About the Bossier Parish Clerk of Court
Jill M. Sessions has been Bossier Parish's Clerk of Court since July 2016, and her office's About page says she is now serving a third term. She works from the third floor of the Bossier Parish Courthouse on Burt Boulevard in Benton, the parish seat. Benton is a town, though, and many people who need this office live or work in Bossier City, which the State of Louisiana lists as the parish's only city. Haughton and Plain Dealing are the other towns.
The office carries three jobs. The first two come from the Louisiana Constitution, and the third from the Election Code. It is the clerk of the district court, here the 26th Judicial District Court. It is the ex officio recorder of conveyances, mortgages, and other acts, which makes it the place where Bossier land titles are kept. And the clerk serves as the parish's chief election officer. The Bossier clerk's site adds a fourth role people tend to overlook: the clerk sits on the Jury Commission that draws jury pools for the district court.
The 2020 Census base counted 128,764 Bossier residents, and the July 2024 estimate was 131,102. The parish covers about 839.6 square miles of land. It was formed in 1843 out of the western part of Claiborne Parish and takes its name from Pierre Bossier, a state senator and congressman from Natchitoches Parish. With that many residents, the Recording Department stays busy: its own page says it receives one to two hundred documents a day.
The other 63 clerks, with phone numbers and addresses, are in the Louisiana Clerks of Court directory.
Court records in Bossier Parish
Every civil suit, succession, felony, and misdemeanor case in the 26th Judicial District Court for Bossier Parish is filed with this clerk. The home page links separate pages for civil filings, pro se litigants, protective orders, criminal records, and expungements, so those topics have their own instructions and forms on the site.
For remote searching, the Bossier clerk uses Clerk Connect. One subscription covers every Bossier record set available online, including property, civil, criminal, and marriage license records, according to the clerk's subscription instructions viewed in October 2026. That page lists a daily pass at $20.00 that expires at midnight of the day of purchase, a monthly pass at $50.00, and a yearly pass at $500.00. Printed copies run $0.60 per page. Certified copies ordered this way cost $5.00 plus $0.60 per page for civil, criminal, and marriage records. Card payments carry a 3.49% fee, with a $1.00 minimum, that goes to the service provider rather than the clerk.
A free tool sits beside the paid one. The clerk links a Court Event Inquiry page on Clerk Connect where someone with a pending case can check an upcoming court date. Copies by mail are also possible; the clerk's copy fee page (October 2026) lists $1 per page and $5 for certification on civil, probate, marriage, and criminal records.
Attorneys and self-represented filers can submit pleadings electronically through the same Clerk Connect account. The clerk posts $6.00 per civil e-filing submission and $7.50 per criminal submission. State law required every district clerk to support electronic filing, recording, and remote access through the Louisiana Clerks' Remote Access Authority portal by January 1, 2026, and Bossier links that portal, eClerks LA, on its home page.
Two limits apply here as everywhere. Juvenile records are confidential under the Children's Code, apart from traffic matters. An expunged record is removed from public view but still exists for law enforcement. When an expungement motion is filed, the clerk serves notice on the district attorney, the State Police bureau that keeps criminal history, and the arresting agency. More detail is in the guides to Louisiana court records and criminal records.
Land, mortgage, and property records
Deeds, mortgages, liens, and miscellaneous instruments go to the Recording Department. The department's page says that even at its daily volume, recording and indexing are finished by the following day. It also warns that originals deposited with the recorder are not returned, so keep your own copy before handing over a signed act.
Copies of conveyance and mortgage records cost $1 per page, and a certification adds $10, according to the clerk's fee schedule in October 2026. Through Clerk Connect, the property-record certification is $10.00 plus $0.60 per page. Electronic recording runs through Clerk Connect at $5.00 per document. The Recording Department also handles UCC documents, and the clerk's home page links the Secretary of State's online UCC filing system.
Under Louisiana's Civil Code, an act affecting land is recorded in the parish where the land lies. Bossier's borders make that rule practical. The parish touches Caddo, Webster, Bienville, and Red River parishes, and Lake Bistineau is shared with Webster and Bienville. A tract on the Webster side belongs in the books kept by the Webster Parish Clerk of Court in Minden, and land across the western line belongs to the Caddo Parish Clerk of Court. Bossier also borders Miller and Lafayette counties in Arkansas, which keep their own land records; the Bossier recorder covers only land inside the parish.
Every sale of land filed for registry must name the person responsible for property taxes and the address for tax notices. For how mortgage certificates, indexes, and title searches work across the state, see the property records guide.
Marriage licenses and family records
The Bossier clerk issues marriage licenses. Its marriage page (October 2026) puts the fee at $27.50, payable in cash or by card, and asks both applicants to bring certified copies of their birth certificates and their Social Security numbers. The clerk's links page also points to an online application. A license issued in Bossier expires 30 days after issue. Louisiana sets a 24-hour gap between issuance and the ceremony, which is why the clerk asks couples to buy the license at least a day ahead. A judge or authorized justice of the peace can waive that wait for serious reasons.
The same page explains covenant marriage, a stricter form of marriage Louisiana allows. Couples choose it on the application and file a declaration of intent; it requires premarital counseling and can end only on the narrow grounds the law lists.
After the wedding, the officiant has ten days to file the signed certificate copies with the clerk who issued the license, and the clerk forwards a copy to the state registrar. A certified copy of a recorded Bossier marriage license costs $5 at the clerk's office. The clerk also prints certified birth certificates ($34) and death certificates ($26) in person, with death records limited to deaths after July 9, 2012.
Divorce, custody, and support cases are part of the 26th Judicial District Court record, and the court's site lists hearing officers and a Families in Need of Services program. The state Vital Records office does not issue divorce decrees, so certified copies of a Bossier divorce come from this clerk. Statewide background is in the marriage records and divorce records guides.
Courts that serve Bossier Parish
Bossier shares the 26th Judicial District Court with Webster Parish. The court's website lists offices at both parish courthouses, along with six divisions (A through F), hearing officers, a Drug Court, jury service information, and resources for people without lawyers. The judges' office at the Bossier courthouse in Benton lists its own number, 318-965-2217, on the court's site. Each parish keeps its own clerk, so a Webster case is filed in Minden and a Bossier case in Benton even though the judges are shared.
Bossier City Court is a separate court with its own clerk. Its website says the clerk's office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., except legal holidays and no-court days, and it posts civil, small claims, and eviction forms, a docket, and expungement information. The Supreme Court's 2025 Guide to Louisiana Courts lists the city court clerk's phone as (318) 741-8587. Outside the four parishes that have special juvenile courts, city courts share juvenile jurisdiction with the district court, so some juvenile matters arising in Bossier City may be heard there.
Appeals from the district court go to the Court of Appeal, Second Circuit at 430 Fannin Street in Shreveport.
Visiting the Bossier Parish courthouse
Head for 204 Burt Boulevard in Benton; the clerk's counters are on the courthouse's third floor. The clerk keeps weekday hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except legal holidays, according to its home page. The home page also posts upcoming office closures for election days and holidays, so check it before a trip.
Several other offices share the address, which can save a trip. The Louisiana Sheriffs' Association lists the sheriff's office at 204 Burt Boulevard, and the assessor's office is in the same building. The 26th JDC's Bossier judges' office is there too.
Passport applications are handled by appointment only, per the clerk's links page. Jurors summoned by the Jury Commission are paid $25 a day plus mileage for petit or grand jury service and $50 a day plus mileage for civil juries, according to the clerk's jury page. The clerk's website does not describe parking or security screening, so allow extra time on a first visit.
Other Bossier Parish offices
Outside Orleans, the sheriff is both chief law enforcement officer and tax collector, and the Bossier assessor's site confirms that property tax payments go to the sheriff. The Louisiana Sheriffs' Association lists Julian C. Whittington as sheriff; his office is at bossiersheriff.com. The sheriff also keeps the parish jail. See the guides to sheriff's offices and inmate search.
Bobby W. Edmiston has been assessor since his election in November 1998, according to the Bossier Parish Assessor site, which runs a property search for owners and parcels. The clerk indexes land records by name, so a search by address or parcel usually starts with the assessor. Louisiana's homestead exemption covers $7,500 of assessed value on an owner-occupied home; the assessors and property tax guide explains the rest.
The Bossier Parish Police Jury governs the parish and publishes its offices and members at bossierparishla.gov. The parish government guide describes what police juries do.