---
type: "Bill"
title: "CRIME: Repeals crimes relative to defamation"
description: "CRIME: Repeals crimes relative to defamation"
jurisdiction: "us/states/la"
legislature: "Louisiana Legislature"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 23"
citation: "Louisiana HB 23 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Charles Owen"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 20
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-02-22"
last_action: "2021-06-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bfe0ce73-4bbf-49e0-aa8c-9b51266840f3"
source_url: "http://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/BillInfo.aspx?i=239792"
source_hash: "be5b52b6b466d6bfdcafee8f9d46b12d55dffbab6388cb15598e404b36fa509a"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-la"]
---

# Louisiana HB 23 (2021) — CRIME: Repeals crimes relative to defamation

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB23 Original** (filed) — [source](http://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1200408)
2. **HB23 Act** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1231931)
3. **HB23 Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1216305)
4. **HB23 Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1228881)

## Votes

- FINAL PASSAGE (#80) — **93–1** (pass) · lower
- FINAL PASSAGE (#491) — **35–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Charles Owen — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-06-04** Effective date: 08/01/2021.
- **2021-06-04** Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 60. `executive-signature`
- **2021-06-02** Sent to the Governor for executive approval. `executive-receipt`
- **2021-06-01** Signed by the President of the Senate on 5/28/2021.
- **2021-05-27** Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.
- **2021-05-26** Received from the Senate without amendments.
- **2021-05-26** Rules suspended. Read by title, passed by a vote of 35 yeas and 1 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled. `passage`
- **2021-05-20** Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.
- **2021-05-19** Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
- **2021-05-18** Reported favorably.
- **2021-04-28** Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Judiciary C. `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-27** Received in the Senate. Rules suspended. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.
- **2021-04-27** Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 93, nays 1. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate. `passage`
- **2021-04-26** Scheduled for floor debate on 04/27/2021.
- **2021-04-26** Read by title, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.
- **2021-04-22** Reported favorably (10-0).
- **2021-04-12** Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice. `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-26** First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/26/2021.
- **2021-02-22** Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice. `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-22** Prefiled. `filing`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/bfe0ce73-4bbf-49e0-aa8c-9b51266840f3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Louisiana legislature records).