Louisiana district court records are kept by the elected clerk of court in the parish where the case was filed, so the most direct official route to a case file is that parish clerk's office or the clerk's own online index. City courts, the five courts of appeal, and the Louisiana Supreme Court each keep their own records through their own clerks. There is no single public website that searches every Louisiana court case, but the clerks' eClerks LA portal indexes civil, family, and probate filings across parishes, and the Louisiana Clerks of Court directory lists the office for each of the 64 parishes.
Which office keeps Louisiana court records
The Louisiana Constitution provides for a clerk of the district court to be elected in every parish for a four-year term (art. V, §28). The district court has original jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters, with some exceptions, and exclusive original jurisdiction over felony cases (art. V, §16). The clerk records pleadings, original documents, and judgments, either in bound books or by photographic or electronic means, and a certified copy made from that record can stand in for a lost or destroyed original (La. R.S. 13:914).
That parish-by-parish design matters when you go looking for a file. Several judicial districts cover more than one parish. The 7th Judicial District, for example, covers Catahoula and Concordia, and the 16th covers St. Mary, Iberia, and St. Martin. Each of those parishes still elects its own clerk, so a case is found in the clerk's office of the parish where it was filed, not at a single district office. Rapides is the only parish in the 9th Judicial District Court, so the Rapides Parish Clerk of Court keeps that court's files, while the Catahoula Parish Clerk of Court keeps only the Catahoula side of the 7th District's work.
Other courts keep separate records:
- City courts. The Louisiana Supreme Court's 2025 Annual Report counts 48 city courts. Its Guide to Louisiana Courts lists city courts with their own clerks or clerk and court administrators, Alexandria City Court among them. A case heard in a city court is requested from that court's clerk.
- Parish courts. There are three: Ascension Parish Court and the First and Second Parish Courts of Jefferson Parish.
- Mayor's courts and justices of the peace. The same report counts roughly 250 mayor's courts and roughly 382 justices of the peace. Where a case was heard depends on local arrangements. The Grant Parish clerk's criminal department page says misdemeanors that occur within city limits there are handled in the municipal courts, and the Natchitoches clerk says Natchitoches City Court hears Ward 1 misdemeanors while felonies anywhere in the parish go to the 10th Judicial District Court.
- Juvenile and family courts. Special juvenile courts exist in Caddo, Orleans, Jefferson, and East Baton Rouge. East Baton Rouge also has the state's only family court.
- Appeals. If a case was appealed, the filings in the appeal are with the clerk of the circuit court of appeal (seated in Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lake Charles, New Orleans, and Gretna) or by the clerk of the Louisiana Supreme Court in New Orleans. The Louisiana courts overview explains how those courts connect.
Each kind of case has its own quirks. The Louisiana civil records page covers lawsuits, judgments, and successions, and the Louisiana divorce records page explains where divorce judgments are kept and how to get a certified copy.
Searching court records online
Online access in Louisiana runs through two layers.
eClerks LA. A state law creates the Louisiana Clerks' Remote Access Authority (LCRAA) to run a statewide portal for remote access to records held by its member clerks (La. R.S. 13:754). Every district clerk had to join by July 1, 2020, and the statute directed every clerk to facilitate electronic filing, recording, and remote access through the LCRAA portal by January 1, 2026. The portal is eClerks LA. Its Statewide Portal, which it calls free, sits behind an account login and searches indexes of land records, marriage licenses, and "Civil, Family and Probate Court Records," with links to all 64 parish index services. Viewing and printing document images is a separate step: eClerks LA's Parish Search is where users buy subscriptions to an individual parish's system. Records pulled from the portal may not be resold, posted on another website, or redistributed (R.S. 13:754(H)).
The clerk's own system. Some clerks also run or link a subscription search with deeper history. A few examples, as published on the clerks' own sites when viewed in October 2026:
| Parish | System named on the clerk's site | What it covers for court cases |
|---|---|---|
| Rapides | RAPID E-Search | Civil and probate index from October 1984 with images from March 1994; criminal index from January 1984 with bill of information images from May 2003 |
| Natchitoches | Clerk Connect | Civil and probate from January 1, 2000; criminal from January 1, 2007 |
| Avoyelles | eSearch (Cott Systems) | Land records; the login page states that no criminal information is available on the site |
| East Baton Rouge | Clerk Connect | Separate civil records, criminal records, and court date searches |
Keep in mind what an online index is. An index entry tells you a case exists and gives you a suit or docket number. It is not a certified copy; the Rapides clerk, for example, says certified copies must be requested in person or by mail.
How to request copies
Most people get court documents by visiting or writing to the clerk's office. By statute, each district clerk keeps the office open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, except legal holidays and public emergencies, and may open earlier or stay later (La. R.S. 13:756). Hours do change, so check the parish page in the clerks of court directory before you go.
What the Public Records Law says about the visit itself:
- The custodian may ask only about your age and identification, may have you sign a register, and may ask questions to clarify which records you want (R.S. 44:32(A)).
- A record that is immediately available must be presented right away. If it is in active use, the custodian must say so in writing and set a time within three business days (R.S. 44:33(B)(1)).
- No fee may be charged simply to examine or review a public record. Copy fees must be reasonable and posted, may be required in advance, and may be waived or reduced for indigent citizens (R.S. 44:32(C)).
- You cannot bring in your own copier or scanner. The law prohibits placing imaging, reproduction, or photocopying equipment in a clerk's office unless a court orders it (R.S. 44:32(C)(1)(c)).
For civil matters, R.S. 13:841(A) caps certain district clerk charges at five dollars to certify a copy, one dollar per page for copies, and three dollars for a conformed copy, though other statutes add separate charges. Actual posted fees vary. The Rapides clerk lists civil suit copies at $1.00 per page plus $5.00 for certification and $20.00 for a one-name, one-index search, and the Natchitoches clerk lists civil searches at $10.00 per name, criminal searches at $20.00 per name, and copies at $1.00 per page (both as posted in October 2026).
Clerks also take requests by mail, and some accept them by email. The Rapides clerk accepts copy requests only in writing or in person, not by phone, and asks that mailed requests include a self-addressed stamped envelope. The East Baton Rouge clerk names its records custodian on its home page and takes public records requests by email. Whatever the method, include the names of the parties, the suit or docket number if you have it, the approximate year, and whether you need plain or certified copies.
What is public and what is not
The Louisiana Constitution says no person may be denied the right to examine public documents "except in cases established by law" (art. XII, §3). Under R.S. 44:31, any person may obtain a copy of a public record, and the custodian bears the burden of proving a record is not open. The East Baton Rouge clerk's public records notice puts it in practical terms: its civil, criminal, traffic, marriage license, and mortgage and conveyance records are open for examination where they are filed, inspection is free, and patrons pay only for copies.
Some court records are closed by law:
- Juvenile court records. Records and reports in juvenile court proceedings, other than traffic violations, are confidential (Children's Code art. 412). The East Baton Rouge clerk notes that access to juvenile records is under the juvenile court's control and may require a petition to that court.
- Expunged records. An expunged record is confidential and no longer a public record, with listed exceptions for law enforcement, court orders, the person and counsel, and certain licensing boards (Code of Criminal Procedure art. 973).
- State criminal history files. Records held by the State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information are excepted from the Public Records Law, except the sex offender registry (R.S. 44:3(A)(7)). See Louisiana criminal records for how the court file differs from the state history.
If a clerk believes a requested record is not public, it must give you a written determination citing the legal basis within five business days of a written request (R.S. 44:32(D)). A person who is denied, or who gets no answer in that time, may sue in the district court of the parish where the custodian's office is located (R.S. 44:35).
Orleans Parish court records
Orleans is organized differently from the other 63 parishes. It has a Civil District Court and a Criminal District Court instead of one district court with both kinds of cases; the clerk's Civil Division page describes the two as "legally distinct and located in separate buildings." See the Orleans Parish district courts page for how they fit together.
Since May 4, 2026, Orleans has one clerk. Act 15 of the 2026 Regular Session abolished the separate office of clerk of criminal district court at the end of May 3, 2026 and moved its records and duties to the clerk of the civil district court, now called the clerk of court for the parish of Orleans. The Criminal District Court itself continues.
- Civil cases (lawsuits, successions, foreclosures, divorces, child support) are filed with the clerk's Civil Division at 421 Loyola Avenue, Room 402, according to the clerk's hours and locations page. The clerk sells an Online Records subscription that includes civil data entry from 1985 and images back to 2010.
- State criminal cases (felony and misdemeanor) are requested from the clerk's office at 2700 Tulane Avenue, Room 114, according to the Criminal District Court's document request page, which also says the court's judicial administrator does not keep case records.
- Municipal and traffic cases belong to the Municipal and Traffic Court at 727 South Broad Street.
- First and Second City Courts keep their own records through their own clerks.
Parts of the Orleans clerk's websites still show the older two-clerk structure, so a site may lag the law. The Orleans Parish Clerk of Court page collects the current offices.