Louisiana civil records (lawsuits, judgments, successions, and the other non-criminal cases heard in a district court) are kept by the clerk of court in the parish where the case was filed. You can look up many of them through the clerks' eClerks LA portal or a parish clerk's subscription search, then get plain or certified copies from that clerk's office in person or by written request. City courts keep their own files, so a civil case filed in a city court is requested from that court's clerk instead.
What counts as a civil record
A civil case is any dispute or court proceeding that is not a criminal prosecution. The Orleans clerk's home page gives a plain list of what lands in its Civil Division: personal injury and accident suits, successions, foreclosures, and domestic matters such as divorce and child support. Clerks in smaller parishes describe a similar range. The Rapides clerk's Civil Department handles civil suits, Clerk's suits, adoptions, and successions, while a separate Appeal Department prepares appeals. The Avoyelles clerk's fee page lists advance deposits for suits, successions, tutorships, and adoptions.
Inside a civil file you will usually find:
- The petition that started the case, with the names of the parties and what was asked for.
- Citations and service returns, showing who was served and when.
- Later pleadings and exhibits, such as answers, motions, memoranda, and attachments.
- Minutes and orders recording what the judge did at each step.
- The judgment, which is often the document people actually need.
Successions, the estate proceedings opened after a death, are civil records too; the Orleans clerk handles them at the same docket station as probate matters, and its Civil Division page says wills are filed with the clerk along with suits and pleadings. The Orleans Land Records Division also lists judgments of possession among the documents it records with property records, so a title search can lead back to a succession. For a parish-by-parish example, the Natchitoches Parish Clerk of Court puts civil and probate records online from January 1, 2000.
Some money judgments show up outside the suit record too. Vernon's recording page, for example, describes its online index as covering "Mortgages, Judgments, and Conveyances" (the page gives start years of both 1961 and 1971). If you are researching whether a judgment affects someone's property, it is worth checking both the suit index and the land records described on the Louisiana property records page.
Which court and which clerk
Most civil cases are in the district court, which has original jurisdiction over civil matters (Louisiana Constitution art. V, §16), and its records are kept by the elected clerk of the district court for that parish (art. V, §28). The Louisiana courts overview shows how the district courts, courts of appeal, and Supreme Court fit together. A few situations point you somewhere else:
- City courts. The Louisiana Supreme Court's 2025 Annual Report counts 48 city courts statewide, and its Guide to Louisiana Courts lists city court clerks, for example the clerk and court administrator of Alexandria City Court.
- Clerk's suits in the district court. Some district clerks run a small-claims style docket of their own. The Natchitoches clerk's Civil Department says a clerk's suit there cannot exceed $5,000.00 plus costs and interest and listed a $350 total filing fee when viewed in October 2026.
- Parish courts. Ascension Parish Court and the First and Second Parish Courts of Jefferson Parish are the state's three parish courts.
- East Baton Rouge family matters. The Family Court for the parish of East Baton Rouge has exclusive jurisdiction over divorce, annulment, support, custody and visitation, and community property partition between spouses (La. R.S. 13:1401). The East Baton Rouge clerk's Family Processing Department receives the filed pleadings in those cases.
- Appeals. When a civil judgment is appealed, the filings in the appeal go to the court of appeal's clerk. Each of the five circuit courts of appeal has its own clerk.
Searching civil records online
Louisiana law required every district clerk to join the Louisiana Clerks' Remote Access Authority by July 1, 2020, and that authority runs the eClerks LA portal (La. R.S. 13:754). eClerks LA says its Statewide Portal is free, though it requires an account login, and it searches "Civil, Family and Probate Court Records" along with land records and marriage licenses, with links to all 64 parish index services. Viewing images usually means buying a subscription to that parish's system through eClerks LA's Parish Search.
Clerks' own systems often reach further back. A sample, as each clerk's site described it in October 2026:
- Rapides. RAPID E-Search covers civil and probate suits with an index from October 1984 and images from March 1994. Subscriptions were listed at $20.00 per day, $60.00 per month, or $600.00 per year, plus printing charges. Redacted copies can be ordered online and stay available for 30 days; certified copies must be requested in person or by mail.
- Natchitoches. Civil and probate cases from January 1, 2000 are on Clerk Connect, with fees shown on that site, and the clerk says all of its records are available for review daily in its office.
- Grant. The clerk's quick links include a Clerk Connect civil records search.
- East Baton Rouge. The clerk's site links separate Clerk Connect searches for civil records and court dates.
A search result gives you a suit number and the parties' names. Write those down, because the clerk's staff will ask for them when you order copies. The Rapides Parish Clerk of Court and Grant Parish Clerk of Court pages show where each office's search lives.
Copies, searches, and fees
You do not have to know a suit number to get help, but you may pay for a search without one. Posted examples from October 2026:
| Parish | Copy fee | Certification | Name search |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rapides | $1.00 per page for civil suit copies | $5.00 | $20.00 for one name in one index, $10.00 per name variation |
| Natchitoches | $1.00 per page for civil and probate files | (not stated on the civil page) | $10.00 per name, requested in writing and paid in advance |
State law sets ceilings for some of these charges. In civil matters, R.S. 13:841(A) caps a district clerk's charge at five dollars to certify a copy, one dollar per page for copies, and three dollars for a conformed copy, and clerks may charge less. Other statutes can add separate charges, so the clerk's posted schedule is what you will actually pay.
The Public Records Law adds a few protections. No one may charge you just to examine or review a public record, fee schedules must be posted, payment may be required in advance, and custodians may provide copies free or at reduced cost to indigent citizens (R.S. 44:32(C)). The Rapides clerk accepts copy requests only in writing or in person, never by phone, and asks for a self-addressed stamped envelope with mailed requests.
What is public in a civil file
Civil case records held by a clerk are generally open. The Louisiana Constitution protects the right to examine public documents except where the law provides otherwise (art. XII, §3), and any person may obtain a copy of a public record subject to the chapter's exceptions (R.S. 44:31). When you ask, the custodian may ask only your age and for identification and may ask clarifying questions about what you want (R.S. 44:32(A)). The East Baton Rouge clerk's notice says its civil records are open for examination in the office where they are filed, with no appointment needed and no charge to look.
Not everything in a civil courthouse is open. Juvenile court proceedings are confidential under Children's Code article 412, and individual documents can be withheld when a law or court order requires it. If a clerk believes something you asked for is not public, it must give you a written explanation citing the legal basis within five business days of a written request (R.S. 44:32(D)). Divorce files are civil records too; the Louisiana divorce records page covers them in detail, and the Louisiana court records page covers the rules that apply to every case type.
Orleans Parish civil records
Orleans is the one parish with a stand-alone Civil District Court, separate from its Criminal District Court. The clerk of court for the parish of Orleans (the single Orleans clerk since Act 15 of 2026 took effect) runs a Civil Division at 421 Loyola Avenue (Room 402 on the clerk's hours and locations page), where suits, pleadings, exhibits, wills, and promissory notes for Civil District Court cases are filed. The clerk's departments page sorts the work into docket stations:
- Docket 1, Successions: successions and probate, tutorships, interdictions, emancipations, and civil judicial commitments.
- Docket 4, Writs and Seizures: garnishments, executory process, preliminary defaults and default confirmations, sequestrations, foreclosures, and execution of judgments.
- Docket 5, Domestic: separations, divorces, custody rules, name changes, injunctions, and election suits.
- Appeals: everything relating to an appeal from the Civil District Court.
The clerk's Online Records subscription gives access to the civil remote access system, with clerk data entry from 1985 and images back to 2010, and lets subscribers request images not yet online. It cost $20.00 for 24 hours, $100.00 for 30 days, or $700.00 for a year when viewed in October 2026, and printing or downloading images requires a separately funded escrow account. Public records requests go to the clerk's published email address. The clerk's pages listed weekday hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and its home page announced hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. starting November 9, 2026.
Orleans also has a First City Court and a Second City Court, each with its own clerk. The Louisiana Clerks of Court Association lists the First City Court clerk's office at 421 Loyola Avenue, Room 201. The Orleans Parish Clerk of Court page has the current contact details.