About the Bienville Parish Clerk of Court
William "Eddie" Holmes won election as Bienville Parish's Clerk of Court in the fall of 2019 and took office on July 1, 2020, according to the clerk's About page. That page says he came in after 12 years under the previous clerk, Jim Martin. Sandy Settle serves as chief deputy, and the staff is organized into four departments: juvenile and traffic, land records, civil records, and criminal and court.
The office is in Suite 1100 at 100 Courthouse Drive in Arcadia, the parish seat. Its mailing address is the same as its street address; the clerk's contact page shows no separate post office box. The state constitution makes the elected clerk the clerk of the district court, the recorder of conveyances and mortgages, and an ex officio notary, and the Election Code adds the role of chief election officer. Here the district court is the 2nd Judicial District Court, which Bienville shares with Claiborne and Jackson parishes.
Bienville Parish dates from 1848 and is named for Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the founder of New Orleans. It holds a geographic distinction: Driskill Mountain, at 535 feet the highest natural point in Louisiana, rises about 11 miles south of Arcadia. The parish counted 12,987 people in the 2020 Census base and an estimated 12,412 in July 2024, across roughly 811.3 square miles of land.
State law, R.S. 13:756.10, says the Bienville clerk "may establish and maintain a branch office in Ringgold." The statute lists what such a branch could do, including receiving election returns, issuing marriage licenses, accepting passport applications, providing notary services, and filing documents in civil proceedings, and it requires everything filed there to be sent to the clerk's office at the parish seat. The clerk's website, as reviewed for this guide, describes only the Arcadia office, so call before assuming a Ringgold branch is open.
The Louisiana Clerks of Court directory has contact details for every parish.
Court records in Bienville Parish
Bienville's civil and criminal files for the 2nd Judicial District Court are kept here. The civil department handles suits, the docket, and minutes, plus a clerk's docket for money claims under $5,000. For protective orders, the clerk's civil page directs people to work with the D.A.R.T. office in Arcadia. Staff will run a civil or probate name search for $10 per name (October 2026).
On the criminal side, a ten-year criminal history search costs $20 per name, and an extract of court minutes is $10, according to the clerk's criminal page as of October 2026. The office does not collect fines or traffic payments, so a ticket must be paid wherever the citation directs. The juvenile and traffic department keeps its own files, and juvenile court records are confidential under the Children's Code.
Remote access is split between two systems. Civil and criminal records are on Clerk Connect, which the clerk says has offered Bienville civil records since November 2, 2023; Clerk Connect also handles electronic filing of pleadings. (In October 2026, Clerk Connect's own list of inquiry parishes did not show Bienville, so confirm access with the office before buying a subscription.) Land records are on eClerks LA, described below.
When an expungement motion is filed in a Bienville case, the clerk serves notice of it on the district attorney, the State Police, and the arresting agency. For the statewide picture, see court records and civil records.
Land, mortgage, and property records
Bienville's land records begin in 1848, the parish's founding year, according to the clerk's recordings page. The office records deeds, mortgages, and other instruments and issues ten-year mortgage certificates on written request.
For online land research, the clerk uses eClerks LA rather than Clerk Connect. According to the clerk's online access page (October 2026), the entire conveyance set is online, mortgage records are online from January 1, 1986, and both indexes are updated through the end of each business day. The posted charges are $22 for a day, $100 for a month, and $1 per printed page. eRecording also runs through eClerks LA. Separately, the clerk's recordings page says UCC-1 and UCC-1F financing statements may be filed online beginning March 1, 2014, and links to an online filing account.
Bienville borders eight Louisiana parishes, and land is recorded in the parish where it lies. A tract that crosses into Lincoln Parish needs a search at the Lincoln Parish Clerk of Court in Ruston, and land over the Winn line is in the books of the Winn Parish Clerk of Court. The other neighbors are Bossier, Claiborne, Jackson, Natchitoches, Red River, and Webster, each with its own recorder. The property records guide explains how Louisiana's conveyance and mortgage indexes work.
Marriage licenses and family records
The Bienville clerk issues marriage licenses. Its marriage page lists what to bring: birth certificates for both applicants, valid identification, Social Security numbers, and the names and birth states of each applicant's parents. The page also states a fee and a waiting period that appear to be out of date, so call the office for the current fee rather than relying on the posted figure.
State law controls the timing. Since 2018, Louisiana has required only 24 hours between issuing a license and performing the ceremony (R.S. 9:241), not the longer wait some older clerk pages still describe. A judge or authorized justice of the peace can waive that delay for serious reasons, and the license expires 30 days after it is issued. As the clerk's page notes, a license can be bought from any Louisiana clerk, but it must be returned to the office that issued it; the officiant files it there within ten days of the wedding.
Bienville marriage records stay with this clerk. The state Vital Records Registry keeps only Orleans Parish licenses, so it cannot supply a Bienville marriage certificate. Divorce judgments from the 2nd Judicial District Court are filed in the civil records here, and certified copies come from this office. The clerk also sells certified birth certificates in person ($34, cash only) and a certificate with a wallet card ($58 total). See marriage records and divorce records.
Courts that serve Bienville Parish
The 2nd Judicial District Court covers Bienville, Claiborne, and Jackson parishes. Under R.S. 13:621.2, its three judges are elected at large across all three parishes for six-year terms, and each division is tied to a parish: Division A to Claiborne, Division B to Jackson, and Division C to Bienville. A judge must live in the district but not necessarily in the parish of the division. No standalone court website could be loaded in October 2026, so ask the clerk's office about dockets and filings.
Each parish keeps its own clerk, so 2nd JDC files are kept parish by parish. A Claiborne case is at the Claiborne Parish Clerk of Court in Homer, a Jackson case at the Jackson Parish Clerk of Court in Jonesboro, and a Bienville case here in Arcadia.
The Supreme Court's 2025 Guide to Louisiana Courts lists no city court in Bienville Parish. Appeals go to the Court of Appeal, Second Circuit, which sits in Shreveport.
Visiting the Bienville Parish courthouse
The Bienville Parish Courthouse at 100 Courthouse Drive sits north of Interstate 20 in Arcadia. The clerk is in Suite 1100, and the clerk's About page lists hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The assessor is in Suite 1200, and the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association lists the sheriff at the same street address.
The clerk's site posts jury term notices, including cancellations, so summoned jurors should check it before reporting. The clerk handles grand, petit, and civil juries and recruits election commissioners.
Birth certificates are sold in person only and only for cash, per the clerk's site. Parking and entrance details are not posted.
Other Bienville Parish offices
John E. Ballance is the sheriff, according to the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, which lists phone 318-263-2215 and a mailing address of P.O. Box 328. The Bienville Parish Sheriff's Office website includes an online property tax payment link, since the sheriff is the parish tax collector. The sheriff's offices guide and the inmate search guide explain the sheriff's other roles, including the parish jail.
Catherine Perritt is the assessor, in Suite 1200 of the courthouse, phone 318-263-2214, per the Louisiana Assessors' Association; the office is online at bienvilleassessor.com. Louisiana assessors value property at fair market value, with use value for qualifying farm and timber land. See the tax assessors guide.
The Bienville Parish Police Jury is the parish governing authority, according to the assessor's site. Its own website could not be verified in October 2026, so it is not linked here.