About the Webster Parish Clerk of Court
Holli Vining has spent most of her working life in this office. Her biography on the clerk's website says she joined the Webster Parish office in 1990, won election as clerk in 2004, and has served as president of the Louisiana Clerks of Court Association. The same page notes a national Trailblazer Award she received in 2016 for her leadership in the eRecording industry.
The office sits at 410 Main Street in Minden, the parish seat, and handles the duties the state gives every district court clerk. Filings for the 26th Judicial District Court in Webster Parish come here. So do deeds, mortgages, and the other acts that make up the parish's public land records, because the clerk is ex officio recorder. The clerk also runs local elections as chief election officer: local and municipal candidates qualify with this office, and Louisiana law has the clerk hold at least one public training course each year for poll commissioners.
Webster Parish was carved out in 1871 from land that had belonged to Bienville, Bossier, and Claiborne parishes, and it is named for the statesman Daniel Webster. Census figures show 36,968 residents in the 2020 base and 35,184 in the July 2024 estimate, spread over roughly 593.3 square miles of land. Minden and Springhill each have a city court of their own.
The office publishes a separate email address for each of its main departments. According to the home page (October 2026), general questions go to websterclerk@yahoo.com, civil to webstercivil@yahoo.com, criminal to webstercriminal@yahoo.com, recording to recording@websterclerk.org, marriage and birth records to webstermarriage@yahoo.com, and child support to websterchildsupp@yahoo.com.
The directory of Louisiana clerks of court lists all 64 offices.
Court records in Webster Parish
Civil and criminal cases from Webster Parish in the 26th Judicial District Court are filed and kept here. The civil page posts an advance deposit schedule and a weekly calendar for Courtrooms A, B, and C, with court starting at 9:30 a.m. and confirmations of default heard on Tuesdays. For a fee, staff will run a civil search certificate covering 15 years; the clerk lists that at $15.00 (October 2026).
On the criminal side, the clerk offers a background search of 26th JDC records for Webster Parish only, going back ten years. That limit matters. The State Police describe Louisiana as a closed record state, so the statewide criminal history file is not open to the public, and a parish clerk's search shows only what was filed in that parish. The criminal page also says the office does not accept fax filings in criminal matters and does not supply expungement forms. Louisiana requires expungement motions to use the statutory forms in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Remote access runs through the clerk's own portal at search.websterclerk.org, linked from the Online Access page for land and civil records. It requires a login, and its prices were not visible when this page was checked, so ask the office before you sign up. The same page lists a separate criminal records search, but its link did not load when this page was checked in October 2026. The home page also invites visitors to use the Louisiana Clerks Statewide Portal for a free search of land, probate, civil, and marriage indexes, with results that point back to each parish for copies.
Juvenile proceedings are confidential under the Children's Code. For how suit records, criminal files, and public records requests work in Louisiana generally, see the guides to court records and criminal records.
Land, mortgage, and property records
The recording desk takes deeds, mortgages, liens, and cancellations, and the clerk posts cancellation forms on its Recordings page. Mortgage and lien certificates are prepared from a ten-year search. Title companies and lenders can eRecord or eFile directly with the office through the same portal used for searching; the clerk's eRecording page invites filers to start eRecording or eFiling directly with the office at that address.
Louisiana records land transactions in the parish where the property sits. Webster borders Bossier, Claiborne, and Bienville parishes, and it also meets Columbia and Lafayette counties in Arkansas. Property near the western line may need a second search with the Bossier Parish Clerk of Court in Benton, while land on the Claiborne side of the line is recorded by the Claiborne Parish Clerk of Court. The Bienville Parish Clerk of Court in Arcadia keeps the books for Webster's third Louisiana neighbor. Any Arkansas portion of a tract falls outside every Louisiana clerk's books.
Because the clerk indexes by name, people looking for a parcel by location usually start with the assessor's office, also in Minden. The property records guide explains conveyance and mortgage records statewide.
Marriage licenses and family records
Licenses are issued at the Minden office. The clerk's marriage page (October 2026) lists a $27.50 fee, cash or credit card, which is not refundable. Every applicant needs a certified birth certificate and valid identification, and the application has to be signed in the office or in front of a notary. The office suggests arriving by 4:00 p.m.
Louisiana's 24-hour waiting period, in place since August 1, 2018, applies here: the ceremony can take place no sooner than a full day after the license is issued, unless a judge or authorized justice of the peace waives it. The license is good for 30 days. The clerk's page also reminds couples that a Louisiana license works only for a wedding held in Louisiana.
Each clerk who issues licenses must keep a duplicate record of them that the public can inspect during office hours. Certified copies of a Webster marriage certificate cost $5.00 each, plus $0.50 mailing per transaction, according to the clerk. The office also prints certified birth certificates ($34) and death certificates ($26, for deaths after July 2012).
A divorce must be filed in a parish where either spouse is domiciled or where the couple last lived together as a married couple. If that parish is Webster, the judgment stays in this clerk's civil records, and certified copies come from here rather than from state Vital Records. Child support matters have their own desk and email. See the marriage records and divorce records guides for statewide rules.
Courts that serve Webster Parish
Webster and Bossier together form the 26th Judicial District Court. The court's website lists the Webster Parish Courthouse at 410 Main Street as its Minden location, with a judges' office at 318-371-1311. The clerk's links page also points to the 26th JDC Self-Help Center for people handling a case without a lawyer.
Webster has two city courts. Minden City Court handles criminal, traffic, juvenile, and civil matters within its jurisdiction, according to the City of Minden, which lists (318) 377-4308 and (318) 377-4390 for it. Springhill City Court is at 101 Machen Drive in Springhill; the city's page lists its clerk's office at 318-539-4213 and posts the court's calendar and procedures. Each city court keeps its own records, apart from the parish clerk.
Appeals from the district court go to the Court of Appeal, Second Circuit, which sits in Shreveport.
Visiting the Webster Parish courthouse
The clerk is in the Webster Parish Courthouse at 410 Main Street in downtown Minden, a building dedicated on May 1, 1953. Posted hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Police Jury works next door in the Courthouse Annex at 401 Main Street, entered from the west side.
If you are summoned for jury duty, the clerk's jury page says jurors are paid $25 per day, with mileage for those who live outside Minden city limits; the Police Jury funds the payments and the clerk issues them. The clerk's website does not describe parking or entrances, so call ahead if you need accessibility details.
Under Louisiana's Public Records Law, anyone of the age of majority may inspect public records, and a custodian cannot charge simply for looking. If a request is denied or goes unanswered for five business days, the law lets the requester sue in the district court of the parish where the custodian's office is located.
Other Webster Parish offices
The sheriff is the parish's tax collector as well as its chief law enforcement officer. The Louisiana Sheriffs' Association's Webster Parish listing names Jason Parker as sheriff, at 410 Main Street, phone 318-377-1515. The assessor's office confirms that parish taxes are paid to the sheriff. For jail searches and how sheriffs operate statewide, see sheriff's offices and inmate search.
Denise Edwards, CLA, is the assessor. Her office's website places the main office at 103 South Monroe Street in Minden, in the former Arkla Gas building next to the post office, with a satellite office at 110 Industrial Park Drive in Cullen. Assessments can be appealed first to the parish governing authority, then the Louisiana Tax Commission, then the courts; the tax assessors guide covers the process.
The Webster Parish Police Jury is the parish government, reachable at (318) 377-7564. More on police juries is in the parish government guide.