La. Rev. Stat. § 15:738 (2026)

§738.  Minimum standard of living

No incarcerated state prisoner, whether before trial, during trial or on appeal, or after final conviction, who is housed in any jail, prison, correctional facility, juvenile institution, temporary holding center, or detention facility within the state shall have a standard of living above that required by the constitutions of the United States and the state of Louisiana, as ordered or interpreted by the appropriate courts of last resort, or by the standards set by the American Correctional Association.  It is the intention of this legislature that, to the extent permitted by law, no inmate shall have a standard of living better than the state poverty level.  Citizens should not be worse off economically and living in conditions that are below those granted to inmates whose living standards are being paid for and subsidized by the hard-working and law-abiding people of the state of Louisiana.  

Acts 1995, No. 810, §1.