About the East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court
J. Douglas "Doug" Welborn is the East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court; his own website calls him Doug Welborn. The Louisiana Clerks of Court Association (LCCA) dates his tenure to November 1991. Like every Louisiana clerk he is elected for four years, serves as ex officio notary public and recorder of conveyances and mortgages under Article V, Section 28 of the constitution, and acts as the parish's chief election officer under R.S. 18:422.
The 2020 Census base counted 456,794 people in East Baton Rouge Parish, and the July 2024 estimate is 453,022, on about 455.5 square miles of land. Baton Rouge is the parish seat, and the parish takes its name from the French baton rouge, "red stick," after a pole local Native Americans used to mark tribal boundaries. Wikipedia gives 1812 as the parish's founding year. One more local tie: the Louisiana Clerks' Remote Access Authority, which runs the eClerks LA portal, is domiciled in East Baton Rouge Parish by statute.
Rather than a single counter, the clerk works out of four locations, according to its home page: the Downtown Main Office in City Hall at 222 St. Louis Street, an office inside the 19th JDC Courthouse at 300 North Boulevard, the Downtown Archives Building at 444 St. Louis Street, and the Airline Highway Branch Office at 9050 Airline Highway, Suite 100. R.S. 13:756.6 specifically authorizes branch offices for this clerk.
Which phone number to call
The clerk's site does not publish one main number. The number shown in the contact card on this page, 225-389-3950, is the Public Service Department, which the clerk's contact page lists for marriage license applications, civil search certificates, passports, and oaths of office. Administration is a separate line, 225-389-7642. Other directories print other numbers, so rely on the department lines on the clerk's own contact page: Criminal Records is 225-389-3964, Suit Records 225-389-3972, Recording 225-389-3985, and Archives 225-389-3988. The only fax number on that page is the Airline branch fax, 225-292-4904.
Contact details for the other 63 parish clerks are in the Louisiana Clerks of Court directory.
Court records in East Baton Rouge Parish
Suit records for two courts live with this clerk: the 19th Judicial District Court and the Family Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge. The Civil Suit Records page says an electronic filing and storage system for both courts took effect June 4, 2018, and that since October 1, 2020 the department has kept no paper files except in probate. Older paper suits are spread across buildings; that page lists which suit-number ranges sit at the 19th JDC Courthouse, at City Hall, and at the Archives, so check it before you go.
Criminal Records works from Room 2501 of the 19th JDC Courthouse at 300 North Boulevard. That department keeps criminal case records and evidence and takes expungement applications. Expungement under Louisiana law removes a record from public view but leaves it available to law enforcement. The clerk's other departments handle adoptions, civil appeals, temporary restraining orders in domestic violence cases, traffic, jury management, and the registry of the court.
All of the clerk's online records moved to Clerk Connect in June 2022, according to the Online Access page (viewed October 2026). Clerk Connect covers civil, family, probate, criminal, and traffic records along with mortgages, conveyances, map indexes, and UCC records, and it offers online printing and electronic certification. Listed prices are $20 for a 24-hour pass, $65 for 30 days, and $780 for 12 months, plus $25 a month per additional user, $0.60 per printed page, and $5 per certified document. A court date search is also on Clerk Connect. Questions about accounts go to the Online Access Manager at 225-389-7851.
You do not have to subscribe to look at a public file. A notice on the clerk's home page says civil, criminal, traffic, marriage license, and mortgage and conveyance records may be inspected free on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with copies at $1.00 per page. Juvenile Court records are not part of that offer; the notice says they fall under the Juvenile Court. For background, read the guides to court records in Louisiana and criminal records.
Land, mortgage, and property records
Two departments split the land books. Recording handles notarial acts, which receive original and bundle numbers, and UCC financing statements. The Mortgage Department issues mortgage certificates and UCC certificates and processes cancellations of encumbrances. The Public Service Department adds conveyance certificates, assumed name and paternity searches, oaths of office, property bonds, and clergy registrations. The clerk's biography page says remote e-recording is open to all customers, and the same page reports that mortgage and conveyance documents are imaged from 1811 to the present. A separate 1963 to 1985 map index is listed in the site's records menu.
Researchers going further back can use the Archives Department. It holds original parish records from 1782, tax rolls from 1872, and the bankruptcy file of Fulwar Skipwith, president of the Republic of West Florida after the 1810 rebellion. The archives building is at 444 St. Louis Street, on the basement level of the West River Center Parking Garage, and staff help with genealogy and court record research.
Louisiana records a sale or mortgage of land in the parish where the land lies. Census adjacency data lists six parishes bordering East Baton Rouge, so a parcel near the parish line can involve two sets of books. A tract that turns out to sit in Livingston Parish needs a search with the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court, land inside Ascension belongs to the Ascension Parish Clerk of Court in Donaldsonville, and property in West Baton Rouge is recorded by the West Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court in Port Allen. How the capital parish's recording system fits state law is covered in the Louisiana property records guide.
Marriage licenses and family records
East Baton Rouge licenses are issued at three places, according to the clerk's Public Service page (October 2026): Room B115 of City Hall at 222 St. Louis Street (225-389-3950); the Airline Highway Branch Office at 9050 Airline Highway (225-293-2933); and the Baker Municipal Annex at 1320 Alabama Street in Baker (225-778-1866), where the clerk asks applicants to call ahead. The web page says applications must be made in person by either party, while the older information form says both parties, so it is worth confirming by phone. The clerk's home page says no new applications are taken after 3:30 p.m. A worksheet can be filled out in advance on Clerk Connect.
The Public Service web page does not state a license fee. The clerk's Marriage License Information form (Public Service Department Form 25, revised January 27, 2021, and still posted in October 2026) lists the license at $27.50 and certified copies at $10.00 each; because the form dates from 2021, confirm the current amount with the office. It accepts credit cards, cash, cashier's checks, and money orders, but not personal checks, and the Baker office does not take credit cards. The web page tells applicants to arrive at least 60 minutes before closing, while the form says 30 minutes, so plan on the earlier time. Applicants need not live in Louisiana, but a Louisiana license works only for a ceremony in Louisiana. Louisiana requires a 24-hour wait after issuance (a judge or justice of the peace can waive it when the couple shows serious and meritorious reasons), and the license runs out after 30 days.
In East Baton Rouge, divorce cases go to a separate court. R.S. 13:1401 gives the Family Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge exclusive jurisdiction over divorce, annulment, child and spousal support, custody and visitation, and partition of community property between spouses. Its suit records are kept by the clerk with the 19th JDC's. Birth and death certificates are available walk-in at the downtown City Hall office only, and death certificates only for deaths from June 2012 on. See marriage records and divorce records.
Courts that serve East Baton Rouge Parish
The 19th Judicial District Court serves East Baton Rouge Parish alone. Its website lists Divisions A through O plus four commissioners, along with Pretrial Services, Recovery Court, Re-Entry Court, and a Veterans' Treatment Court. The court moved into its courthouse on North Boulevard in 2010.
Two specialized courts sit beside it. The Family Court, described above, is on the fourth floor of the 19th JDC Courthouse; its website lists a Self Help Resource Center and an office phone of 225-388-5485. The Juvenile Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, created in 1990 by Act 158, is at 8333 Veterans Memorial Boulevard (225-354-1250). Under Children's Code article 302 it is one of four special juvenile courts in Louisiana with exclusive original juvenile jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court's 2025 guide lists three city courts in the parish. Baton Rouge City Court has five city judges under R.S. 13:1952, and its pages are hosted on the City-Parish website; the Supreme Court's 2025 guide lists (225) 389-5279. Baker City Court shares its listed number, (225) 778-1866, with the clerk's Baker annex. Zachary City Court is in the Police/Court Complex at 4510 Main Street in Zachary, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays per the City of Zachary, and its own website takes citation payments.
Appeals go to the Court of Appeal, First Circuit, which sits at 1600 North Third Street in Baton Rouge.
Visiting the East Baton Rouge Parish courthouse
Each of the clerk's four buildings handles different work. City Hall at 222 St. Louis Street is the main office and the only place for walk-in birth and death certificates. Criminal records are at the 19th JDC Courthouse on North Boulevard. Old records are in the archives under the West River Center Parking Garage. The Airline Highway branch is in the former Woman's Hospital admissions entrance, facing Airline Highway.
Hours posted on the clerk's home page are Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except legal holidays. R.S. 13:756 sets a statewide default of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and lets clerks open earlier or close later. The home page adds that birth certificate service closes at 4:00 p.m. and that no new marriage or passport applications are taken after 3:30 p.m. The clerk's home page names doug@ebrclerk.com as the address for public records requests.
Other East Baton Rouge Parish offices
The Louisiana Sheriffs' Association lists Sid J. Gautreaux III as East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff, with headquarters at 8900 Jimmy Wedell Drive and a business line of 225-389-5055. The office is online at ebrso.org. Property tax bills in East Baton Rouge are collected by the sheriff, as in every parish except Orleans. See Louisiana sheriff's offices and the inmate search guide.
Brian Wilson is the assessor. His office shares the 222 St. Louis Street address with the clerk's main office, and his site, ebrpa.org, offers assessment lookups and homestead exemption information. The assessors guide explains how values are reviewed.
Government here is consolidated. The City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge operate as one City-Parish, led by a Mayor-President, currently Sid Edwards, and the Metropolitan Council, at brla.gov. For how a consolidated City-Parish differs from a police jury, see the parish government guide.