About the West Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court
Amanda Gross Thies became Clerk of Court for West Baton Rouge Parish on July 1, 2024, at the start of her first term. Her biography on the clerk's website says she came to the job from inside the courthouse, having served as Chief Deputy Clerk and, before that, as a judicial law clerk in the 18th Judicial District Court. The office is an elected four-year post under the Louisiana Constitution, which also makes the clerk an ex officio notary public and the recorder of conveyances and mortgages for the parish. The clerk's home page notes that the clerk is responsible for the operations of all elections held in the parish, the practical side of the clerk's statutory role as chief election officer.
West Baton Rouge covers about 192.3 square miles of land, and its population rose from 27,201 in the 2020 Census base to an estimated 28,425 in July 2024. Port Allen, the parish seat, sits on the west bank of the Mississippi River across from Baton Rouge, and both parishes take their name from the French for "red stick." Wikipedia dates the parish's founding to March 31, 1807.
The office organizes its counter work into three departments. Civil covers adoptions, appeals, civil filings and minutes, jury service, probate, returns, and searches. Criminal handles criminal filings and minutes for the 18th JDC in this parish, subpoenas and bench warrants, expungements, and searches. Recording takes conveyance and mortgage recordings and UCC filings, and it also issues marriage licenses and processes passports.
Port Allen's office is listed with every other parish clerk in the Louisiana Clerks of Court directory.
Court records in West Baton Rouge Parish
Court records here are split across two online systems, and knowing which one holds what saves time. Civil suits and probate moved to Clerk Connect on June 19, 2024, according to the clerk's home page, and civil images on the old system are no longer updated. Earlier subscribers were told to open a Clerk Connect account. Civil e-filing also runs through Clerk Connect, which describes itself as a subscription service; the West Baton Rouge site does not post its prices.
Criminal records stay on a separate system, ClerkNet, at search.wbrclerk.org. The clerk's public records page says it covers criminal records and traffic violations processed through the 18th JDC, and criminal e-filing goes through the same portal. Users log in or create an account; the terms are not described on the clerk's site.
The clerk's fee page (viewed October 2026) lists an advance deposit schedule effective July 1, 2026. An original petition with no service or with one service requires $350, while a petition for divorce, or an original petition with a temporary restraining order or rule, requires $475. Certified copies are $5 per item, conformed copies $3, and copies a customer makes $1 per page. The Civil page also links 18th JDC forms for self-represented litigants and for the district's hearing officer.
Louisiana law allows any person to obtain a copy of a public record, with exceptions, and a custodian who doubts that a record is public has to explain why in writing within five business days of a written request. Juvenile proceedings and expunged records are among the exceptions. The court records guide and the criminal records guide cover these rules in more depth.
Land, mortgage, and property records
Land records use a third system. The clerk's home page links "LAND RECORDS & eRecord" to an eSearch site hosted by Cott Systems. According to the clerk's public records page, it offers conveyance, mortgage, and map indexes, plus miscellaneous indexes for marriages, oaths of office, and charters. Images of most conveyance, mortgage, and map records "may be purchased online." Pricing is not posted on the clerk's site. The same page describes eClerks LA, the statewide portal that indexes conveyance and mortgage records in participating parishes, and the site promotes the free eClerks Alert service, which watches land records for new filings under a name.
Recording fees follow Act 173 of 2017. The clerk's fee page (October 2026) lists $105 for a document of 1 to 5 pages and $205 for 6 to 25 pages.
West Baton Rouge touches five parishes. A sale near the Pointe Coupee line may also need a search with the Pointe Coupee Parish Clerk of Court in New Roads, while a tract straddling the Iberville line also belongs in the books of the Iberville Parish Clerk of Court in Plaquemine. Property on the East Baton Rouge side of the parish line belongs to the East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court in Baton Rouge. Under Civil Code article 3346, an instrument affecting land goes in the records of the parish where the land is located. The property records guide explains the rest.
Marriage licenses and family records
The Recording Department issues West Baton Rouge marriage licenses. According to the clerk's marriage license page (October 2026), the license costs $35, and applicants can fill out the application online through the clerk's Cott marriage portal or on a public computer in the office at 850 8th Street; blank paper forms are available too. One party signs and swears to the application before a deputy clerk or a notary. The page makes an exception for members of the U.S. armed forces, who can apply with a copy of the absent party's military ID.
The page asks for Social Security numbers (non-citizens can use a passport or a visa with Form I-94), certified birth certificates, valid identification, and details about any prior marriage. The license must be issued at least 24 hours before the ceremony and expires 30 days after issuance, in line with state law. A judge or justice of the peace may waive the 24-hour delay for serious and meritorious reasons. After the ceremony, the officiant returns the completed copies to the issuing clerk within ten days, and the clerk sends a copy on to the state registrar.
Certified copies of marriage records come from the clerk, since the state Vital Records Registry holds marriage records only for Orleans Parish licenses. Divorces, custody, and support cases are filed in the 18th JDC, whose website lists a family court section. Read more in marriage records and divorce records.
Courts that serve West Baton Rouge Parish
The 18th Judicial District Court serves West Baton Rouge together with Iberville and Pointe Coupee parishes, and the three share four judges in Divisions A through D. According to the Iberville clerk's list of judges, Division B sits at the West Baton Rouge Courthouse, 850 8th Street in Port Allen, the same address as this clerk, and the district's hearing officer works from 750 Louisiana Avenue in Port Allen. The court's website lists a family court section, a drug court, probation programs, CASA, and Families in Need of Services (FINS).
Port Allen City Court (Ward III) is a separate court at 330 S. Alexander Avenue, with its own website at portallencitycourt.com, a phone of (225) 346-4702, online traffic fine payments, and a warrant search. The City of Port Allen says court is held each Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. Questions about a city court ticket or case go to that court's own office and website.
When a West Baton Rouge case is appealed, it goes across to the Court of Appeal, First Circuit in Baton Rouge.
Visiting the West Baton Rouge Parish courthouse
The clerk's office is in the West Baton Rouge Courthouse at 850 8th Street in Port Allen. The Louisiana Sheriffs' Association gives 850 Eighth Street as the sheriff's street address too, and Division B of the 18th JDC holds court in the same building. Posted hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, according to the clerk's office hours and holidays page, which also lists the days the office closes.
Marriage applicants who did not apply from home can use the public computers in the office to fill out the online application. For faxes, the contact page gives a main number and an alternate, 225-490-0046, to use if the main fax returns an error.
Other West Baton Rouge Parish offices
The Louisiana Sheriffs' Association lists Jeff Bergeron as West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff, with a business line of 225-343-9234 and the office online at wbrsheriff.org. Like sheriffs in every parish except Orleans, he is also the collector of state and parish property taxes. See Louisiana sheriff's offices for what that office does.
Christopher P. "Chris" Guerin, CLA, is the assessor. The assessor's website has a parcel search, digital maps, qualified sales data, and homestead exemption applications. The assessors guide explains assessed value and appeals.
West Baton Rouge Parish Government is led by a parish president, Jason Manola, and a parish council, at wbrparish.org. West Baton Rouge uses a president and council; the parish government guide explains the other forms.