BATON ROUGE - A proposal could lighten the load of felony cases juvenile courts have to work. The measure being considered could move some teenage defendants to adult court.

In committee, those opposing the bill compared it to Amendment Three, which lost by a 2 to 1 margin at the ballot box in March.

The amendment would have allowed lawmakers to decide when juvenile offenders should be tried as adults.

"The people of Louisiana sent a resounding 'no' that juveniles should not be automatically transferred to adult prisons," State Rep. C. Denise Marcelle said. "Let's start with that."

State Sen. Alan Seabaugh, R-District 31, says his bill is different from the amendment.

"There's generally a tough-on-crime zeitgeist in Louisiana right now," political analyst James Hartman said. "Everyone wants to feel safer, everyone wants to be safer. Law enforcement wants to know that they are supported."

The bill would allow district attorneys to put 15-and-16-year-olds charged with felony crimes in front of district court judges instead of judges who hear cases involving juveniles.

During the committee meeting, Seabaugh said the process for teenage offenders wouldn't change. Instead, he said the judges would still use the children's code, which aims to ensure privacy and safety in the courtroom.

"Taking jurisdiction away from juvenile court judges and putting it into general assignment courts, that's going to have a significant ripple effect on the justice system overall," Hartman said. "For good or for ill, that may be a question for D.A.'s and judges themselves."

In a statement, Attorney General Liz Murrill, who's backing the bill called it a venue change, not a law change.

She says the measure, "[e]mpowers juvenile courts to focus on misdemeanors, status offenses, and rehabilitation of children."

The bill is headed to the Senate for consideration.