About the East Carroll Parish Clerk of Court
East Carroll sits in the delta on the western edge of the Mississippi River, and its parish seat, Lake Providence, takes its name from the oxbow lake beside it. It is a parish of two state lines: across its borders lie Chicot County, Arkansas, and Issaquena and Warren counties in Mississippi. Lake Providence is the only town, and Transylvania is an unincorporated community. The Census Bureau's 2020 base counted 7,456 residents, and its July 2024 estimate was 6,892, on about 421 square miles of land plus nearly 22 square miles of water.
Rene Thomas Williams is the Clerk of Court; the Louisiana Clerks of Court Association (LCCA) directory dates the current tenure to January 2020. The office is a constitutional one. Article V, Section 28 of the Louisiana Constitution provides for an elected clerk of the district court in every parish, serving four-year terms, who is also ex officio notary public and the parish recorder of conveyances, mortgages, and other acts. In East Carroll, that makes the clerk the keeper of the parish's 6th Judicial District Court records and of its land records. The clerk is also, by statute, the parish's chief election officer and the custodian of its voting machines.
The parish's name and history are shared with its western neighbor. The Legislature split the original Carroll Parish in 1877 into East Carroll and West Carroll, and both carry the name of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.
A practical note on the clerk's website: it loads at the plain http address (eastcarrollclerk.com), but the https version did not load when checked in October 2026. If your browser warns you, type the address with http.
For the other parish clerks, use the Louisiana Clerks of Court directory.
Court records in East Carroll Parish
The East Carroll clerk keeps the record of cases filed in this parish in the 6th Judicial District Court, the trial court with original jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases and exclusive original jurisdiction over felonies. The clerk's Pricing page posts civil advance costs ($400.00 for a suit, viewed October 2026), so a filer can see the deposit before arriving. It does not describe the criminal or juvenile departments in detail, so call 318-559-2399 with questions about a criminal file.
There is no parish-specific online case search linked from the clerk's site. Its only online records link is eClerks LA, on a page that also posts that portal's terms of use agreement. eClerks LA's Statewide Portal searches civil, family, and probate index entries across parishes at no charge once you register, and viewing images takes a paid parish subscription. It does not describe a statewide criminal case search, so criminal records here are a matter for the counter or a written request.
The Public Records Law gives any person the right to a copy of a public record, subject to the law's exceptions, and if a custodian thinks a requested record is not public, it must say so in writing, with the legal basis, within five business days of a written request. The clerk may charge reasonable posted fees for copies but nothing to examine a record. Some files are closed by statute: juvenile court records are confidential under the Children's Code, apart from traffic matters, and expunged records are removed from public access, though not destroyed.
The statewide guides to court records and civil records explain these rules in more depth.
Land, mortgage, and property records
Recording is listed on the clerk's Pricing page alongside 10-year and 40-year mortgage certificates, no-lien certificates, and UCC filings. The price list (viewed October 2026) shows recording at $100.00 for one to five pages plus a $5.00 statewide portal fee. The list carries no date, so confirm current charges by phone before mailing a document.
For searching from a distance, the clerk points to eClerks LA, the portal of the Louisiana Clerks' Remote Access Authority. Louisiana law required every district clerk to join that authority by July 1, 2020, and to facilitate electronic filing, recording, and remote access through its portal by January 1, 2026. Its free statewide index covers land records (mortgages and conveyances) and marriage licenses. The clerk's own site does not say whether it accepts e-recording, so ask before you send anything electronically.
Civil Code article 3346 sends each mortgage and conveyance to the records of the parish where the land lies. East Carroll touches three Louisiana parishes, so property near those lines may also need a search with the West Carroll Parish Clerk of Court in Oak Grove, the Madison Parish Clerk of Court in Tallulah, or the Richland Parish Clerk of Court in Rayville. Because East and West Carroll were one parish until 1877, older chains of title can lead into the books of the original Carroll Parish; ask the clerk where those volumes are kept. The property records guide covers the basics.
Marriage licenses and family records
East Carroll's clerk issues marriage licenses, and the instructions on its Services page (viewed October 2026) are specific. The license costs $32.50, cash only, with no checks accepted. Both parties must appear, and the clerk asks applicants to arrive no later than 4:00 p.m. Bring birth certificates and a picture ID; a foreign birth certificate needs a translation. If either applicant was married before, bring a copy of the divorce decree.
The page tells couples to wait 24 hours after receiving the license before marrying and says the license is good for 30 days in Louisiana. Both points line up with state law. R.S. 9:241 sets the 24-hour wait, which a judge or authorized justice of the peace may waive for serious and meritorious reasons, and R.S. 9:235 limits the license to 30 days. The Department of Health adds that a license bought in Louisiana cannot be used for a ceremony in another state, a point worth knowing in a parish that borders both Arkansas and Mississippi.
After the wedding, the officiant files the certificate copies with the clerk who issued the license within ten days. Certified copies of recorded East Carroll marriages then come from this office. The clerk's price list also shows birth certificates at $34.00, a birth certificate with a birth card at $48.00, and death certificates at $26.00. Certified divorce decrees come from the clerk of the parish where the divorce was granted, not from Vital Records. See marriage records and divorce records for more.
Courts that serve East Carroll Parish
R.S. 13:477 places East Carroll, Madison, and Tensas parishes in the 6th Judicial District Court. No official website for the court was found. The Supreme Court's 2025 Guide to Louisiana Courts lists a court administrator's phone number of 318-574-2635, and the clerk's own Court Information page lists the district's two divisions with their phone numbers. Each of the three parishes keeps its own clerk, so a Tallulah case file stays in Madison Parish.
The 2025 guide lists no city court in East Carroll. Because the parish has no special juvenile court, the Children's Code gives the district court original juvenile jurisdiction here. The constitution continues mayors' courts and justice of the peace courts statewide, subject to change by law.
The 6th JDC's decisions are appealed to the Court of Appeal, Second Circuit, which sits in Shreveport.
Visiting the East Carroll Parish courthouse
The clerk's contact page gives the office address as 400 First Street, Suite 3, in Lake Providence, and the same address serves for mail. The LCCA directory's listing leaves the physical address blank, so use the clerk's version.
The clerk's website does not list office hours. The statutory default for Louisiana clerks is 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, but offices may open earlier or stay later, so call 318-559-2399 before making a long drive. The site lists no fax number or email address, only a contact form, even though the LCCA directory shows both.
If you have a jury summons, the clerk's Court Information page says jurors report to the main courtroom on the second floor of the East Carroll Parish Courthouse, and that cell phones are not allowed on the second floor. A jury booklet is posted on the same page. The site does not describe parking or entrances.
Other East Carroll Parish offices
The sheriff is the parish's chief law enforcement officer, keeps the parish jail, and outside Orleans collects state and parish property taxes. The Louisiana Sheriffs' Association lists Wydette Williams as East Carroll Parish Sheriff, at ecsheriff.com. For jail lookups, see the inmate search guide, and for the sheriff's tax role, see Louisiana sheriff's offices.
According to the Louisiana Assessors' Association, Barbara McDaniel is the assessor, at 400 First Street, Suite 10, in Lake Providence, phone 318-559-2850. That is the same street address as the clerk. No assessor website was found. The assessors guide explains assessed value and the homestead exemption.
The East Carroll Parish Police Jury governs the parish and files annual financial reports with the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. No official website for it was found.