How to Get Court Records
Clerk of Court Annette M. Fontana keeps the records of the 17th JDC. You can start a Lafourche Parish request online, through the Clerk's records search and ClerkConnect. You can also go in person at the public research area or Copy Department. Phone, email, and mail also work. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure art. 251 gives you the right to inspect, copy, photograph, or take memoranda during open hours. That right is subject to law and court orders. Still, what you actually get depends on release, indexing, redaction, sealing, and the copy format you ask for.
- Identify the Lafourche court and collect the suit or case number, party name only if needed, approximate date, and document or minute-entry description.
- Check the official Lafourche records-search page or a ClerkConnect inquiry to see whether a released index or image is available.
- For an unavailable, older, or certified Lafourche record, visit the public research area or call the Copy Department at (985) 447-4841.
- Email a focused request to clerk@lafourcheclerk.com, or use the published Copy Request form by mail when a clerk search or delivery is needed.
- Confirm the Lafourche page count, plain, stamped, or certified format, total fee, and delivery method before payment.
Leave sensitive details out. A Social Security number, full date of birth, or similar identifier is not needed just to locate a public Lafourche record.
Lafourche Parish Clerk Record Custody
The 17th Judicial District Court runs five elected divisions. Even so, the Lafourche Clerk is the centralized custodian of civil and criminal records for the district court. The main office sits at 303 W. Third Street, Thibodaux, LA 70301. Mail goes to P.O. Box 818, Thibodaux, LA 70302. For records and copy work, call (985) 447-4841; the current office notice points visitors to the Maronge-side entrance.
Lafourche Parish Clerk of Court
303 W. Third Street
Thibodaux, LA 70301
(985) 447-4841
Source: The official Lafourche Clerk Copy Department page lays out the office's copy process.
For locating, inspecting, or ordering a released 17th JDC record, use the Lafourche Clerk. A division address is not the right stop for that work.
Types of Court Records
District-court records in Lafourche can span civil and criminal index entries, pleadings, minute entries, judgments, orders, and released images. One catch: a record type may be searchable even when its image is not online. Check the Clerk's coverage information and the court named on the paper to pick the right path.
- Civil suit indexes and related released civil filings for 17th JDC matters.
- Criminal case indexes, case-related minute entries, and released criminal material.
- Minute entries that summarize court events, rather than necessarily reproducing every filing.
- Signed orders and judgments that have been released by the Lafourche Clerk.
- Copy-requested records that are not available as an online Lafourche image.
Lafourche Parish Court Record Coverage Dates
Lafourche's online coverage is a timeline. It is not a promise that every case has a digital image. The Clerk lists civil and criminal indexes from July 1, 1982. Minute entries start January 1, 2001, and images from March 2018. Older Lafourche images may open up after redaction. When a search stops at an index, that is not proof the record vanished. Ask the Lafourche Clerk about inspection or copying instead.
These dates matter for older cases. A civil or criminal file may still need the Copy Department even after its index entry turns up.
What a Court Record Contains
No single fixed document makes up a Lafourche court record. The public index can show a suit or case number and the filing date. A selected released record may go further. It can hold the filing itself, a minute entry, an order, or a judgment. Civil results can list plaintiff, defendant, an optional caption, cause, date filed, and Suit#. Criminal results can show the case or ticket number, division, filing date, charges, and other published fields. Those fields vary by record type.
| Suit# or Case Number | The Lafourche identifier needed for a targeted record request, court call, or follow-up search. |
|---|---|
| Pleadings | Filed petitions, motions, or answers when released and not restricted by law or court order. |
| Minute Entry | A Lafourche court-event summary, which may not be the complete pleading or image file. |
| Orders and Judgments | Signed court rulings available through the Clerk when released and appropriate for public access. |
| Image Availability | Depends on the Lafourche coverage date, release, subscription, redaction, and confidentiality limits. |
Lafourche Parish Online Records Are Convenience Access
The Lafourche Clerk states that only records in the Clerk's office are official. Online records are a convenience, posted after recording, indexing, verification, and release. Timing has quirks. A new official number can exist before it reaches an index. That lag is likelier near a holiday or after the stated 4:30 p.m. processing cutoff. An online view also leaves sealing, redaction, and subscription limits in place.
The records page lists subscriptions of $20 for one day, $50 for 30 days, and $550 for one year. Subscriptions and fees are separate per system. Access runs around the clock except during maintenance, and fees are non-refundable. Public inspection remains a separate Lafourche option. A subscription is never a resale license.
Certified Copies and Fees
A plain photocopy is not a stamped or certified copy. Ask the recipient first whether certification is truly required. The Copy Department lists plain photocopies at $1 per page, stamped copies at $5 per document, and certified copies at $10 per document. The Civil Fee Sheet, though, lists a certified copy at $5, certification per pleading at $5, and mailing or processing at $5. The two Lafourche sources do not match perfectly. Confirm the total for your exact record before you pay.
| Lafourche item | Published amount |
|---|---|
| Photocopy | $1 per page |
| Stamped copy | $5 per document |
| Certified copy, Copy Department listing | $10 per document |
| Search per name, Civil Fee Sheet | $20 |
| Certification per pleading, Civil Fee Sheet | $5, separate from that sheet's certified-copy entry |
For the separate certification and search entries, the official Civil Fee Sheet is the source. Its filing or hearing fees are not the price of a Lafourche records search.
Lafourche Parish Copy Request Details
The Clerk's Copy Request PDF gives you a clean way to frame the ask. Its fields cover the date, reference, requester, mailing address, and a description of the record. You also list the suit docket or book and page reference, page count, and fees. Print it and mail it, or simply borrow the field labels to structure an email. For a large, old, or certified request, expect the Clerk to locate the Lafourche record before quoting a total.
Mail your request to Annette Fontana, Lafourche Parish Clerk of Court, P.O. Box 818, Thibodaux, LA 70302. Phone works too if you want to confirm delivery and fee methods first. The Lockport and Galliano/Cut Off satellites offer local access points. One caution: a municipal or justice-court record belongs with that court. Route those requests there instead of the Lafourche Clerk.
Public Access and Sealed Records
Public access in Lafourche Parish has real limits. Even a released court docket can be pared down. Sealing orders, juvenile confidentiality, adoption or interdiction restrictions, minor settlements, protected medical or victim details, private identifiers, or expungement can all trim it. So a docket search index may reveal less than the full document file. An image may be missing from a Lafourche case lookup. That absence proves nothing about whether the case was filed.
Lafourche access rules:
La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 251 permits inspection, copying, photographing, and certification of district-court records during open hours, subject to law and court orders.
La. R.S. 44:1 defines public records and the custodian concept for Louisiana public business materials.
La. R.S. 44:32 provides examination and copying procedures, including a written determination route when a custodian questions public access.
Lafourche Parish Records and Federal Cases
A Lafourche Parish address does not make a case part of the 17th JDC docket. Federal cases sit in the Eastern District of Louisiana. That is outside the Lafourche Clerk system entirely. For a federal search, use the PACER Case Locator. A state suit, criminal case, or record request stays with the Lafourche Clerk. The exception comes when the caption and court name clearly point to a federal case.
That federal case-finder page shows the PACER route and what a search there covers. The PACER Case Locator is the place to confirm which district holds the filing.
Keep the two systems straight. Confirming the court first spares you mailing a federal request to the wrong clerk.
Lafourche Parish Record Search and PACER Fees
PACER runs on accounts, and its pricing stands apart from any parish clerk's. The official fee schedule lists $0.10 per page, a $3 cap per document, and a $30 quarterly billing threshold. It also warns users to watch for future changes. Those federal charges say nothing about Lafourche Clerk copy fees. The same holds in reverse: what Lafourche charges for certified copies never reaches PACER. Source: PACER pricing information.
Confirm which court holds the Lafourche Parish case first, then pay and pull records through that court's own channel.
Lafourche Parish Records Need the Original Custodian
Eastern District of Louisiana court information names the current federal court source, and CourtListener/RECAP can help you spot some federal docket material beyond that. CourtListener is not the official custodian, though. A missing federal item there proves nothing about whether a filing exists. The Lafourche Clerk remains the original custodian for released 17th JDC records.
The CourtListener page lays out its supplemental role with federal documents. Visit CourtListener RECAP to see how it gathers federal filings.
Go straight to the court or PACER. That is the route for a certified federal copy or simple confirmation of a Lafourche Parish case. A supplemental repository will not carry what the clerk's official record holds. The Eastern District's own court-information page covers the federal logistics. Source: Eastern District of Louisiana court information.
The federal route stands apart from the ways Lafourche Parish shares court records: public inspection, copies, mail, email, and ClerkConnect.