Louisiana voters will decide May 16 whether to raise the mandatory retirement age for state judges from 70 to 75, a constitutional amendment that supporters say would bring the state in line with most of the country but that opponents argue voters have already rejected — twice.
The measure appears on the May 16 statewide primary ballot as Amendment 5, stemming from House Bill 63 of the 2025 Regular Session. It was authored by Rep. Kyle Green Jr. (D-Marrero) and co-authored by Rep. Jason Hughes (D-New Orleans), with Sen. Gregory Miller (R-Norco) carrying the bill on the Senate side. The amendment passed the Louisiana House 95-1 on final passage and cleared the Senate 31-3, before being certified for the ballot.
The ballot question voters will see reads: “Do you support an amendment to change the mandatory retirement age for judges from seventy to seventy-five, provided that a judge may continue to serve to complete a term of office?”
Under current Louisiana law, judges must retire at age 70, though a judge who reaches that age while serving a term may complete that term. If approved by a simple majority of voters, the amendment would raise the mandatory retirement threshold to 75 while keeping the term-completion provision intact.
Supporters argue Louisiana is an outlier on the issue. Of the 31 states that have mandatory judicial retirement ages, 16 — including Louisiana — set the limit at 70, the lowest in the country. Eight states, including Florida, Texas, Indiana and Pennsylvania, set their retirement age at 75. Proponents contend the change would allow experienced judges to continue serving at a time when judicial vacancies and caseload backlogs are persistent challenges across the state.
Opposition has centered on democratic accountability and voter precedent. Sen. Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport) argued during the legislative session that Louisiana voters have considered and rejected similar proposals before. In 1995, voters rejected a similar amendment 62% to 38%. In 2014, voters rejected a separate amendment that would have eliminated the mandatory retirement age entirely, 58% to 42%.
“We put this on the ballot before,” Seabaugh said during debate. “It failed in 62 out of 64 parishes.”
Pennsylvania is the most recent state to approve a similar change, with voters there raising their judicial retirement age from 70 to 75 in 2016 by a 51% margin.
Amendment 5 is one of five constitutional amendments appearing on the May 16 statewide ballot. Louisiana polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.