How to search Louisiana court records

Louisiana has no statewide trial-court search at all. Each county runs its own independent case-management system, so finding a record means first identifying the right county, then searching that county's own portal. Cost varies by record type — some searches are free, others require a paid account or a formal records request.

county by county varies criminal data

Open the official Louisiana portal →

What's actually there

No statewide portal. Records live with each parish clerk of court; many charge per search.

Other official lookups for Louisiana

Supreme Court docket

How Louisiana's courts are organized

Louisiana uses parishes instead of counties. Under Article V of the state constitution, the state is divided into judicial districts, each made up of at least one parish and served by at least one judge. The district courts are the general trial courts. Below them sit courts of limited or specialized jurisdiction: family, juvenile, parish, city, municipal, traffic, justice of the peace and mayor's courts.

Appeals go to one of five circuit courts of appeal and then to the Louisiana Supreme Court in New Orleans.

Each parish has a district clerk of court who keeps that parish's district court records. There is no single free statewide name search for trial courts. State law created the Louisiana Clerks' Remote Access Authority (LCRAA) to run a statewide portal for remote access to indexes of records kept by the district clerks.

Searching Louisiana court records

Start with the clerk of court in the parish where the case was filed. The Louisiana Supreme Court's website keeps a list of court of appeal and district court websites, and many parish clerks run their own online search for civil and criminal records. Each clerk sets its own terms, and many charge for remote access.

Under R.S. 13:754, every district clerk of court had to join LCRAA by July 1, 2020 and was required to make electronic filing, recording and remote access available through the LCRAA portal by January 1, 2026. The statute lets LCRAA set user fees, and legislative fiscal notes describe paying both a subscription fee and copy fees to the clerk for detailed document images. The portal gives access to indexes, then points users to the clerk's own system for the documents.

For appellate cases, the Louisiana Supreme Court publishes its docket online, and each circuit court of appeal has its own site.

Courts of limited jurisdiction, such as city, parish, mayor's and justice of the peace courts, keep their own records, separate from the district clerk.
Expunged records are removed from public access under the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Getting copies and certified copies

Copies and certified copies of district court records come from the clerk of court in the parish where the case was filed. Fees and request methods are set parish by parish, so check that clerk's website or call before sending payment. For a city, parish or mayor's court case, ask that court's own clerk.

Expunged records

Expungement in Louisiana is governed by Title XXXIV of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Articles 971 and following. Article 976 covers arrests that did not lead to a conviction, such as when the district attorney declined to prosecute, the case was dismissed, or the person was acquitted. Article 977 allows a misdemeanor conviction to be expunged once the conviction is set aside under Article 894(B), or five years after the sentence ends with no felony conviction in that time. Domestic abuse battery, stalking and sex-offense misdemeanors are excluded. A first-offense marijuana possession conviction can be expunged 90 days after conviction.

Article 978 allows a felony conviction to be expunged after a set-aside under Article 893(E), or ten years after the sentence ends with no other conviction, or with a first offender pardon. Crimes of violence and sex offenses are generally barred. Under Article 983, the total cost of an expungement order cannot exceed $550, and the processing fees are not refunded if the motion is denied. Fees are waived for some non-conviction arrests when the district attorney certifies there are no felony convictions or pending felony charges. Article 986 sets the forms. Talk to a lawyer or a legal aid office about your own record.

Tip: search by parish, and check the lower courts

Because records are kept parish by parish, a search in one parish will not show a case filed next door. Find the parish where the arrest or lawsuit happened first. If the matter was a traffic ticket or a small municipal offense, it may sit in a city, mayor's or justice of the peace court rather than the district court, and those courts are not part of the district clerk's index.

Sources

Checked against the official sources above in October 2026. Court rules and fees change; the court's own site is the final word. This is general information, not legal advice.

Federal cases filed in Louisiana

State portals don't cover federal court. If the case you're looking for might be a federal criminal prosecution, civil suit, or bankruptcy, use CourtRecordsFree's live federal search — it queries CourtListener/RECAP directly and isn't limited to any one state.

Search tips

Try both "Last, First" and "First Last" — courts index names inconsistently.
Middle initials and suffixes (Jr., III) often matter for common names.
A date of birth or case number is the only reliable way to confirm you found the right person.
An arrest or charge shown in a docket is not a conviction — read the disposition.

Frequently asked questions

Is it free to search Louisiana court records online?

It depends on what you're looking for. Some record types on Louisiana's portal are free; others require payment or a formal request.

Does this include criminal records?

Yes. Louisiana's portal includes criminal case records alongside civil cases, though sealed and expunged cases are not shown.

Does one search cover the whole state?

No single search. Louisiana has no statewide index — you need to find the right county first, then search that county's own system.

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