Louisiana Revised Statutes & Codes

La. Rev. Stat. § 14:56 (2026)

Simple criminal damage to property

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section LA-LEGlegis.la.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

§56. Simple criminal damage to property

A.(1) Simple criminal damage to property is the intentional damaging of any property of another, without the consent of the owner, and except as provided in R.S. 14:55, by any means other than fire or explosion.

(2) The provisions of this Section shall include the intentional damaging of a dwelling, house, apartment, or other structure used in whole or in part as a home, residence, or place of abode by a person who leased or rented the property.

B.(1) Whoever commits the crime of simple criminal damage to property where the damage is less than one thousand dollars shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.

(2) Where the damage amounts to one thousand dollars but less than fifty thousand dollars, the offender shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than two years, or both.

(3) Where the damage amounts to fifty thousand dollars or more, the offender shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars or imprisoned with or without hard labor for not less than one nor more than ten years, or both.

(4) In addition to the foregoing penalties, a person convicted under the provisions of this Section may be ordered to make full restitution to the owner of the property. If a person ordered to make restitution is found to be indigent and therefore unable to make restitution in full at the time of conviction, the court shall order a periodic payment plan consistent with the person's ability to pay.

C. When there has been damage to multiple properties by a number of distinct acts of the offender which are part of a continuous sequence of events, the aggregate of the amount of the damages shall determine the grade of the offense.

Amended by Acts 1981, No. 160, §1; Acts 2006, No. 84, §1; Acts 2008, No. 97, §1, eff. August 15, 2008; Acts 2017, No. 281, §1, eff. August 1, 2017.; Acts 2022, No. 45, §1, eff. August 1, 2022.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 145 cases (17 in the last 5 years), 1960–2026 · leading case: State v. Shaw, 850 So. 2d 868 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

State v. Shaw, 850 So. 2d 868 (La. Ct. App. 2003). · cites it 6× “R.S. 14:56 [2] . Defendant was tried by a jury and convicted as charged.”

State v. Whatley, 858 So. 2d 751 (La. Ct. App. 2003). · cites it 6× “R.S. 14:56. At the close of a trial held on October 30, 2002, a six-person jury found him guilty as charged.”

State v. Perry, 408 So. 2d 1358 (La. 1982). · cites it 4× “14:92 [1] , and two counts of simple criminal damage to property, LSA-R.S. 14:56 [2] . *1360 Also in separate bills of information, Bettye Perry was charged with two counts of contributing to the delinquency of juveniles and three counts of simple criminal damage to property.”

State v. Jupiter, 934 So. 2d 884 (La. Ct. App. 2006). · cites it 4× “00, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:56. Upon review, we conditionally affirm the convictions and sentence, but remand for an evidentiary hearing on Assignment of Error Number 2.”

State v. Soileau, 153 So. 3d 1002 (La. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 5× “R.S. 14:56. The defendant was sentenced to the maximum term of imprisonment, two years at hard labor.”

State v. Trepagnier, 982 So. 2d 185 (La. Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 2× “R.S. 14:56. That same day, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a separate bill of information charging defendant with three misdemeanor counts: disturbing the peace, in violation of La.”

State v. Upchurch, 783 So. 2d 398 (La. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 2× “00 in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:56. At his arraignment on March 2, 2000, defendant pled not guilty.”

State v. Barnes, 496 So. 2d 1056 (La. Ct. App. 1986). · cites it 3× “14:67 (See footnote 1) requires proof of a taking with an intent to deprive whereas the criminal damage to property statute, R.S. 14:56 (See footnote 2) does not require proof of this element.”

State ex rel. K.D., 140 So. 3d 182 (La. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 3× “R.S. 14:56. The Juvenile Court judge entered a disposition of commitment to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections for a period of six (6) months, but suspended the commitment and placed K.”

State v. Bass, 509 So. 2d 176 (La. Ct. App. 1987). · cites it 3× “R.S. 14:56. He pled not guilty and, after a trial by judge, was found guilty.”

State v. Earl, 259 So. 3d 1105 (La. Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 3× “R.S. 14:56 B(1) is not a case "triable by a jury.”

State v. Simpson, 464 So. 2d 1104 (La. Ct. App. 1985). · cites it 4× “R.S. 14:56 and 14:26; and three (3) counts of simple criminal damage to property, violations of La.”

Show all 145 citing cases →

— La. Rev. Stat. § 14:56(A) — 10 cases

State v. Shaw, 850 So. 2d 868 (La. Ct. App. 2003). “R.S. 14:56 [2] . Defendant was tried by a jury and convicted as charged.”

State v. Morris, 719 So. 2d 1076 (La. Ct. App. 1998).

State v. Walker, 192 So. 3d 813 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

State v. Taylor, 975 So. 2d 10 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

State v. B.J.D., 799 So. 2d 563 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

— La. Rev. Stat. § 14:56(A)(1) — 6 cases

State v. Parker, 195 So. 3d 1242 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Tyson v. Daspit (W.D. La. 2020).

Barker v. Vannoy (E.D. La. 2024).

State of Louisiana v. Kanisha M. Baker (La. Ct. App. 2020).

State of Louisiana v. Derrick Bracken (La. Ct. App. 2025).

— La. Rev. Stat. § 14:56(B) — 6 cases

State v. Shaw, 850 So. 2d 868 (La. Ct. App. 2003). “R.S. 14:56 [2] . Defendant was tried by a jury and convicted as charged.”

State v. Hurst, 62 So. 3d 327 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

State v. B.J.D., 799 So. 2d 563 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

State v. Sopczak, 823 So. 2d 978 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

State v. Smith, 954 So. 2d 806 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

— La. Rev. Stat. § 14:56(B)(1) — 5 cases

State v. Soileau, 153 So. 3d 1008 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

State v. Taylor, 975 So. 2d 10 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

State v. Joseph, 215 So. 3d 301 (La. Ct. App. 2017).

State v. McMasters, 251 So. 3d 1139 (La. Ct. App. 2018).

Tyson v. Daspit (W.D. La. 2020).

— La. Rev. Stat. § 14:56(B)(2) — 10 cases

State v. Soileau, 153 So. 3d 1002 (La. Ct. App. 2014). “R.S. 14:56. The defendant was sentenced to the maximum term of imprisonment, two years at hard labor.”

State of Louisiana v. Manuel Billips (La. Ct. App. 2022).

State v. Kirsh, 273 So. 3d 1225 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

State of Louisiana Versus Shyheem Tyje Love (La. Ct. App. 2024).

State of Louisiana v. Jordan J. Oneal-Taylor (La. Ct. App. 2025).

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.