BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana House on Thursday voted 63-28 to eliminate the New Orleans clerk of criminal court position, a move that would prevent newly elected clerk Calvin Duncan from serving his term.

Duncan, who was sworn in on April 22 after winning 68% of the vote, will be unable to serve if the measure is signed into law by Gov. Jeff Landry, who has supported the proposal.

Duncan, who was wrongfully convicted and spent years in prison before being exonerated, worked as a paralegal during his incarceration and later attended law school after struggling to access his own legal records. He went on to win the election for New Orleans Clerk of Criminal Court.

The legislation, authored by Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, targeted Orleans as the only Louisiana parish that had separate civil and criminal clerks.

Morris said the bill would save the state money by consolidating the offices; however, multiple members of the Legislative Black Caucus said they felt disrespected by what they described as an overreach.

“It is not right for a member from West Monroe to tell New Orleans what to do in their elections,” State Rep. C. Denise Marcelle said.

Lawmakers noted that it is rare for the Legislature to pass a bill strongly opposed by representatives from the affected district.

“This deteriorates democracy,” opponents said during more than two hours of debate, as caucus members stood alongside New Orleans representatives on the House floor to urge colleagues to reject the bill, citing concerns about the state constitution and the precedent of removing an elected official before the completion of a term.

This marks the first time a position has been eliminated, effective three weeks after an elected member was sworn in.

Rep. Dixon McMakin, who handled the bill in the House, said the proposal is intended to align New Orleans with the rest of the state by consolidating court clerk functions. New Orleans is currently the only parish with two clerk positions.

“We have to do something the legislatures before us should have done,” McMakin said.

Rep. Kyle M. Green Jr., D-Marrero, proposed an amendment that would allow Duncan to serve out his term before the merger, but the measure was not adopted.

Under the bill, employees in Duncan’s office would receive job protection for one year and transition to a single, unified clerk structure.

With Landry’s support, Morris and McMakin also have bills to eliminate three criminal court judges in Orleans Parish.

Louisiana Atty. Gen. Liz Murrill, a close ally of the governor’s, supported Duncan’s opponent in the Orleans clerk race, releasing a letter questioning whether a judge should have exonerated Duncan.