About the Jefferson Davis Parish Clerk of Court
The office in Jennings is led by Richard M. Arceneaux, the name the clerk's website gives, and the Louisiana Clerks of Court Association (LCCA) directory dates the tenure to July 2008. The clerk's welcome message notes that the office operates on the fees it collects, not on taxes.
Louisiana elects a clerk in each parish for a four-year term, and the constitution gives that clerk a double identity. One side is the court: the clerk keeps the record of the district court, which here is the 31st Judicial District Court. The other side is land: the clerk is the parish recorder of conveyances, mortgages, and other acts, and an ex officio notary public. Election law adds a third hat, chief election officer of the parish, and the Jennings office lists elections, jury duty, and the court docket among its responsibilities. It is also a passport acceptance facility and sells certified birth certificates.
Wikipedia describes Jefferson Davis as carved from what was once Imperial Calcasieu, under a bill that passed in 1912 and took effect in 1913. A history page published by the Beauregard Parish clerk goes further, dating the creation of Jefferson Davis, Allen, and Beauregard to a single day, June 12, 1912, and calling them the last three parishes Louisiana formed. The parish is named for Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America.
Jefferson Davis Parish covers about 652 square miles of land. The 2020 Census base population was 32,249, and the Census estimates 31,436 residents as of July 2024. To compare offices across the state, use the Louisiana Clerks of Court directory.
Court records in Jefferson Davis Parish
Civil suits, probate matters, adoptions, and juvenile filings all come through the Civil, Criminal, and Probate department, which also includes the minute clerks who keep the record of what happens in court. On the criminal side, the clerk receives bills of information and indictment, motions, and subpoenas. That department has its own phone line, 337-824-8340, separate from the main number used for recording.
Electronic filing is available for both civil and criminal cases through Clerk Connect, and the clerk's site also links eClerks LA for civil filing. The site also posts a letter from the clerk about Act 352, which it notes took effect January 1, 2026.
The clerk's site does not describe an online search for suit records. At the office, according to the same page (October 2026), a ten-year civil or criminal search costs $20.00 per name, copies of pleadings cost $2.00 per page plus a $5.00 certification fee, and criminal minute extracts cost $15.00. Louisiana's Public Records Law entitles any person to a copy of a public record unless the law makes an exception, and it allows custodians to charge reasonable posted fees for copies while forbidding any fee just to examine a record. Two common exceptions: juvenile court records are confidential (traffic matters aside), and expunged records are removed from public access, though not destroyed.
The statewide guides to court records, civil records, and criminal records go deeper into each type.
Land, mortgage, and property records
The Recording department records mortgages, conveyances, UCC filings, and miscellaneous instruments, administers oaths of office, and prepares mortgage certificates. The clerk asks customers to allow three to five days for a mortgage certificate. A $5.00 portal fee applies to each recorded instrument under R.S. 13:754, effective September 1, 2014, according to the clerk's site.
Remote access to land records is sold through eClerks LA. The clerk's Go Online page (viewed October 2026) says the parish subscription covers the conveyance index and images from 1976 to date and the mortgage index and images from 1978 to date. Prices are $20 per day, $100.00 per month, or $1,200.00 per year, and pages printed from the website cost $1.00 each. The same page points out that the Louisiana Clerks' Remote Access Authority's statewide portal offers a free search of the index alone, with images available only through the paid parish subscription. The clerk's site does not mention e-recording.
Recording follows the land. The Civil Code places a mortgage on an immovable in the mortgage records of the parish where it sits and most other land instruments in that parish's conveyance records. Jefferson Davis touches seven Louisiana parishes, each with its own recorder. The Acadia Parish Clerk of Court in Crowley and the Calcasieu Parish Clerk of Court in Lake Charles keep the books on two of those borders. Allen, Beauregard, Cameron, Evangeline, and Vermilion each record their own land as well. Land in Jefferson Davis was part of Calcasieu Parish until the new parish took effect, so a title search that runs earlier than 1913 may need the Calcasieu clerk; check with both offices about those years. The Louisiana property records guide gives the statewide background.
Marriage licenses and family records
Jefferson Davis marriage licenses are issued in the clerk's bookkeeping area, which also handles birth certificates and civil deposits. According to the clerk's website (October 2026), applications are taken from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and both parties must be present. Each person brings:
- a certified birth certificate (Louisiana-born applicants can buy one from the bookkeeping department)
- a valid state ID; electronic versions are not accepted
- a Social Security number
- if previously married, a certified divorce judgment signed by the judge or a certified death certificate
The license costs $27.50 in cash or $28.60 by card. The clerk says to buy it at least 24 hours before the wedding and no more than 30 days ahead; it is good for 30 days and is not refundable. A questionnaire is posted for reference, but the application itself is completed in person. Certified copies after the ceremony cost $7.00 each.
Those timing rules come from state law. The ceremony cannot occur until 24 hours after issuance unless a judge or authorized justice of the peace waives the wait for serious and meritorious reasons, and an unused license expires after 30 days. The officiant then has ten days to return the certificate to the issuing clerk, which is why the Jennings office, not the Louisiana Department of Health, provides certified copies of Jefferson Davis marriages. The department keeps marriage records only for Orleans Parish licenses.
Divorce judgments stay in the 31st Judicial District Court record. Vital Records does not issue divorce decrees; a certified copy comes from the clerk where the divorce was granted. See the guides to marriage records and divorce records.
Birth and death certificates
Certified birth certificates cost $34.00, or $48.00 with a birth card, and are sold in person from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., cash or credit card only, according to the clerk's site in October 2026. The clerk describes Louisiana as a closed record state for birth certificates and lists who may obtain one: the person named, a spouse, a parent or grandparent, an adult child, a sibling, or an adult grandchild, with proper identification. Certified death certificates for deaths in Louisiana from July 2013 on cost $26.00 each and must also be requested in person.
Courts that serve Jefferson Davis Parish
The 31st Judicial District Court serves Jefferson Davis Parish and no other. Its website posts orders and forms, court rules, rules for the family court hearing officer, and jury duty information. According to the clerk's Resources page, the district judge's office is Room 202 of the same building as the clerk.
The City Court of Jennings handles a narrower set of cases. Its website says it has civil jurisdiction concurrent with the district court up to $30,000, and that it hears city ordinance and misdemeanor cases and many traffic cases. Under R.S. 13:1952 it has one city judge and a city marshal. The court's site says city-level misdemeanor charges and city traffic and DWI tickets are handled through the city court's own clerk's office, and the parish clerk's Resources page lists a separate phone number and post office box for the city court.
Appeals from the 31st Judicial District Court are taken to the Court of Appeal, Third Circuit, seated in Lake Charles. Every one of the parish's seven neighbors appeals to that same circuit.
Visiting the Jefferson Davis Parish courthouse
The clerk's office is Room 106 at 300 North State Street in Jennings. The building also houses the district judge's office in Room 202 and the public defender in Room 203, according to the clerk's Resources page, so several court-related stops are under one roof. The Registrar of Voters, a separate office, is on North Cutting Avenue.
The clerk's website does not post general office hours. It does give application windows of 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for marriage licenses and birth certificates. Louisiana law sets a default of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays for clerks' offices but lets each clerk open earlier or stay later, so call before making a trip late in the afternoon.
The clerk lists separate numbers by department. Recording, marriage licenses, and passports share 337-824-1160. Civil, criminal, and probate matters use 337-824-8340.
The site does not describe parking, entrances, or security screening, and while the LCCA directory lists a post office box in Jennings for mail, the clerk's own site does not show a mailing address.
Other Jefferson Davis Parish offices
Kyle Miers is sheriff, according to the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, which lists the office on Highway 90 West in Jennings. Its website is jdpso.org. The sheriff runs the parish jail and collects property taxes. The guides to sheriff's offices and inmate search explain those roles statewide.
The assessor is Donald G. Kratzer, per the Louisiana Assessors' Association, with a website at jeffdavisassessor.org. The assessors guide explains how values are set and appealed.
The clerk's Resources page lists the Jefferson Davis Parish Police Jury at a post office box in Jennings with the phone number 337-824-4792. No official police jury website was verified; a site that the state links for local government turned out to be a tourism and events page rather than the police jury. The parish government guide covers how police juries work.