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A felony arrest in Baton Rouge sets a clock running fast: a bond hearing gets scheduled, a booking record gets created, and most people are trying to make sense of it all from a holding cell.
A felony lawyer in Baton Rouge defends clients against charges that carry the possibility of state prison time, from the first bond hearing through trial in East Baton Rouge Parish’s courts. Rozas Law Firm has represented clients in the Baton Rouge area since 2004.
Louisiana’s felony process has its own rules, and East Baton Rouge Parish has its own booking system, court, and local procedure layered on top of that. Rozas Law Firm’s criminal defense team has represented more than 11,000 clients since 2004, with attorneys who appear regularly in East Baton Rouge Parish’s courts.
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What Is a Felony Charge in Baton Rouge?
Louisiana defines a felony as a crime for which an offender may be sentenced to death or imprisonment at hard labor. A misdemeanor is any crime that does not meet that definition. Louisiana does not use one universal sentencing range for all felonies; the statute defining the particular offense establishes the applicable penalties.
Rozas Law Firm’s Baton Rouge criminal defense team handles felony-level charges including:
- Violent felonies, through our violent crime charges and homicide or murder charges teams
- Drug felonies, including drug crime charges and marijuana charges
- Felony DUI/DWI, after repeat offenses or a crash causing serious injury, through our felony DUI/DWI team
- Felony assault and battery, through our felony assault and battery team
- Sex crime felonies, addressed through our sex crime charges team
- Federal felonies and internet crimes, prosecuted through our federal felony charges and internet crime charges teams
- White collar, theft, weapons, and repeat offender cases, where Louisiana’s habitual offender law can raise the sentencing range for a second or later felony
Felony charges arising anywhere in East Baton Rouge Parish, including Central, are heard in the 19th Judicial District Court at 300 North Boulevard. Central also has a Mayor’s Court with separate jurisdiction over matters within the city. A lower-level misdemeanor charge is still serious, but carries a different maximum exposure.
What to Do After I Am Arrested for a Felony in Baton Rouge?
Most people arrested by East Baton Rouge Parish law enforcement are booked through the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison, which processes roughly 20,000 bookings a year across more than thirty local agencies. From there, Louisiana law generally requires a person in custody to be brought before a judge within 72 hours of arrest, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. The appearance is used to address appointment of counsel, and the court may also determine or review bail. It is not a proceeding to determine guilt or innocence.
Louisiana law allows many felony prosecutions to proceed by bill of information, while offenses punishable by death or life imprisonment generally require an indictment. The applicable charging method and deadlines depend on the offense and the defendant’s custody status. Other felony prosecutions in district court may generally be instituted by indictment or bill of information. If you’re held in custody after a felony arrest, Louisiana law generally requires an indictment or bill of information to be filed within 60 days of the arrest. For a felony punishable by death or life imprisonment, the deadline is generally 120 days. Different deadlines apply when the defendant is not kept in custody.
Where the case gets heard depends on exactly where the arrest happened. A felony case arising in Livingston Parish is handled through the 21st Judicial District Court, while a felony case arising in East Baton Rouge Parish is handled through the 19th Judicial District Court. The court with jurisdiction generally depends on where the alleged offense occurred.
Do I Need a Lawyer After I Am Arrested for a Felony in Baton Rouge?
Yes. Contacting a lawyer early can give counsel more time to review the arrest, charging documents, evidence, and available legal options before important decisions are made. No arrest attorney can guarantee how a felony case will end, and any firm that tells you otherwise isn’t being straight with you. What a lawyer can do is make sure the case is handled correctly from the start: rights protected during questioning, bond arguments made with the right facts in front of the judge, and the applicable prosecution deadlines and the evidence in the case.
A felony conviction can carry consequences beyond the sentence itself, including imprisonment, fines, and a criminal record that may affect employment, housing, professional licensing, or other areas of life. A felony defense attorney’s job is to give the case the same scrutiny the prosecution is giving it, so you’re not the only one asking questions about how it was built.
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Why Choose Rozas Law Firm to Help with Your Baton Rouge Felony Arrest
Rozas Law Firm has represented clients in the Baton Rouge area since 2004, with over 20 years of combined experience and more than 11,000 clients served. Founder David Joseph Rozas and Supervising Criminal Law Attorney Shea R. Smith lead a team backed by an in-house investigator and full-time paralegal staff, resources that matter when a felony case is being built against you.
Our firm’s Baton Rouge office sits at 7967 Office Park Blvd, with attorneys who appear regularly in East Baton Rouge Parish’s courts and understand local procedure. Representation is available in English and Español.
Facing a Felony Charge in Baton Rouge? Talk to Rozas Law Firm
Rozas Law Firm has represented clients facing felony charges in Baton Rouge and other Louisiana communities since 2004, with attorneys familiar with East Baton Rouge Parish courts and the surrounding communities of Denham Springs and Central. The sooner your case gets reviewed by a felony defense lawyer , the more options tend to stay on the table. Schedule a consultation with our firm’s Baton Rouge criminal defense team to talk through your charge and what comes next.
This page provides general information about felony charges and criminal defense representation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is not legal advice, and visiting this page does not create an attorney-client relationship with Rozas Law Firm. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Every case is different, and no attorney can promise a specific result.
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