Departments
For the convenience of our community, our office issues birth certificates and death certificates. Birth certificates are $34.00 cash only and death certificates are $26.00 cash only. You must appear in person with proper identification in order to obtain these document. The application forms are available in the forms section of our website as well as information and who may obtain these documents. Death certificates are available from 2012 forward.
The Civil Department is responsible for the filing of all Civil Suits, Probates, and all matters relating thereto. This includes the proper indexing of all suits, maintaining the Docket and Minute Book and keeping a record of all costs associated with any filings. The Civil suit department files all pleadings, documents, and exhibits and endorses thereon the fact and date of filing.
The Civil Processing section issues citations, writs, subpoenas, and other process of the Court in the name of the State of Louisiana and affixes the seal of the Court thereto.
The Minute Clerk of a court keeps the minutes of the court daily when in session and transcribes them into the Minute Program as required. The Minute Clerk of a trial court administers the oath to jurors and witnesses as well as those appearing in court for testimony, and files all exhibits offered in evidence, when directed to do so by the Court.
The Civil Cost Accounting section collects advance payment in accordance with R.S. 13:842 from the plaintiff for the anticipated costs the Clerk will have in processing the litigation. This section also collects all accrued costs from the party incurring the additional costs in accordance with R.S. 13:843, including but not limited to costs of a jury trial, the costs of taking depositions, and expert witness fees.
The Adoption Department is combined with our Civil Department. It is responsible for filing of all Adoptions. All Adoption records are confidential records. Therefore anyone wishing to view any proceedings involving an adoption must obtain a valid court order.
You can reach our Civil Department at (318) 428-3281.
The Criminal Department is responsible for the filing of all formal charges from the 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in the Parish of West Carroll, Louisiana. This department handles all felony charges that fall under the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedures and occur within the Parish of West Carroll. Misdemeanor charges are handled in the municipal courts, if such occurrence is within their city limits, otherwise our office will receive a Bill of Information/Indictment charging the defendant in our courts.
The Criminal Department sends notice of judgment of bond forfeiture to the defendants and bondsman in each case. At the request of the State or defendant, the Criminal Department will issue subpoenas to witnesses requiring their presence in court.
The Criminal Department consists of Minute Clerks, whose responsibilities are to transcribe an outline of what occurs in court, administer the oath to all jurors and witnesses and keep all evidence introduced by either the State or the defendant; and the issuing of subpoenas and posting and imaging of all motions and orders into the computer system, that are filed in the department.
You can reach our Criminal Department at (318) 428-3281.
If you are inquiring about your Criminal Court Date, please call the D.A’s office at (318) 428-3213
Elections are held in our great parish throughout the year. Some are local and some are parish wide. In either case, this office works with the registrar of voters office and the Louisiana Department of Elections to bring to you a fair and honest system of voting.
The Elections Department qualifies candidates for office in any local election while the Secretary of State in Baton Rouge qualifies candidates on a state level.
This department is responsible for conducting all training schools for Commissioners and Commissioner’s-in-Charge, sending all notices to the election Commissioners, Commissioner’s-in-Charge, voting machine key custodians and, deputy custodians where the precincts are located. These notices inform everybody associated with an election of the election date, hours, voting machine delivery and pickup and other vital information concerning the election. The department also deals with any problems that may arise on election day. When the polls close and during the next few days after an election, the department is busy processing all the information from election day. This includes processing payroll for commissioners, disbursing results to the media, confirming results with the Department of Elections, and unsealing of machines and verifying the public counters on each machine.
The Parish Board of Election Supervisors, of which the Clerk of Court chairs, meets before, during, and after an election. Before an election, the board selects, at random, qualified Commissioners to staff each precinct. During an election, the Board convenes to count absentee ballots. After an election, the Board meets once again to officially certify the election results before sending resets to the Secretary of State’s Office.
The Juvenile Department is combined with our Criminal Non-Support. It is responsible for the filing of all Juvenile Delinquent and Child in Need of Care Charges. All juvenile filings are confidential records. Therefore, anyone wishing to view any proceedings involving a juvenile must obtain a valid Court Order.
The Criminal Non-Support division of the Clerk of Court’s office works with the West Carroll Parish District Attorney and the State of Louisiana’s Department of Social Services in setting and enforcing child support orders. After a complaint is filed with the District Attorney’s office and accepted, a bill of information is filed with our office. This is one way to start the process of obtaining child support. Orders of support, including those from other states, can also be enforced in this court. The Clerk’s office maintains court records, issues warrants and notifies parties of court dates. Also in this division, paternity blood testing is done to determine who the father is in order to obtain child support.
The Marriage Department is responsible for issuing Marriage License applications.
Pursuant to applicable Louisiana statutes, applicants for Marriage Licenses must provide:
- A certified copy of both parties birth certificates.
- Both parties social security numbers.
- If either party was previously divorced or spouse is deceased within the last six (6) weeks, you will need to show proof of a divorce judgment or a death certificate.
- To purchase a marriage license without parental or court intervention, you must be at least 18 years of age. If either party to the marriage is between the ages of 16 and 18, the signatures of both parents are required. If either party is under the age of 16, a court order is required in order to obtain a license.
Licenses generally must be purchased at least 24 hours in advance of the ceremony. The cost is $32.50, payable in cash.
Note: Marriage licenses expire 30 days from the date of issue.
Covenant Marriage Act
Contracting a Covenant Marriage
The couple that chooses to enter into a Covenant Marriage agrees to be bound by two serious limitations on obtaining a divorce or separation. These limitations do not apply to other couples married in Louisiana.
- The couple legally agrees to seek marital counseling if problems develop during the marriage; and
- The couple can only seek a divorce or legal separation for limited reasons, as explained herein.
Declaration of Intent
In order to enter into a Covenant Marriage, the couple must sign a recitation that provides:
- A marriage is an agreement to live together as husband and wife forever;
- The parties have chosen each other carefully and disclosed to each other “everything which could adversely affect” the decision to marry;
- The parties have received premarital counseling;
- A commitment that if the parties experience marital difficulties, they commit to take all reasonable efforts to preserve their marriage, including marital counseling; and
- The couple must also obtain premarital counseling from a priest, minister, rabbi or similar clergyman of any religious sect, or a professional marriage counselor.
After discussing the meaning of a Covenant Marriage with the counselor, the couple must also sign, together with an attestation by the counselor, a notarized affidavit to the effect that the counselor has discussed with them:
- The seriousness of a Covenant Marriage;
- That the commitment to the marriage is one for life;
- The obligation of the couple to seek marital counseling if problems arise in their marriage;
- That they have received the informational pamphlet published by the Attorney General entitled “Covenant Marriage Act.”
The two documents which comprise the Declaration of Intent – the recitation and the affidavit with attestation – must be presented to the official who issues the marriage license with the couple’s application for a marriage license.
Legal Separation in a Covenant Marriage
In order to obtain a legal separation (which is not a divorce and therefore does not end the marriage), a spouse to a Covenant Marriage must first obtain counseling and then must prove:
- Adultery by the other spouse;
- Commission of a felony by the other spouse and a sentence of imprisonment at hard labor or death;
- Abandonment by the other spouse for one year;
- Physical or sexual abuse of the spouse or of a child of either spouse;
- The spouses have lived separate and apart for two years; or
- Habitual intemperance (for example, alcohol or drug abuse), cruel treatment, or severe ill treatment by the other spouse.
Divorce in a Covenant Marriage
A marriage that is not a Covenant Marriage may be ended by divorce more easily than that of a Covenant Marriage. In a marriage that is not a Covenant Marriage, a spouse may get a divorce for adultery by the other spouse, conviction of a felony by the other spouse and his imprisonment at hard labor or death, or by proof that the spouses have lived separate and apart for six months before or after filing for divorce. In a Covenant Marriage, a spouse may get a divorce only after receiving counseling and may only get a divorce for the following reasons:
- Adultery by the other spouse;
- Commission of a felony by the other spouse and sentence of imprisonment at hard labor or death;
- Abandonment by the other spouse for one year;
- Physical or sexual abuse of the spouse or of a child of either spouse;
- The spouses have lived separate and apart for two years; or the spouses are judicially or legally separated and have lived separate and apart since the legal separation for
- one year and six months if there is a minor child or children of the marriage
- one year if the separation was granted for abuse of a child of either spouse;
- one year in all other cases
A Note to Presently Married Couples
Couples who are already married may execute a declaration of intent to designate their marriage a Covenant Marriage. They must sign a recitation and affidavit similar to those described in this pamphlet, after receiving counseling. The counselor must attest to the counseling. This intent to designate their marriage into a Covenant Marriage must be filed with the official who issued their marriage license and with whom the marriage certificate of the couple if filed. If the couple was married outside Louisiana, a copy of their marriage certificate, with the declaration of intent, shall be filed with the officer who issues marriage licenses in the parish of the couples domicile.
The Mortgage Department is responsible for issuing Mortgage, Non-Lien and, UCC Certificates pursuant to applicable Louisiana statutes. As per statutes, all requests for certificates must be in writing. As the request is written, requests for certificates may also be received via facsimile or email at wcclerk@bellsouth.net
Certificates
Mortgage Certificates are issued by the department on a first come, first served basis. You must provide us with the name(s) you want us to check and legal property description. If a legal property description is not available, the information may be obtained by calling the West Carroll Parish Assessor at (318) 428-2371. The West Carroll Parish Assessor is DeAnna Smith.
A Mortgage Certificate is not a title opinion and makes no representation as to who might actually own the property described on the certificate.
Non-Lien Certificates are also issued by the Mortgage Department. As with mortgage certificates, the request must be in writing. The request must include the name(s) you want us to check, the date the contract was signed, and a brief description of the work. Unless otherwise requested, the Non-Lien Certificate will be issued when requested.
UCC Certificate requests must be in writing and on a Louisiana approved UCC-II form, one debtor name per request.
Cancellations of all types must first be submitted to the Cancellation Clerk in the Mortgage Department before they will be accepted by the Recording Department. This is to verify the information contained in the cancellation form is correct. Cancellations in West Carroll Parish must be in authentic form, I.E., executed before a Notary Public, signed by the affiant and two witnesses. All cancellation documents must have a request for cancellation form attached. UCC terminations must be prepared on a Louisiana approved form and must be sent directly to the UCC Department.
The Recording Department is responsible for the filing of Conveyance, Mortgage, Miscellaneous, and UCC documents deposited in West Carroll Parish. At the time the document is presented to the recording clerk, it is given a registry number with the date, hour, and minute of filing. Immediately after this process, the document is entered into the computer and scanned for an electronic image and put into the day book, which lists a brief description of the document and the initial parties involved. The documents are then pulled in to a Mortgage & Conveyance Indexing program where a full screen description of the document and the names of all parties are indexed. The day’s indexing is then checked for any errors then merged into the current year indexes for use by the public.
Unlike most other states, original documents sent to the Clerk of the District Court and Ex-Officio Recorder are not returned to the sender. Section 2742 of the Louisiana Civil Code provides that documents deposited with the recorder become part of the parish archives. The filing party may obtain certified copies of the original documents with the Clerk’s endorsement at the time of filing from the Recording Department, after filing, the copies may be obtained from the Copy Department.
Records Dates
Online Records Fees
For further information about the Recording Department, please call (318) 428-3281.
The Registrar of Voters Office is not part of the West Carroll Parish Clerk of Court, but work hand in hand in preparing for elections.
The Registrar of Voters is appointed by the parish governing authority and is responsible for the registration of voters in the parish and for the administration and enforcement of the laws and the rules and regulations of the commissioner of elections relating to the registration of voters. The registrar conducts absentee voting, administering some oaths, certifies signatures on nominating petitions, and petitions circulated for calling elections as authorized by law. (La.R.S. 18:58) The Registrar of Voters for West Carroll Parish is Kelli Drurey.
Other responsibilities of the Registrar of Voters Office include assisting the governing authority in reapportionment and the census bureau. They also canvass voter roles annually, suspend felons, remove deceased from voter roll listings, and keep all original applications of registered voters. They also assist the board of election supervisors in drawings commissioners and commissioners-in-charge for all elections.
The Traffic Division which is underneath the umbrella of our Criminal Department is responsible for the filing of all traffic citations issued by the Louisiana State Police, West Carroll Parish Sheriff’s Department, and municipalities surrounding the Fifth Judicial Court in the Parish of West Carroll. These violations are all moving and non-moving violations that fall under the Louisiana Code of Criminal – Traffic Procedure, and include “Title 32 violations” such as driving under suspension, running stop sign, no drivers license and “Title 14 violations” such as operating while under the influence (DWI) and hit and run. Title 32 is the Uniform Traffic Code while Title 14 is the Criminal Code.
The Traffic Department file stamps the individual tickets as they are received from the District Attorney’s Office. Traffic clerks scan the tickets into the computer where an electronic image will then be on file in our system.
Note:
- The West Carroll Parish Clerk of Court does not set any of the fines.
- The West Carroll Parish Clerk of Court does not collect the fines.
Please call the D.A. Office or Sheriff’s Office for this information.
Sheriff Office: (318) 428-2331
DA Office: (318) 428-3213