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Judge Lawrence A. Chehardy

T he Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal was created by Act 3 of the 1981 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature and signed by Governor David C. Treen. The Fifth Circuit is comprised of four parishes, including Jefferson, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John the Baptist. The Court moved into temporary quarters on the fourth floor of the Gretna Courthouse Annex on May 1, 1982. The entire court was sworn in on May 3, 1982.

On July 1, 1994, the State of Louisiana allocated planning and design funds for a permanent Fifth Circuit Courthouse. In September 1995, the State of Louisiana engaged the design services of Morton Verges Architects, A.I.A. (New Orleans) and John  Desmond & Associates, A.I.A. (Baton Rouge) and entered into a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with Jefferson Parish to provide the site for the new courthouse. Construction funding was approved by the Louisiana Legislature and signed by Governor Mike Foster in 1998. The $6.4 million construction contract was awarded to Gibbs Construction, L.L.C. (Harahan) in 1999. Gibbs Construction, L.L.C. broke ground on August 16, 1999 and topped off the new courthouse on March 22, 2000.

In the 2000 Regular Session, the Louisiana Legislature unanimously adopted House Concurrent Resolution 64 naming the new building the Judge Lawrence A. Chehardy Courthouse. Construction was completed in December 2000. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal moved into the new courthouse on January 15, 2001.

HCR No. 64 of the La. 2000 Reg. Sess.