Louisiana Court Records: How to Search, What's Public, and How to Seal Them

Louisiana does not run one statewide website where you can search every court record in the state. Instead, each of Louisiana's 64 parishes maintains its own clerk of court records system, and each one sets its own registration rules and fees. Finding a Louisiana court record means figuring out which parish the case was filed in first.

This page covers how parish-level searches actually work, what two real parish systems charge and cover, what's public versus confidential under Louisiana law, and how Louisiana's expungement process differs from most other states in a way that matters if you're trying to understand your own record.

Information last verified on 2026-08-10. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How Louisiana Court Records Actually Work: Parish by Parish

If you're used to a single statewide court-records website, Louisiana will feel unfamiliar. There is no lasc.org-hosted statewide case-search tool available to the public (the Louisiana Supreme Court's own search page returned an access error when checked). Instead, each parish clerk of court runs its own separate system, with its own registration process, its own fee structure, and its own coverage window for how far back records go.

Two real examples illustrate how different these parish systems can be. The Lafourche Parish Clerk of Court's online records search covers civil and criminal indexes from July 1982 forward, minute entries from January 2001 forward, and document images only from March 2018 onward. Access is paid and tiered: $20 for one day of unlimited searching, $50 for 30 days, or $550 for a full year, and separate subscriptions are required for the civil and criminal system versus the conveyance and mortgage records system. Registration requires a username, password, and contact details.

East Baton Rouge Parish takes a different approach. In-person inspection of records at the clerk's office is free, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Online access runs through systems the clerk's office refers to as ClerkConnect and the eClerks LA Statewide Portal, on a subscription basis the office describes as a nominal fee. Copies cost $1.00 per page, whether you request them in person or online. The East Baton Rouge Clerk of Court also notes that juvenile court records fall outside its ordinary jurisdiction and may require a separate petition to Juvenile Court.

A third product, marketed as the Louisiana Statewide Portal and operated by something called the Louisiana Clerks Remote Access Authority (eClerksLA), is described in secondary sources as a free index covering all 64 parishes. That claim could not be independently verified this session; the site loads only a bare JavaScript shell to automated tools. If you plan to rely on it, confirm its actual coverage and cost directly on the site or by calling the relevant parish clerk before assuming it works the way it's described online.

The practical upshot: if you know which parish a case was filed in, start with that parish clerk's own website. If you don't know the parish, you may need to check the parish where the person lived, worked, or was arrested, or contact the clerk's office directly for guidance.

What's Public and What's Restricted in Louisiana

Louisiana's open-courts principle comes from two places in the state constitution: Article I, Section 22 declares that all courts shall be open, and Article XII, Section 3 gives the public a right to examine public documents except in cases established by law. The Louisiana Public Records Act, La. R.S. 44:1 et seq., implements that right more broadly across state government, including the courts.

Several categories of court records fall outside that general openness. Juvenile proceedings are largely confidential under the Louisiana Children's Code, Article 407, with a specific exception for delinquency cases involving crimes of violence or repeat felonies, which remain open. Dependency and family proceedings handled in juvenile court, including adoption and custody matters heard there, are closed. Interdiction proceedings, Louisiana's version of a competency or guardianship case, may be closed for good cause under Code of Civil Procedure Article 4547. Ordinary divorce and custody cases filed in district court follow standard civil procedure and stay open by default, though a court can seal specific records if privacy interests outweigh the public's access right.

When a court does seal a record, Louisiana procedure requires giving the public and media a chance to be heard before closure, issuing specific written findings, narrowly tailoring the order, and requiring that the privacy interest actually outweigh the public's constitutional right to access. According to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, blanket sealing orders are disfavored under this framework; courts are expected to protect only the specific information that threatens someone's safety, like a school name or home address, rather than sealing an entire case file. For the general, nationwide framework behind this presumption of openness, see are court records public?

Expungement in Louisiana: A Different Kind of Sealing

Louisiana's terminology trips up a lot of people because it inverts what "expungement" means in most other states. In Louisiana, an expunged record is not destroyed. Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, expungement removes a record of arrest or conviction from public access and makes it confidential, but the underlying record still exists and remains available to law enforcement and criminal justice agencies making written requests for specified purposes.

Louisiana also created an automated expungement pathway under Code of Criminal Procedure Article 985.2. The statute's own text states that, beginning January 1, 2025, a person can submit a request through the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information for automated expungement, and the Bureau then has thirty days from receipt of the request to expunge any eligible records and transmit them to the Louisiana Supreme Court's case management information system. That system in turn notifies the district court clerks, and it is the clerks of the district courts, not the Bureau, that send notice of all records expunged by automation to the district attorney of the parish of conviction, the sheriff of that parish, and the arresting agency. But the article carries an explicit note that it is "eff. upon appropriation of monies by the Legislature," meaning the automated pipeline only actually runs once the legislature funds it. A law being on the books is not the same as the process being live and processing requests. If automatic expungement matters to your situation, verify current funding and operational status before assuming the pipeline is running.

This page does not cover Louisiana's specific expungement eligibility rules or waiting periods. For that detail, see our Louisiana expungement guide.

Getting Certified Copies and Searching by Case Number

The clerk of court for the parish where a case was filed is the official custodian of the record and the source for certified copies. Fee schedules vary by parish; East Baton Rouge charges $1.00 per page for copies regardless of format, and other parishes set their own rates.

Where you have one, searching by case number is generally more reliable than searching by name, especially in larger parishes where common names are more likely to produce multiple matches. Because each parish keeps its own index, a name search only searches that one parish's records, not the whole state, so a blank result tells you the person has no matching record in that particular parish, not that they have none anywhere in Louisiana.

Using Court Records Responsibly: The FCRA Rule

Checking your own record, or a specific case you have a legitimate personal reason to look into, is a normal use of these parish systems. Using them, or a commercial people-search product built on the same underlying data, to screen a tenant or job applicant triggers the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), separate from anything Louisiana's parish clerks require.

Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c, most negative consumer-report information ages off after seven years, but § 1681c(a)(5) specifically exempts criminal convictions from that window, meaning a conviction can be reported indefinitely unless a state process like Louisiana's expungement removes it from public access. In 2023, the FTC fined the background-check companies TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate $5.8 million for marketing public-records-based reports for tenant and employment screening without complying with the FCRA, making clear that a company marketing reports for that purpose is a consumer reporting agency and has to follow FCRA rules. Treat parish record searches as personal-use research, and run any real tenant or employment screening through a properly FCRA-compliant process.

Related Louisiana Records Searches

This page is part of our broader Court Records by State guide, which explains how court records split between federal, state, and county systems nationwide, and our how to look up court records guide walks through name-versus-case-number searching in more depth. If you're checking your own history for a job or a lease, see Louisiana background check laws. If you think there might be a warrant rather than an ordinary case, see Louisiana warrant search. For records held by state agencies rather than the courts, see Louisiana public records laws.

Disclaimer

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Court portals, fees, and coverage change without notice, and the Louisiana Judiciary is the only authoritative source for its own records. If you need a certified copy or have a legal question about a specific case, contact the clerk of court where the case was filed, or consult a licensed Louisiana attorney.

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Last updated: 2026-08-10. Portal facts and fees reflect their published status as of August 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there one website to search all Louisiana court records?

No. Louisiana has no single statewide court-records search available to the public. Records are held at the parish level, so you generally need to search the specific parish clerk of court's website for the parish where a case was filed.

How much does it cost to search Louisiana parish court records online?

It depends on the parish. Lafourche Parish charges $20 for one day of unlimited access, $50 for 30 days, or $550 for a year. East Baton Rouge Parish offers free in-person inspection and a paid online subscription described as a nominal fee, with copies at $1.00 per page.

Is the Louisiana Statewide Portal a free way to search all 64 parishes?

It's advertised that way in secondary sources, but this could not be independently confirmed, since the site returns only a bare loading shell to automated tools. Confirm its actual coverage directly before relying on it, or start with the specific parish clerk's own website instead.

Does Louisiana expungement destroy my criminal record?

No, and this is a key difference from most states. A Louisiana expungement removes a record from public access but does not destroy it. Law enforcement and criminal justice agencies can still access an expunged record for specified purposes.

Is expungement automatic in Louisiana?

Louisiana created an automated expungement process under Code of Criminal Procedure Article 985.2, effective January 1, 2025, but the statute itself says it only operates once the legislature appropriates funding. Whether the automated pipeline is actually processing requests depends on that funding status, which can change, so verify it directly rather than assuming automatic expungement is running.

Are Louisiana juvenile court records public?

Generally no. Juvenile proceedings are largely confidential under the Louisiana Children's Code, with an exception for delinquency cases involving crimes of violence or repeat felonies, which remain open to the public.

How do I get a certified copy of a Louisiana court record?

Contact the clerk of court for the parish where the case was filed. That clerk is the official custodian of the record and the only source for a certified copy, and fees vary by parish.