About the Natchitoches Parish Clerk of Court
David Stamey is Clerk of Court for Natchitoches Parish, and Casey Harris is chief deputy, according to the LCCA directory and the clerk's website. The LCCA tags the current tenure as starting in July 2016. The clerk is the elected keeper of the 10th Judicial District Court's record, the parish recorder of land and mortgage records, and the parish's chief election officer, the same three roles the Louisiana Constitution and Election Code give every parish clerk.
The office handles more than court filings and recording. Besides those, the clerk's website lists passport application requirements and fees, birth certificates, death records from July 1, 2012, appearance and property bonds, jury duty, and a separate genealogy office in the old courthouse. The website also posts fees for searches, small claims, and expungements, which makes planning a visit easier.
Natchitoches Parish dates to the act of April 10, 1805, that divided the Territory of Orleans into 12 parishes. Later parishes, Winn and Vernon among them, were formed partly from its territory, so its records may matter for title work beyond today's lines. The clerk's About page says the office's court, marriage, and land records date back to approximately 1732. The parish is part of the Cane River National Heritage Area. The Census Bureau counted 37,519 people in the 2020 base and estimated 35,982 for July 2024, with 1,253 square miles of land and 46.5 square miles of water.
Every other clerk is in the Louisiana Clerks of Court directory.
Court records in Natchitoches Parish
The Civil Department handles civil suits and successions, adoptions, and the registry of the court, and it prepares appeals to the Third Circuit. It also helps people with protective order petitions. For small claims, the clerk offers clerk book suits for amounts up to $5,000.00, with a total filing fee of $350, as listed on the Civil Department page in October 2026. The department will accept civil pleadings by fax as long as the original, the filing fee, and the fax fee reach the clerk within seven days.
The Criminal Department files charges and issues subpoenas, and it also processes expungement motions. According to its page (October 2026), the clerk's expungement fee is $200.00 per name per docket number, plus separate State Police, sheriff, and district attorney fees. State law caps the total cost of an expungement order at $550, except in situations covered by Code of Criminal Procedure articles 894 and 984, and lists cases where no fee is charged. The clerk's Court Info page adds that the office does not set or collect fines.
Online, the clerk points to Clerk Connect, a subscription portal. Civil and probate records there start January 1, 2000, and criminal records start January 1, 2007, according to the clerk's About page, which adds that all of the office's records are available for review daily in the office. For a search done by staff, the clerk's website lists $10.00 per name for civil, $20.00 per name for criminal, and $1.00 per page for copies (October 2026).
Read the guides to court records, civil records, and criminal records for the statewide rules.
Land, mortgage, and property records
The Recording Department takes conveyances, mortgages, UCC filings, mineral leases, military discharges, and plats. The homepage offers an e-Recording and filing link that leads to Clerk Connect.
On Clerk Connect, according to the clerk, conveyances run from December 2, 1949; mortgages and oil and gas records from January 1, 1986; charters from January 6, 1986; and partnerships from May 10, 2005. Older material is not on Clerk Connect. For extensive genealogy research, the Recording Department page points customers to the clerk's Genealogy Office in the Old Natchitoches Parish Courthouse.
Because Winn and Vernon were formed partly from Natchitoches territory, chains of title in those parishes may run back into Natchitoches books. Today, though, each act is recorded where the land lies, so current land along the parish's eight borders belongs in the neighbor's records too. The Grant Parish Clerk of Court, the Winn Parish Clerk of Court, the Sabine Parish Clerk of Court, the Red River Parish Clerk of Court, and the DeSoto Parish Clerk of Court are among the offices that share a line with Natchitoches; Bienville, Rapides, and Vernon complete the list. The property records guide explains the public registry.
Marriage licenses and family records
The clerk issues marriage licenses and records the returns after the ceremony, according to its About page, and a Louisiana application form is posted on the Forms page. The About page (viewed October 2026) lists the license at $33.50, which includes a certified copy of the license once it is returned to the office after the ceremony. Applicants need proof of age, and anyone married before needs a certified copy of the divorce judgment or the former spouse's death certificate, according to the same page. Marriages on Clerk Connect are indexed from June 4, 2011.
The usual state rules apply in Natchitoches. A license is valid for 30 days, the ceremony cannot be held until 24 hours after the license issues unless a judge or authorized justice of the peace waives the wait, and the couple must bring certified birth certificates and valid identification. Copies of a marriage certificate recorded in Natchitoches come from this clerk, not from the state's Vital Records Registry, which keeps only Orleans licenses.
Divorce and custody cases are filed in the 10th Judicial District Court, and the clerk's About page says certified copies of divorces come from its civil department. Venue for a Louisiana divorce lies in a parish where either spouse is domiciled or in the parish of the last matrimonial domicile. The court's website, 10jdc.org, has protective order information and resources for people representing themselves. For birth certificates, the clerk takes cash only; the About page lists a certified birth certificate at $34 and a birth card at $14, sold only with a certificate (October 2026). Death records from July 1, 2012, forward can be bought at the office, per the Forms page. See the guides to marriage records and divorce records.
Courts that serve Natchitoches Parish
The 10th Judicial District Court is Natchitoches Parish's own district. The clerk's Court Info page lists two divisions, A and B. Felonies from anywhere in the parish are prosecuted there.
Natchitoches City Court is the other trial court. Under R.S. 13:1952 it is domiciled in Natchitoches with one city judge and a city marshal, and the clerk's Criminal Department page says City Court has jurisdiction over misdemeanors in Ward 1. City Court keeps its own records.
Appeals go to the Court of Appeal, Third Circuit in Lake Charles, and the clerk's Civil Department prepares the appeal record. Several of Natchitoches' neighbors, including Red River, DeSoto, Bienville, and Winn, belong to the Second Circuit instead.
Visiting the Natchitoches Parish courthouse
The clerk's main office is in Room 104 of the parish courthouse at 200 Church Street in Natchitoches. The clerk's homepage gives hours of Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closures are posted on the clerk's News page; for example, the office closed on January 23, 2026, by court order because of sub-freezing weather.
Genealogy research happens in a different building. The Genealogy Office is in the Old Natchitoches Parish Courthouse, open 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., according to the Recording Department page. That courthouse, built in 1896, was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style by the architects Favrot and Livaudais.
A small address note: the clerk's contact page pairs the Church Street address with the P.O. box ZIP code, while the LCCA uses ZIP 71457 for the street address. Use the post office box for mail. Bring cash if you need a birth certificate.
Other Natchitoches Parish offices
Stuart Wright is sheriff, per the clerk's Court Info page, and the office's site is npsheriff.org. The sheriff is the parish's chief law enforcement officer, runs the jail, and collects property taxes, as every sheriff outside Orleans does. For custody lookups, see the inmate search guide.
The Natchitoches Parish Assessor's website handles valuations and exemptions. Sources checked for this guide disagreed on the current assessor's name, so none is given here. The assessors and property taxes guide explains how assessments work.
Natchitoches is governed by a Parish Council under a Home Rule Charter, with a parish president. The Natchitoches Parish Government website named John Salter as parish president in an August 13, 2026, release. The parish government guide explains the difference between a police jury and a home rule government.