Right to counsel – Student making terroristic threat
La. R.S. § 17:409.1 et seq., enacted in 2018, governs situations where students make terroristic threats. It requires the school to investigate any threat or potential threat reported to the school, and if the threat is credible and imminent, the school must report it to law enforcement. The student is then not permitted to return to school until undergoing a medical, psychological, and psychiatric evaluation. When law enforcement files a petition in court for such evaluation, the court must determine if probable cause exists to believe that the student is a danger to herself or others, and if so, schedule a hearing. In turn, § 17:409.5(A)(2)(b)(i) specifies that the student has the right to appointed counsel at such a hearing “if indigent or otherwise qualified”.
