaign finance reports for all elected officials, including judges, are already publicly available on the Louisiana Board of Ethics website. Links to the Louisiana Board of Ethics campaign finance reports and financial disclosure reports are accessible on the MCC website.
The MCC notified the Louisiana Supreme Court prior to launching the judicial financial disclosure search engine.