Louisiana Court Records

Louisiana Court Record Lookup

Louisiana is home to a variety of courts, each with its own set of records. Anyone can perform a Louisiana court records search as they are public records, and those who have been involved in court cases may want to keep their own Louisiana LA court records for reasons including enforcing Louisiana child support and custody orders, collecting on a court judgment, and proof of inheritance for a property deed.

Courts of Limited Jurisdiction

Mayor’s courts, parish courts, justice of the peace courts, and city courts are all local courts that have limited jurisdiction over small claims, misdemeanors, traffic tickets, juvenile cases, and violations of city ordinances. Some of these courts may hold non-jury trials and many are run by magistrates or other appointed officials. There are 390 justice of the peace courts, 250 mayor’s courts, and 45 city courts in the state.

District Courts

These are the general trial courts that are operated in 40 locations across the state. District courts are responsible for all civil and criminal proceedings. From these Louisiana courthouses, specialty drug courts have arisen in an attempt to divert nonviolent drug offenses from the mainstream court and justice system. Within district courts are family divisions that handle custody, delinquency, child support, divorce, and similar matters. Drug court is another division of district courts; there are 49 for adults and juveniles.

Records can be obtained by running a Louisiana court records lookup, but some may be limited by confidentiality laws; juvenile cases, some family court records, and those that name victims of certain crimes are likely to be restricted.

In a recent year, there were over 700,000 cases filed in district courts representing a nearly 6 percent increase in civil cases and 3 percent increase in criminal cases, you can find Louisiana criminal records through Recordsfiner.com's online search. Traffic cases were 6 percent higher than the previous year as well.

Appeals Courts

When an individual disagrees with the decision of a magistrate, judge, or jury, he has the right to appeal to this court and request a rehearing. Louisiana has five appeals court circuits, each with three districts within it. Three judges are impaneled to hear arguments about disputed judgements from lower courts. There were over 1,800 appeals court cases filed in a recent year. These Louisiana court records online can be viewed via Louisiana court case lookup.

The state supreme court is comprised of seven justices elected from seven districts. Panels of judges hear selected cases to determine if the law was applied appropriately. This court also oversees the state bar.

Federal Courts

Those who join class action suits, file for bankruptcy, or violate federal laws will find themselves in the federal district court for their region of Louisiana. Every state has at least one federal court.

Louisiana Notable Court Cases

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case of a Louisiana man sentenced to death for murder. Attorneys for the man argued that he was sentenced unconstitutionally – because the court in that parish of Shreveport where his case was tried has an inordinately high percentage of death penalty sentences despite a lower-than-average homicide rate for the state. A news article noted that the jury in the man's case, in which he was convicted of shooting his pregnant girlfriend, deliberated for only an hour.

An insurance company that failed to adjust clients' claims following Hurricane Katrina was taken to court by a class action suit in 2005. A number of clients of Louisiana Property Insurance Corp. sued the company for not responding to their claims within the state-mandated 30 day period. A district court decided in the clients' favor, awarding them about $93 million, but that decision was overturned by a circuit court of appeals that decided there was no proof the company acted in bad faith. The state Supreme Court later threw out the circuit court's decision, saying the company's inaction was proof enough, and reinstating the penalty imposed by the district court.