About the St. James Parish Clerk of Court
Shane LeBlanc is the Clerk of Court for St. James Parish, a post the Louisiana Clerks of Court Association directory dates to July 2017. His office occupies the second floor of the parish building at 5800 LA Highway 44 in Convent, the same address the 23rd Judicial District Court gives for the St. James Parish Courthouse. The sheriff and the assessor list that address too, so several parish offices share one location.
St. James is one of the 19 original parishes created by act of the territorial legislature on March 31, 1807, before Louisiana became a state. Its first seat of government was the community of St. James on the west bank of the Mississippi River; in 1869 the seat moved across the river to what is now Convent, on the east bank. The Census counted 20,195 people in its 2020 base and estimated 19,110 in July 2024, on about 238 square miles of land.
The office's core duties come from the Louisiana Constitution, and statutes add others. The clerk is elected to a four-year term as clerk of the district court and serves ex officio as notary public and as recorder of conveyances, mortgages, and other acts. State election law adds the role of chief election officer for the parish, which is why the clerk's site carries an election information page linking to the Secretary of State's voter portal. Local and municipal candidates qualify for office with the clerk of the parish where they are registered to vote.
A Louisiana statute, R.S. 13:756.3, authorizes the St. James clerk to keep a branch office, but no branch is listed on the clerk's website, so plan on Convent. Clerks in all 64 parishes are listed in the Louisiana Clerks of Court directory.
Court records in St. James Parish
The clerk's contact page splits court work into two departments with their own lines. Civil filings answer at 225-562-2270 or 225-562-2360, and the criminal department at 225-562-2389 or 225-562-2271. The site also posts a civil filing fee schedule and, for lawyers and parties who file electronically, criminal and civil eFiling through cottfile.com with a procedure sheet in PDF form.
Remote research on court cases is limited in St. James. The clerk's Cott Systems login page says plainly that only conveyance and mortgage images are online and that no civil or criminal images are available on the internet. For a suit record, then, you will be working with the clerk's staff, either at the counter or by phone or mail. That is not a disadvantage in cost terms: Louisiana's Public Records Law forbids charging anyone simply to examine a public record, and the custodian may ask only about age and identification, plus clarifying questions about which records you want.
When a custodian doubts that a requested record is public, state law requires a written answer giving the legal basis within five business days of a written request. Some files are closed by law no matter who asks. Juvenile court records, other than traffic matters, are confidential, and an expunged record is no longer a public record, even though it continues to exist for law enforcement.
For the statewide framework, see court records in Louisiana and civil records.
Land, mortgage, and property records
Land research is where St. James is most accessible online. The clerk's Records page links two portals for conveyance and mortgage records only: a Cott Systems subscription site and the LCRAA Clerk's Portal. The Cott login page, viewed in October 2026, lists $20.00 for 24 hours, $50.00 for 30 days, $300.00 for 180 days, and $500.00 for 365 days, with copies at $1.00 per page plus a service fee of $0.30 and 3 percent per transaction.
St. James also publishes flat recording prices, which takes the guesswork out of a closing. According to the clerk's recording fee page (October 2026), recording a document of 1 to 5 pages costs $105, 6 to 25 pages $205, and 26 to 50 pages $305. Each price includes indexing up to 10 names, a certified copy, and the LCRAA portal fee. A mortgage or lien certificate is $20 for one name and one tract. Title companies can eRecord through CSC or Simplifile, both linked from the home page, and UCC filings are taken here as well.
Four parishes share a border with St. James: Ascension, Assumption, Lafourche, and St. John the Baptist. Louisiana's Civil Code puts every conveyance and mortgage in the records of the parish where the land lies, so a tract crossing one of those lines appears in two sets of books. Land that continues into Ascension is also recorded with the Ascension Parish Clerk of Court, and acreage that crosses into St. John is filed with the St. John the Baptist Parish Clerk of Court. The Louisiana property records guide explains how those books are organized.
Marriage licenses and family records
Marriage licenses and birth certificates share a dedicated line at the clerk's office, 225-562-2275. The clerk's marriage license page (viewed October 2026) lists a $35.00 fee with a certified copy, payable in cash or by money order. A printable process sheet and a fillable application are posted, and the page notes that the application may be signed before a notary or a deputy clerk.
The documents the page lists track Louisiana's statutes on marriage applications, R.S. 9:224 through 9:228. In general terms, state law calls for a certified birth certificate for each party (a Louisiana short-form birth card is acceptable) and a current photo identification such as a driver's license or passport. Once the license is issued, the couple waits 24 hours before the ceremony, and the license expires after 30 days. Covenant marriage is chosen on the application itself, with a signed declaration of intent.
Recorded marriage licenses for St. James stay with this clerk. The Louisiana Department of Health keeps marriage records only for licenses bought in Orleans Parish, and it tells people seeking a record from any other parish to contact that parish's clerk. Divorce works the same way: a St. James divorce is a 23rd Judicial District Court judgment, and the certified copy comes from Convent, not from Vital Records. Read more in the marriage records and divorce records guides.
Courts that serve St. James Parish
St. James shares the 23rd Judicial District Court with Ascension and Assumption. The court's website lists the St. James Parish Courthouse at 5800 Louisiana 44 in Convent among its sites; the district's judges' chambers and administrator are in Gonzales. No city court or parish court was found in St. James. Under the Children's Code, district courts hold original juvenile jurisdiction outside the four parishes with special juvenile courts, so juvenile cases from St. James go to the 23rd Judicial District Court.
The appeal route sets St. James apart from its own district. Under R.S. 13:312, appeals from St. James go to the Court of Appeal, Fifth Circuit in Gretna, which also hears cases from Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. John the Baptist. Ascension and Assumption appeals from the very same district court go to the First Circuit in Baton Rouge. If you are following a St. James case upward, check the circuit before assuming it matches a related case filed in Gonzales or Napoleonville.
The Fifth Circuit's own website lists its clerk's office at 101 Derbigny Street in Gretna, open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Visiting the St. James Parish courthouse
Head for the second floor at 5800 LA Highway 44 in Convent. That is where the clerk's contact page places the office, and the building also holds the courthouse used by the 23rd Judicial District Court.
The clerk's website does not post office hours or a public email address. State law sets 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. as the minimum weekday window and allows a clerk to keep longer hours, so St. James could differ; a quick call to 225-562-2270 settles it, especially before a late-afternoon recording run. The mailing address is P.O. Box 63, Convent, LA 70723.
Bring cash or a money order if you are buying a marriage license, since the clerk's page does not list cards for that fee. For a records search, a name, an approximate date, and a book and page or instrument number all help the staff find a file quickly.
Other St. James Parish offices
The Louisiana Sheriffs' Association lists Claude J. Louis Jr. as Sheriff of St. James Parish, at the same Highway 44 address in Convent (LSA directory entry). The sheriff runs the parish jail and serves court process, and as in every parish except Orleans, the sheriff also collects property taxes. See the Louisiana sheriff's offices guide for more.
Glenn M. Waguespack is the assessor; the St. James Parish Assessor's website has an "About Glenn Waguespack" section, and the Louisiana Assessors' Association lists the office at 5800 LA 44. The tax assessors guide covers assessed value and the homestead exemption.
St. James Parish Government is led by Parish President Pete Dufresne, according to a news item on its home page, with a parish council reachable through the same site.