About the St. Landry Parish Clerk of Court
The St. Landry Parish Clerk of Court keeps public records reaching back more than two centuries. Its archives page lists conveyances from 1805, marriage licenses and probate records from 1807, and civil district suits from 1813. Colonial documents of the Opelousas Post, from 1764 to 1805, were kept on microfilm and are now at the State Archives, according to the same page. The clerk also notes that, before the mid-1800s, St. Landry's records covered ground that later became other parishes, and the page names Acadia, Evangeline, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, and Cameron among them.
Charles Jagneaux is the clerk. The Louisiana Clerks of Court Association (LCCA) directory dates his tenure to January 1991. The office is elective under Article V, Section 28 of the Louisiana Constitution, with a four-year term, and the clerk serves as ex officio notary public and as recorder of conveyances, mortgages, and other acts for the parish. The clerk's elections page describes his role as chief election officer and says the office opens at 5:00 a.m. on election day.
St. Landry is named for Saint Landry, and the state's Local Louisiana page lists Opelousas as the seat and Eunice as the parish's other city. The parish counted 82,549 residents in the 2020 Census base and an estimated 80,869 in July 2024, on about 924 square miles of land. The founding year is left out here on purpose, because the sources consulted give conflicting dates.
All other parish clerks are in the Louisiana Clerks of Court directory.
Court records in St. Landry Parish
Court filings go to the Courts Division, in Suite 121 on the first floor of the courthouse. According to the clerk's overview page, that division handles civil, probate and succession, adoption, criminal, traffic, juvenile, and non-support suits. Its suit indexes go back to the beginning of the parish, and document images start in 1997. Juvenile and adoption records are confidential. The Courts Division is extension 5113 at the main number and has its own fax, 337-948-1653.
For online access, the clerk sends court users to ClerkConnect, which the clerk's registration page describes as access to civil, criminal, traffic, and family records. The clerk's registration page (viewed October 2026) lists one day at $20, 30 days at $50, or 365 days at $600, each with printing at $1.00 per page. Because the division's document images start in 1997, an older case file will usually mean a request to the office.
The archives and research room is Room 11, in the courthouse basement, reachable at extension 5151. That is where the early suits and probate records described above are kept.
Louisiana's Public Records Law gives any adult the right to inspect public records and any person the right to a copy, subject to exceptions set in law, and the custodian may require reasonable fees for copies but not for simply looking. If a record is in active use, the custodian has to say so in writing and set a time within three business days to view it. Confidential categories still apply: the Children's Code closes juvenile court records, other than traffic violations, and an expunged record is withdrawn from public access.
For how these pieces fit together across the state, read the guides to court records, civil records, and criminal records.
Land, mortgage, and property records
Land Records (extension 5121) handles mortgages and conveyances and issues several kinds of certificates: real estate, general, clear lien, chattel, and UCC, according to the clerk's mortgage types page. The recording desk has its own fax, 337-948-7265.
Remote land research runs through eClerks LA, and the clerk's page says that service "is for Land Records only." Rates listed in October 2026 are $20 for one day, $50 for 30 days, and $500 for 365 days, with $1.00 per printed page, and the subscription includes both the index and images. Note that the yearly price differs from ClerkConnect's, so pick the service that matches the records you need. No e-recording page or statement turned up on the clerk's site, so ask the office how it accepts electronic filings.
St. Landry touches six parishes, and one of them sits in a different appeal circuit. The Civil Code records each sale or mortgage in the parish where the land is located, so a tract along the line needs the right clerk. The city of Eunice spills into Acadia Parish, so property there may belong with the Acadia Parish Clerk of Court in Crowley. Other lines run with the Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court, the Evangeline Parish Clerk of Court in Ville Platte, the Avoyelles Parish Clerk of Court in Marksville, the St. Martin Parish Clerk of Court, and the Pointe Coupee Parish Clerk of Court in New Roads. For very old titles in neighboring parishes, the St. Landry archives may hold the first links in the chain.
The property records guide explains statewide conveyance and mortgage rules.
Marriage licenses and family records
Marriage licenses are issued from Suite 206, at extensions 5128 and 5126. The clerk's marriage page (viewed October 2026) lists a total of $32.50, made up of the $27.50 license and a $5.00 souvenir certificate, and the office takes cash only. A certified copy is $7.00, and a mailed copy is $7.00 plus postage.
Each party needs a birth certificate or birth card bearing the raised state seal, along with a photo ID. Documents in a foreign language must be translated by the consulate, and the clerk cites R.S. 13:3725 for that rule. If only one person comes in, that applicant must bring both parties' documents and a marriage application carrying both parties' notarized signature affidavit.
Plan the timing around state law. The license has to be obtained at least 24 hours before the ceremony, which is Louisiana's waiting period, and it expires 30 days from the date and time it was issued. A judge or authorized justice of the peace can waive the 24-hour wait for serious and meritorious reasons. After the wedding, the signed license goes back to the clerk of the parish that issued it, so a certified copy of a St. Landry marriage comes from Opelousas, not from the state.
Divorce judgments are part of the 27th Judicial District Court record, and Louisiana's Vital Records office does not issue divorce decrees. A certified copy comes from the clerk in the parish that granted the divorce. The clerk also issues birth certificates (extension 5161) and death certificates. More is in the marriage records guide and the divorce records guide.
Courts that serve St. Landry Parish
St. Landry Parish alone makes up the 27th Judicial District Court, under R.S. 13:477. The clerk's site lists four divisions, A through D, sitting in Opelousas. No official court website could be found, and the 27thjdc.org address did not resolve during research, so the clerk's office is the source for case information.
Two city courts serve parts of the parish. Opelousas City Court covers Ward 1, and the clerk lists its phone as 337-948-2570, extension 5100. Eunice City Court covers Ward 6, phone 337-457-6535, and under R.S. 13:1952 its territory also includes the part of Eunice that lies in Acadia Parish. The clerk's site gives these contacts but does not describe city court records, so ask each court directly about its files.
St. Landry's appeals go to the Court of Appeal, Third Circuit in Lake Charles. Neighboring Pointe Coupee is the exception on the parish's borders: it belongs to the 18th Judicial District and appeals to the First Circuit in Baton Rouge.
Visiting the St. Landry Parish courthouse
The clerk's administrative office is at 118 South Court Street, Suite 207, in Opelousas, and the different counters are spread across the building: the Courts Division in Suite 121 on the first floor, marriage licenses in Suite 206, and the archives in Room 11 in the basement. Knowing the suite number before you arrive saves a walk.
The clerk's site does not list office hours. Louisiana law sets the default for clerks at 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and allows longer hours, so call 337-942-5606 to confirm. State law lets the St. Landry clerk establish a branch office in the parish's sixth ward that may issue marriage licenses, accept passport applications, and take civil filings (R.S. 13:756.7). The clerk's site does not mention a branch, and this page could not confirm that one is open, so plan on Opelousas unless the office tells you otherwise.
Passport applications are accepted at extension 5107. The clerk's passport page lists a $35 clerk fee and encourages appointments. For mail, use P.O. Box 750; the clerk's contact page gives the ZIP code as 70571, while the LCCA directory lists 70570.
Researchers should note one technical quirk: the clerk's website at stlandry.org loads normally in a browser but has refused some automated requests, so try a regular browser if a link seems broken.
Other St. Landry Parish offices
Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz heads the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office, according to the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association; its site is slpsheriff.com. As in every parish but Orleans, the sheriff is also the tax collector. The sheriff's offices guide and inmate search guide have more.
The St. Landry Parish Assessor runs a property search site at stlandryassessor.org. The current officeholder's name was not verified for this page. See the assessors guide.
St. Landry is governed under a home rule charter. Voters approved it in October 2002, and the parish government began operating under it on January 12, 2004, with a Parish President and a Parish Council. Jessie M. Bellard is Parish President, according to the official site at stlandrypg.org. Unofficial look-alike sites exist, so use stlandrypg.org. The parish government guide explains home rule.