BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — All judges in Louisiana must now undergo training in domestic violence and trauma-informed courts.

The Louisiana Supreme Court established this requirement, and judges are required to participate in training every other year for one hour.

The Louisiana Protective Order Registry and the Louisiana Judicial College are offering the training.

The Louisiana Supreme Court said the training "is intended to ensure judges have access to the latest information and best practices on domestic violence issues, including issuing protective orders, the special needs of domestic violence victims, and evidence-based practices to minimize or eliminate further trauma to children and families."

The trainings offered utilize the Domestic Violence curriculum from the Louisiana Protective Order Registry. They are developed with the help of the National Conference of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the National Center for State Courts.

The rule change came after a recommendation from Justice John Michael Guidry. This was done due to more domestic violence incidents in the state, according to the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Chief Justice John L. Weimer said, “The Justices and I share a concern about the unfortunate prevalence of domestic violence in our state. While judges must remain neutral arbiters of the facts and law, we also must be cognizant of the painful toll of domestic violence and trauma in our communities. Trauma-informed judicial training is a tool that we will use to ensure everyone, including domestic violence victims, have their voices heard in our courtrooms.”

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