A Louisiana divorce is granted by a court judgment, so the divorce record is kept by the clerk of court in the parish where the divorce was granted, and that clerk is where you get a certified copy of the judgment. The Louisiana Department of Health's Vital Records office does not issue certified copies of divorce decrees. In East Baton Rouge Parish divorces are heard by a separate family court, and in Orleans they are filed with the Civil Division of the clerk of court for the parish of Orleans.
Where Louisiana divorce records are kept
LDH answers this question in its own FAQ: "Louisiana Vital Records does not issue certified copies of divorce decrees. You must obtain a certified copy of a divorce decree from the Clerk of Court office in the parish where the divorce was granted." That makes the divorce file a court record like any other civil case, kept by the elected clerk of the district court for that parish.
The harder part is often figuring out which parish. Under the Code of Civil Procedure, a divorce or annulment must be brought in a parish where either spouse is domiciled or in the parish of the last matrimonial domicile, and that rule cannot be waived (art. 3941). So a divorce could be in any of several parishes: where one spouse lived when the suit was filed, where the other lived, or where the couple last lived together. If you are not sure, check each likely parish.
Two parishes route divorce cases differently:
- East Baton Rouge. The Family Court for the parish of East Baton Rouge has exclusive jurisdiction over divorce, annulment, support, custody and visitation, and partition of community property between spouses (La. R.S. 13:1401). The East Baton Rouge clerk's Family Processing Department receives the filed pleadings in Family Court matters, so the East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court is the office to contact for those files.
- Orleans. Divorces are filed in the Civil District Court, and the clerk's home page says domestic matters "such as divorce and child support" are handled in its Civil Division. More detail is below.
Everywhere else, divorces are heard in the district court along with other civil cases. The Louisiana civil records page explains how those files are organized and searched.
What a divorce file contains
Knowing the parts of a divorce file helps you ask for the right document. Under the Civil Code, a marriage ends by the death of a spouse, by divorce, by a judicial declaration of nullity of a relatively null marriage, or by a court order authorizing the spouse of a person presumed dead to remarry (art. 101). For ordinary (non-covenant) marriages, the Civil Code sets out two routes to a divorce:
- After a separation period, by rule to show cause (art. 102). One spouse files a petition, and after the required time has passed since service, a spouse files a motion (a rule to show cause) proving the couple has lived separate and apart for that period.
- On a petition with proof of grounds (art. 103). The petition proves living separate and apart for the required period before filing, adultery, a felony sentence of death or imprisonment at hard labor, physical or sexual abuse of the spouse or a child of either spouse during the marriage, or a protective order or injunction issued during the marriage after a contradictory hearing or consent decree.
The required period is in article 103.1: "One hundred eighty days where there are no minor children of the marriage" and "Three hundred sixty-five days when there are minor children of the marriage" at the time of filing. Covenant marriages follow different rules; R.S. 9:272 says divorce from a covenant marriage is available only on the grounds listed in R.S. 9:307, and it cannot be ended by mutual consent. This page describes the record-keeping side only and is not a guide to whether any particular divorce can be granted.
What most people need from the file is the signed judgment of divorce. Related matters such as support, custody, and partition of community property may appear in the same suit or in separate filings; R.S. 13:1401 lists all of them within the East Baton Rouge Family Court's jurisdiction. Divorce judgments can also turn up in research indexes: the Grant Parish clerk's Research Department, which helps the public research property records, says "separation and divorce judgments" are among the records accessible through its index, dating back to 1843.
How to request a copy of a divorce judgment
Gather the details. The clerk's staff will look for the names of both spouses, the approximate year of filing, and the suit or docket number if you have it. The clerk may ask your age and for identification and may ask questions to clarify which records you want, but those are the only questions the Public Records Law allows about you (R.S. 44:32(A)).
Search the index. The clerks' eClerks LA Statewide Portal indexes "Civil, Family and Probate Court Records" across parishes. The search is free with an account; images generally require a subscription to that parish's system. Some parish systems reach back decades. In October 2026, the Rapides clerk's RAPID E-Search listed a civil and probate suit index from October 1984 with images from March 1994, and it lets subscribers order redacted copies online.
Ask for the right kind of copy. A plain copy is a photocopy. A certified copy carries the clerk's certification. For civil matters, R.S. 13:841(A) caps a district clerk's charge at five dollars to certify a copy and one dollar per page for copies, and clerks may charge less, though other statutes can add separate charges. Posted examples from October 2026: the Rapides clerk listed 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 listed civil searches at $10.00 per name, requested in writing and paid in advance, with copies at $1.00 per page.
Send or bring the request. Most clerks accept requests in person or in writing. The Rapides clerk takes copy requests only in writing or in person, never by phone, and wants a self-addressed stamped envelope with mailed requests; it also says certified copies must be requested in person or by mail rather than through its online system. The Rapides Parish Clerk of Court and Natchitoches Parish Clerk of Court pages show how to reach those offices, and the Louisiana Clerks of Court directory lists all 64.
Costs to file a divorce are a different matter from costs to copy one. The Vernon clerk, for example, posted an advance deposit of $400.00 for a divorce without custody in its civil schedule beginning April 2025. The Vernon Parish Clerk of Court page links that office.
Are Louisiana divorce records public?
Divorce suits are part of a clerk's civil records, and the Louisiana Constitution says no one may be denied the right to examine public documents except where the law provides otherwise (art. XII, §3). If a custodian wants to keep a record closed, R.S. 44:31 puts the burden on the custodian to prove it is not subject to inspection. The East Baton Rouge clerk's public records notice says its civil records are available for public examination in the office where they are filed, at no charge to look.
That does not mean every page is open. A law or court order can make a particular document confidential, and juvenile court matters are confidential under Children's Code article 412. If a clerk believes something you asked for is not a public record, it must give you a written determination with the legal basis within five business days of a written request (R.S. 44:32(D)), and a person who is denied may go to the district court in the parish where the custodian's office is located (R.S. 44:35).
For proof that a marriage happened, rather than proof that it ended, see Louisiana marriage records. The general rules for every kind of court file are on the Louisiana court records page.
Orleans Parish divorce records
Orleans divorces are filed in the Civil District Court for the parish of Orleans, one of the parish's two district courts (see the Louisiana courts overview). Since Act 15 of 2026 took effect, Orleans has one clerk, the clerk of court for the parish of Orleans, and divorce files are kept by that clerk's Civil Division at 421 Loyola Avenue (Room 402, according to the clerk's hours and locations page).
The clerk's departments page sends questions about separations, divorces, custody rules, and name changes to Docket 5, the Domestic station, and lists its own phone line. The Civil Division's hours were posted as 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays, and the clerk's home page announces 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. hours starting November 9, 2026. Public records requests can be sent to the address published on the clerk's home page.
For online research, the Orleans clerk sells an Online Records subscription that includes civil data entry from 1985 and images back to 2010, at $20.00 for 24 hours, $100.00 for 30 days, or $700.00 for a year when viewed in October 2026. Printing or downloading images requires a separately funded escrow account. The Orleans Parish Clerk of Court page collects current contact details.