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Legal Information: Louisiana

Restraining Orders

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Updated: 
November 21, 2023

If I talk to a sexual assault advocate about what happened to me, will that information be shared in court?

Louisiana law says that an advocate from a sexual assault center that is “established and accredited in accordance with the standards set by the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault” cannot share the information you tell them; any communications that an advocate has with you while s/he is providing you with services are considered “privileged.” When a communication is privileged, that means that there is generally not a requirement to reveal it in court through testimony or to produce any records or documents related to that privileged communication in a civil or criminal proceeding.1  

If the offender’s lawyer tries to get information from the advocate by sending a subpoena, both you and the advocate have the right to tell the judge the information is “privileged” and should not be revealed. It is often best to have a lawyer when trying to fight against (“quash”) a subpoena.  For legal referrals, go to our LA Finding a Lawyer page.

1 LA R.S. § 46:2187(A)(1), (A)(2), (B)