Louisiana Judges Pocketed $31M in Fees Mostly From Eviction Cases Over a Decade, Investigation Finds

Louisiana's justice of the peace courts generated $45 million in fees over a decade, with at least $31 million going directly towards judges' personal compensation, an investigation by The Guardian has found.

The findings expose a system in which some judges can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars annually from court fees, including those charged in eviction cases, raising concerns about financial incentives, tenants' rights, and judicial impartiality.

The investigation found that Justice Chuck Cusimano II, who presides over a small jurisdiction in Jefferson Parish outside New Orleans, earned more than $400,000 in 2025. Much of that compensation came from fees charged by his court, where eviction proceedings accounted for most of the cases examined.

The findings have prompted renewed scrutiny of Louisiana's unusual judicial funding arrangements, with legal experts arguing that tying judges' earnings to court fees creates potential conflicts of interest when landlords bring eviction proceedings against tenants.

Louisiana Judges Rake in Millions From Court Fees

The Guardian analysed a decade of annual financial disclosures filed between 2016 and 2025, alongside thousands of pages of eviction records and other documents to find that Louisiana's justice of the peace system generated $45 million in fees over the period, with at least an estimated $31 million retained as personal compensation for the justices.

The remaining revenue went towards operating costs, staff, and other expenses, including payments to elected constables who serve court orders.

The 10 highest-earning courts, concentrated largely in Jefferson Parish and East Baton Rouge, collected more than $30 million in fees over the decade and received nearly $12 million in compensation from those collections. By contrast, more than half of the courts reported less than $10,000 in fee revenue over the same period.

Cusimano's Fifth Justice of the Peace Court in Jefferson Parish generated more than $7 million in fees over 10 years, accounting for 16% of the system's total revenue, according to the investigation.

One Court Processed More Than 5,500 Evictions in 12 Months

The investigation's examination of Cusimano's court illustrates the scale of eviction proceedings handled by some Louisiana jurisdictions.

An analysis of 12 months of records, from June 2025 to May 2026, found that the court processed more than 5,500 eviction cases. It ordered 3,276 evictions and ruled in favour of tenants in just 141 cases, mostly when landlords failed to appear in court.

The court is one of eight separate jurisdictions within Jefferson Parish. According to eviction data held by Princeton University's Eviction Lab, the number of filings represented one of the highest eviction filing rates recorded in the US. The Guardian's analysis estimated that almost one in five renter households in the district faced eviction.

How Eviction Cases Can Increase Judges' Earnings

Louisiana's system allows landlords to choose where to file eviction petitions in almost all jurisdictions, with cases also heard by city and district courts. Justice of the peace courts generally charge lower fees and process evictions faster, making them an important part of the state's housing dispute system.

However, legal experts and housing advocates argued that allowing justices to retain a portion of the fees they collect creates an incentive to attract more cases.

A federal class-action lawsuit being pursued in Baton Rouge alleges that the arrangements encourage justices to maximise eviction filings by ruling in favour of landlords, who can choose where to bring their cases.

Tenants can also face additional financial pressure. Landlords frequently include lease provisions requiring tenants to reimburse court costs, meaning people facing eviction may be charged those expenses alongside overdue rent, late fees, and moving costs.

Louisiana's Judicial Oversight Faces Further Questions

Louisiana's justice of the peace courts operate in every parish except New Orleans, which abolished the system in 1879. Unlike other judges in the state, justices of the peace do not need law licences. State law instead requires them to meet educational and character standards.

The courts also operate under relaxed evidentiary rules, can admit hearsay, and are not required to maintain digital dockets or employ court transcribers. The Guardian found that a quarter of the state's justices had even failed to complete required training over the preceding two years.

However, Cusimano rejected the suggestion that his court's fee structure created a conflict of interest. 'I don't see a conflict at all,' he reportedly said, adding that fees were paid upfront 'irrespective of the outcome.'