Louisiana Judge Temporarily Blocks Kalshi and Polymarket Event Contracts Statewide

TL;DR

• A Louisiana judge issued a 10-day restraining order blocking Kalshi, Polymarket U.S. and other platforms from offering event contracts to users across the state without a gaming license.
• The order covers sports, elections and awards, requires statewide geofencing and sets a preliminary injunction hearing for November 30.
• Kalshi argues federal commodities law preempts Louisiana gambling rules and has sought separate emergency relief in federal court, leaving the jurisdictional dispute unresolved.

A Louisiana state judge has temporarily blocked Kalshi, Polymarket U.S. and other prediction-market operators from offering event contracts to Louisiana residents. Judge Jeffrey Johnson of the 21st Judicial District Court in Tangipahoa Parish signed an ex parte temporary restraining order on November 12, hours after Attorney General Liz Murrill filed suit. The order posted by Murrill requires the defendants to stop offering covered contracts without a Louisiana gaming license and to geofence the state. The ruling imposes an immediate but temporary statewide restriction on prediction markets, not a final judgment on their legality.

🚨Breaking: Louisiana judge orders temporary restraining order prohibiting Kalshi, Polymarket, Coinbase, Robinhood, and other “prediction market” operators from continuing their unlicensed and unregulated illegal gambling in Louisiana.

It’s not complicated: if you aren’t a… pic.twitter.com/gzrQlN9CCL

— Attorney General Liz Murrill (@AGLizMurrill) November 12, 2026

Louisiana Order Escalates State-Federal Fight Over Event Contracts

The order covers contracts tied to sports, elections and awards, along with other products considered sports wagering under Louisiana law. It also bars the companies from representing that their products are lawful, licensed or authorized in Louisiana. The measure lasts 10 days unless extended by the court or with the defendants’ consent, and a preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for November 30. The case adds Louisiana to the growing state-level legal pressure on Kalshi, while the allegations themselves remain unresolved and the temporary order does not establish final liability.

Kalshi had already sued Murrill, Governor Jeff Landry and the Louisiana Gaming Control Board in federal court on October 23, arguing that the Commodity Exchange Act gives the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over contracts traded on its federally regulated exchange. On November 12, Kalshi sought its own temporary restraining order in federal court to block state enforcement, but no ruling had appeared by Friday morning. That jurisdictional dispute mirrors earlier court battles involving Kalshi and Polymarket, where platforms have argued that federal commodities regulation preempts conflicting state gambling restrictions.

The geofencing requirement also creates tension with CFTC guidance issued November 5, which told designated contract markets to remove state-level geographic restrictions within 30 days or explain why they could not comply. Kalshi has argued that blocking Louisiana users could conflict with federal impartial-access requirements, while Louisiana maintains that event contracts offered without a state gaming license fall under its gambling laws. The temporary order therefore intensifies the unresolved boundary between federal derivatives oversight and state gambling authority, an issue also reflected in the CFTC’s litigation against Kentucky over event-contract regulation. The next major procedural step is the November 30 preliminary-injunction hearing.