Don’t look now, Bossier Parish Police Jury, but term limits may be headed your way—thanks to momentum sparked by one of your own parish’s state senators pushing the issue on behalf of other parishes.

This week, SB 103 and SB 113 both advanced to the Senate floor. Both bills, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Alan Seabaugh, would call for votes to impose term limits on the police juries in Sabine and De Soto Parishes, respectively. No parish governed under state statutes as yet has term limits, although Lincoln Parish may do so under statute—but hasn’t acted. That depends upon its jury calling for an election, which it has not yet.

Something to that effect happened in De Soto, where in February of last year the five Republican and one no-party jurors voted to authorize the jury president to request the legislation, against the five Democrats. SB 113 would establish a prospective three-term limit if approved for 2028 and beyond. It marks a reversal from a 7-4 defeat only months earlier, where in the meantime, elections occurred, and while a couple of holdover jurors swapped votes, two long-time incumbents (32 and 20 years)–who had voted against in 2023–were defeated by newcomers who voted for in 2024.

SB 103 is more controversial—and more reflective of the political climate in Bossier–the southern end of which Seabaugh represents. It would impose a three-term limit retroactively, similar to what’s likely coming to Bossier City. The bill was requested by only two of Sabine’s nine jurors; the other seven recently signed a letter opposing it. However, Seabaugh brought the bill forward, he told the Senate Local and Municipal Affairs Committee, citing dozens or even hundreds of citizens who contacted him directly—through letters, calls, and regular radio show appearances—to urge him to act.

Legislators often tread carefully when local governing bodies oppose a bill. But as Seabaugh pointed out, SB 103 would simply let the people vote, during the 2026 election window, at little additional cost. And there’s precedent for legislators overriding local opposition. Just a few years ago, lawmakers backed a bill from GOP state Rep. Dodie Horton that increased accountability for the Cypress Black Bayou Recreation and Water Conservation District, over objections from the BPPJ.

SB 103’s success would be a bad sign for Bossier’s entrenched jurors, many of whom have publicly opposed term limits over the years. It would embolden the term limits movement in the parish that already muscled into force limits for Bossier City. The emergent formula seems to be a critical mass of public pressure plus backing from a few current officials will convince enough lawmakers at least to bring the matter to a plebiscite.

In Bossier, the online petition from the Bossier Term Limits Coalition gives that pressure a ready-made platform. Whether at least a couple of the dozen jurors join in remains to be seen. One, Republican rookie Keith Sutton, proclaimed his support for term limits on at least one campaign flier. But there’s another twist: while Seabaugh, who is an ally of reformists in Bossier City who put term limits front and center, represents all of Sabine Parish, in Bossier he shares the map with GOP state Sen. Adam Bass—who holds the majority of the parish. If Bass publicly opposes any future term limits bill, he could easily sink it. (Seabaugh also shares De Soto with Republican state Sen. Thomas Pressly, who has expressed no opinion publicly on SB 113.)

Yet, with Seabaugh’s prodding, a precedent is forming among lawmakers: that they accept the right of parish voters to have a chance at imposing term limits on their parish governing authorities delineated under state law—something home-rule parishes already can do through their charters. If either Seabaugh bill passes, Bossier residents may grow more hopeful that their parish government could soon be subject to similar accountability. And a few jury members may start sweating just a little more.