Ask a criminal law question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a criminal defense lawyer and protect your rights.

            As used in this Chapter:

            (1) “Aggrieved person” means a person who was party to any intercepted wire or oral communication or a person against whom the interception was directed.

            (2) “Attorney for a governmental entity” means an attorney on the staff or under the direct supervision of the district attorney authorized by law to prosecute such offenses as are subject of the pen register, a trap and trace device, or a cellular tracking device.

            (3) “Aural transfer” means a transfer containing the human voice at any point between and including the point of origin and the point of reception.

            (4) “Cellular tracking device” means a device that transmits or receives radio waves to or from a communications device in a manner that interferes with the normal functioning of the communications device or communications network and that can be used to intercept, collect, access, transfer, or forward the data transmitted or received by the communications device, or stored on the communications device; includes an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) catcher or other cell phone or telephone surveillance or eavesdropping device that mimics a cellular base station and transmits radio waves that cause cell phones or other communications devices in the area to transmit or receive radio waves, electronic data, location data, information used to calculate location, identifying information, communications content, or metadata, or otherwise obtains this information through passive means, such as through the use of a digital analyzer or other passive interception device; and does not include any device used or installed by an electric utility solely to the extent such device is used by that utility to measure electrical usage, to provide services to customers, or to operate the electric grid.

            (5) “Communications common carrier” means any person engaged as a common carrier for hire in communication by wire, radio, or electronic communications; however, a person engaged in commercial radio broadcasting which is supervised by the Federal Communications Commission shall not, insofar as such person is so engaged, be deemed a common carrier.

            (6) “Contents” when used with respect to any wire, electronic, or oral communication includes any information concerning the substance, purport, or meaning of that communication.

            (7) “Court of competent jurisdiction” means state district courts of general criminal jurisdiction and those courts exercising appellate jurisdiction thereof.

            (8)(a) “Electronic communication” means any transfer of signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic, or photo-optical system, but does not include any of the following:

            (i) Any oral communication.

            (ii) Any communication made through a tone-only paging device.

            (iii) Any communication from a tracking device used to locate a mobile object by emission of a sound signal.

            (b) “Electronic communication” specifically includes the radio portion of a cordless, portable, or cellular telephone communication that is transmitted between the cordless, portable, or cellular handset and the base or transmitting tower or unit.

            (9) “Electronic communications service” means any service which provides to users thereof the ability to send or receive wire or electronic communications.

            (10) “Electronic communications system” means any wire, radio, electromagnetic, photo-optical, or photoelectronic facilities used for the transmission of wire or electronic communications, and any computer facilities or related electronic equipment for the electronic storage of such communication.

            (11) “Electronic, mechanical, or other device or means” denotes any device or apparatus which can be used to intercept a wire, electronic, or oral communication other than:

            (a) Any telephone or telegraph instrument, equipment, or facility, or any component thereof, either:

            (i) Furnished to the subscriber or user by a communications common carrier in the ordinary course of its business and being used by the subscriber or user in the ordinary course of its business, or

            (ii) Being used by a communications common carrier in the ordinary course of its business, or by an investigative or law enforcement officer in the ordinary course of his duties.

            (b) A hearing aid or similar device being used to correct subnormal hearing to not better than normal.

            (12) “Intercept” means the aural or other acquisition of the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic communication through the use of any electronic, mechanical, or other device.

            (13) “Investigative or law enforcement officer” means any commissioned state police officer of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections who, in the normal course of his law enforcement duties, is investigating an offense enumerated in this Chapter, and the district attorney authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the prosecution of such offense.

            (14) “Judge” means the senior judge of a judicial district court of the state, any judge of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, or a judge designated by a majority vote of the court in writing in advance to consider applications for warrants or orders under this Chapter.

            (15) “Oral communication” means any oral communication uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that such communication is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying such expectation, but such term does not include any electronic communication.

            (16) “Pen register” means a device which records and decodes dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information transmitted by an instrument or facility from which a wire or electronic communication is transmitted, if the information does not include the contents of the communication. The term does not include a device used by a provider or customer of a wire or electronic communication service in the ordinary course of the provider’s or customer’s business for either of the following purposes:

            (a) Billing or recording as an incident to billing for communications services.

            (b) Cost accounting, security control, or other ordinary business purposes.

            (17) “Person” means any employee or agent of the state or a political subdivision thereof, and any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, or corporation.

            (18) “Telecommunications device” or “communications device” means any type of instrument, device, or machine that is capable of transmitting or receiving telephonic, electronic, radio, text, or data communications, including but not limited to a cellular telephone, a text-messaging device, a personal digital assistant, a computer, or any other similar wireless device that is designed to engage in a call or communicate text or data. It does not include citizens band radios, citizens band radio hybrids, commercial two-way radio communication devices, or electronic communication devices with a push-to-talk function.

            (19) “Trap and trace device” means a device or electronic means which captures the incoming electronic or other impulses which identify the originating number of an instrument or device from which a wire or electronic communication was transmitted, except that it shall not include a service, device, or electronic means tariffed by the Louisiana Public Service Commission, used by a subscriber of telecommunicational services to receive the telephone numbers for calls placed to the subscriber.

            (20) “Wire communication” or “communication by wire” means any aural transfer made in whole or in part through the use of facilities used for the transmission of communications by aid of wire, cable, or other like connection between the points of origin and reception, including the use of such connection in a switching station, furnished or operated by any person licensed to engage in providing or operating such facilities for the transmission of communications and such term includes any electronic storage of such communication, and such term includes the radio portion of a cordless, portable, or cellular telephone communication that is transmitted between the cordless, portable, or cellular handset and the base or transmitting tower or unit.

            Acts 1985, No. 859, §1, eff. July 23, 1985; Acts 1987, No. 402, §1; Acts 1991, No. 795, §1, eff. July 22, 1991; Acts 1995, No. 1193, §1, eff. June 29, 1995; Acts 2012, No. 727, §2; Acts 2016, No. 308, §2.