About the Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court
Jon A. Gegenheimer has been Jefferson Parish's Clerk of Court since July 1, 1988, according to the clerk's own history page, and the Louisiana Clerks of Court Association (LCCA) directory carries the same start date. The office keeps records for four courts. It serves as clerk of the 24th Judicial District Court, the First and Second Parish Courts, and the Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court. The clerk is also the parish's register of conveyances, recorder of mortgages, and custodian of notarial archives, and the history page adds that the clerk acts as jury manager and sits on the Jury Commission, serves as chief elections officer and a member of the Board of Election Supervisors, and is the parish evidence custodian.
Those roles have deep roots. The clerk's history page says Jefferson Parish was created in 1825, elected its first clerk of court in 1846, and in 1879 folded the conveyance, mortgage, and notarial archive functions into the clerk's office. Today the Louisiana Constitution makes every district clerk the ex officio parish recorder of conveyances, mortgages, and other acts.
The Census Bureau put the parish's 2020 base population at 440,784 and its July 2024 estimate at 427,253, and it measures about 301 square miles of land and about 341 square miles of water. The clerk keeps offices on both banks of the Mississippi River: a West Bank complex in Gretna, the parish seat, and an East Bank office in the Joseph S. Yenni Building on Elmwood Park Boulevard. State law (R.S. 13:756.4) specifically authorizes a Jefferson satellite office. For clerks in other parishes, see the Louisiana Clerks of Court directory.
Court records in Jefferson Parish
Records for the 24th Judicial District Court are kept in the Thomas F. Donelon Courthouse at 200 Derbigny Street in Gretna. Civil records are in Suite 2400 and criminal records in Suite 1100, and the clerk keeps civil records from before 2004 at a separate building, 1128 Fourth Street in Gretna. The clerk's contact page lists separate civil, criminal, and traffic lines for each of the two parish courts, the First Parish Court on David Drive in Metairie and the Second Parish Court on Huey P. Long Avenue in Gretna.
Online access runs through JeffNet, the clerk's own system, which the clerk says holds more than 140 million images. Coverage, according to the JeffNet page (viewed October 2026):
- 24th JDC civil case activity from January 1, 1986, with images reaching back to 1825
- 24th JDC criminal case activity from April 28, 1994, with images back to 1840
- First Parish Court civil activity from 1983 and Second Parish Court civil activity from 1986, both with images from 2001
- Parish court criminal and traffic activity from 1990
A 24-hour JeffNet pass costs $5.00, with copies at $0.75 per page, certified court records at $0.75 per page plus $5.00, and certified mortgage records at $0.75 per page plus $10.00. A monthly subscription is $50.00 per user ID, includes image viewing, and typically requires a $100 advance deposit; credit cards carry a 2.75% fee. The clerk also posts 24th JDC civil and criminal dockets online and offers JeffClerk Alerts, free email notices about court case activity, election results, and public contracts.
Juvenile Court records are not public and are not on JeffNet. That matches Children's Code article 412, which makes juvenile court records confidential except for traffic violations. Electronic filing runs through JeffNet for the 24th JDC and both parish courts; for Juvenile Court, the clerk takes e-filings as PDFs sent by email. The clerk also posts resources for self-represented litigants and accepts public records requests at publicrecords@jeffparishclerk.gov. For statewide context, see the guides to Louisiana court records and civil records.
Land, mortgage, and property records
The Mortgage and Conveyance office, which also takes UCC filings, is in Suite 2200 of the General Government Building at 200 Derbigny Street. On JeffNet, mortgage and conveyance indices run from January 1, 1967 to the present, index images cover 1825 through 1966, and document images span 1825 to today. The system also carries assessment rolls from January 1, 1992.
Electronic recording into the Mortgage and Conveyance office is open to any JeffNet monthly subscriber, the clerk says, not only to attorneys, though it is not available on a 24-hour pass. JeffWatch Property Alerts, a free service, emails you when a document is recorded against a name or property you register.
Six Louisiana parishes border Jefferson, so title work near a boundary often means a second search. Civil Code article 3346 sends each act to the records of the parish where the land is located. Land across the line in New Orleans is recorded with the Orleans Parish clerk's Land Records Division, property near the St. Charles boundary may belong to the St. Charles Parish Clerk of Court, and tracts along the other parish lines can fall in the Lafourche Parish or Plaquemines Parish records. The property records guide walks through conveyance and mortgage searching.
Marriage licenses and family records
Jefferson's clerk issues marriage licenses at two counters, Suite 2200 of the General Government Building in Gretna and Suite 603 of the Yenni Building on the East Bank. The marriage license page (viewed October 2026) lists a $27.50 license fee, of which $12.50 goes to the state for family violence programs, plus $10.00 for a certified copy and $4.00 for each waiver of the 24-hour waiting period. The office takes cash, debit and credit cards, money orders, personal checks, and certified or cashier's checks, and an online application is available.
State law sets the basic rules. A license is valid for 30 days anywhere in Louisiana, and a ceremony cannot happen until 24 hours after the license is issued unless an authorized judge or justice of the peace waives the wait. The clerk's page lists the parish's eight justices of the peace. After the wedding, the officiant returns the signed copies to the issuing clerk, and the Jefferson clerk advises waiting about two weeks before ordering a certified copy.
Older marriage records are searchable too. JeffNet's marriage license index reaches from the 1840s to the present, but license images are online only for 1825 to 1950, and the clerk says images from 1950 forward are not on JeffNet. Divorce, custody, and support judgments sit in the 24th JDC record, and a certified divorce decree comes from this clerk if the divorce was granted in Jefferson. The office also handles passports and birth and death certificates. Read more in the marriage records and divorce records guides.
Courts that serve Jefferson Parish
Jefferson Parish alone makes up the 24th Judicial District Court, which sits in the Donelon Courthouse in Gretna. Like every Louisiana district court, it has exclusive original jurisdiction of felony cases under the state constitution, and it also hears civil, family, and succession matters.
Jefferson also has two parish courts. According to the Louisiana Supreme Court's 2025 Guide, the state's three parish courts are the Ascension Parish Court and Jefferson's First and Second Parish Courts. The First Parish Court sits at 924 David Drive in Metairie, and the Second Parish Court at 100 Huey P. Long Avenue in Gretna. The clerk's hours page notes that the First Parish Court accepts traffic matters until 6:30 p.m. Jefferson also has a separate Juvenile Court, at 1546 Gretna Boulevard in Harvey. Children's Code article 302 gives special juvenile courts in Caddo, Orleans, Jefferson, and East Baton Rouge exclusive original juvenile jurisdiction.
Appeals go to the Court of Appeal, Fifth Circuit, which sits at 101 Derbigny Street in Gretna, the parish seat.
Visiting the Jefferson Parish courthouse
The West Bank offices in Gretna cluster on Derbigny Street. Administration is in Suite 5600 of the General Government Building, recording and marriage licenses are in Suite 2200 of the same building, and court records are next door in the Donelon Courthouse. Jurors report to Suite 1200 of the courthouse, and the clerk says to enter through the General Government Building. Old civil files are at a separate address on Fourth Street, so ask before heading there.
According to the clerk's hours page, all offices are open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding legal holidays, unless a specific office notes otherwise. The main phone number on the clerk's site is 504-364-2900. On the East Bank, the Yenni Building office handles marriage licenses, passports, and the clerk's Elections Department, which has its own line at 504-736-6394.
Other Jefferson Parish offices
Outside Orleans, Louisiana's sheriffs are both chief law enforcement officers and collectors of state and parish property taxes. The Louisiana Sheriffs' Association lists Joseph P. Lopinto III as Jefferson Parish sheriff (jpso.com). See sheriff's offices for statewide context and inmate search for custody lookups.
Thomas J. Capella, CLA, is the assessor, with offices at 200 Derbigny Street, Suite 1100, in Gretna and in Suite 901 of the Yenni Building, according to the assessor's website. The assessors guide explains assessed value and the homestead exemption. The parish government guide covers how Louisiana parishes are governed.