How to Search Civil Dockets
The Catahoula Parish Clerk of Court holds the civil docket for Seventh Judicial District Court matters. That court serves both Catahoula and Concordia Parishes. Check that a result truly belongs to Catahoula before relying on it. The clerk keeps the local district-court filings. The eClerks LA statewide portal works as a free locator for civil, family, probate, marriage, and land information. The court offers no anonymous public Seventh JDC viewer. So a portal result may still need clerk confirmation.
Start with a case number and division if you have them. Otherwise, search the exact party or entity name with an approximate filing year. When a Catahoula Parish civil docket does not surface online, ask the clerk for something narrow. A docket chronology, a minute entry, or one named filing all work. Say whether you want a plain or certified copy, and whether mail delivery works. Also ask where the record sits: a parish search, a public terminal, a bound index, or offsite storage.
- Identify the Catahoula civil court record as a Catahoula Seventh JDC matter rather than a mayor's-court, justice-of-the-peace, appellate, or federal record.
- Open the free statewide eClerks locator, choose the Civil document set, and search with the strongest Catahoula name or entity information available.
- Use the result's parish, number, date, and description to narrow the Catahoula civil docket request. A Catahoula locator entry is not a complete docket sheet.
- For deeper parish searching or possible document images, review the paid parish route and confirm live Catahoula coverage, Catahoula image availability, and price before subscribing or purchasing.
- If an online search does not answer the question, contact the Catahoula clerk by Catahoula counter visit, phone, mail, fax, or email with the case details and exact record requested.
Note: An empty Catahoula search can mean many things. The court or spelling may be wrong, the date range too tight, an indexing limit, an access restriction, or a parish that simply does not take part.
Catahoula Civil Docket Search Routes
The free eClerks statewide portal is the first online stop for a Catahoula civil docket. It links locator data across all 64 Louisiana parishes. It covers civil, family, and probate information plus land and marriage records. Those choices let you tell a broad Catahoula name search apart from a narrower request. Enter a last name or entity name, add a first name, pick a match method, and set a date range. The results carry useful identifiers. Still, they do not prove that every Catahoula event, image, or full case file is online. It is online.
| Portal field | Use in a Catahoula civil docket search |
|---|---|
| Last Name or Entity Name | Required Catahoula starting field for an individual or organization name. |
| First Name | Optional Catahoula refinement when a person is being searched. |
| Match control | Use Begins With, Exact Match, or Contains for the Catahoula search. |
| Date range | Use Catahoula date presets of 1 month, 1 year, 10 years, or 30 years, plus start and end dates. |
| Document set | Choose Civil for the Catahoula civil-record locator rather than Land or Marriage. |
| Results | Check Date, Doc Set, Type, Number, Party1, Party2, Doc Type, Description, and Catahoula Parish. |
The official eClerks Parish Search description lays out the separate parish-selection, subscription, and image route. Deeper Catahoula records or document images may live there. Current Catahoula participation, prices, retention, and image availability are another matter. Confirm those details in the live service or with the Catahoula clerk. Do that before paying for anything.
A parish search sits on a different access layer than the free locator. It may surface a document image. Even so, the Catahoula clerk remains the source for confirming a docket entry or getting a copy.
What a Civil Docket Shows
A Catahoula civil docket is a dated chronology of court action. It is not a finding that one side won. The case number identifies the matter, and a division can steer a Seventh JDC request toward Division A or B when known. The caption names the matter without needing private parties in a general explanation. Read each entry for its date and its action. A petition shows a claim was filed. An answer shows a response. A motion shows a request for court action, and none of these entries alone resolves the case.
Catahoula court records can also separate service activity from a future setting, a signed judgment, or a dismissal. Always pair the event description with its date. A filed document is not necessarily granted. A matter set for court is not necessarily a completed hearing.
| Case Number | The court-assigned identifier used to request the Catahoula civil docket or a particular filing. |
|---|---|
| Division | Catahoula Seventh JDC Division A or B, if shown or known, which can assist with a Catahoula request. |
| Caption / Parties | The formal Catahoula case title and parties named in the court record. |
| Filing Date | The date a Catahoula case or document was filed, not necessarily the date of service, hearing, or judgment. |
| Filings | Catahoula items such as a petition, answer, reconventional demand, exception, or motion. |
| Service / Return | A Catahoula notation about delivery of process or the report made after service or execution. |
| Setting | A scheduled Catahoula court event, pretrial conference, or trial date that can change by order. |
| Judgment / Dismissal | A Catahoula disposition entry that should be checked against the actual signed document when it matters. |
Catahoula Civil Docket Terms
A handful of common labels make a Catahoula civil docket much easier to read. They mark procedural steps, not conclusions about who is right. Wording on a court record can be unclear, so request the actual minute entry or document instead of guessing from a short portal description.
- Petition or complaint
- The filing that begins a civil matter.
- Answer
- A response filed after a petition or complaint.
- Reconventional demand
- A claim made in response within the civil case.
- Exception
- A procedural challenge that asks the court to address a legal issue.
- Continuance
- A postponement. The current Catahoula setting, not the older date, is the date to confirm.
- Preliminary or default judgment
- A judgment-related entry that should be read with the actual record before its scope is assumed.
Discovery, pretrial conferences, trial settings, appeals, and execution can all show up in Catahoula civil court records. A certified copy is one the clerk authenticates. That makes it different from an ordinary image, a plain copy, or a short minute entry.
Types of Civil Cases on the Docket
The Catahoula civil docket can include the civil action categories listed in the clerk's fee schedule and forms. Those case labels help the clerk route a filing or a record request. The docket itself stays the timeline for the particular matter. The local fee schedule sorts actions into several groups with different advance deposits, which helps when a civil court record is being tracked down by type.
- Divorce, custody, and visitation matters
- Damage actions
- Adoption, emancipation, and interdiction matters
- Executory and account actions
- Successions and small successions
- Tutorship and garnishment matters
- Civil eviction filings
Successions travel a different path than most Catahoula Parish civil cases. A local Rule 9.14 sends succession filings to the judge's chambers. Everything else goes to the clerk. The Catahoula clerk does list a dedicated civil eviction form. Before relying on it, though, ask the clerk about its fields, the current filing method, the service instructions, the fee, and how to appear. Ask early.
Catahoula Civil Docket Successions
Rule 9.14 gives successions their own route in Catahoula Parish. Those matters go to the judge's chambers under the local civil-filing provision. Other civil matters are filed with the clerk. So know the action type first. A succession docket may still need the clerk's records help. But confirm the current filing route before assuming every request follows the same path.
The Catahoula fee schedule lists successions, small successions, and related civil categories separately. Tell the clerk what you want. Say whether it is the docket chronology, a minute entry, a judgment, or a specific succession filing. That precision lets the clerk find the right Catahoula civil court record. Otherwise you may get a docket index that is not the full succession file.
Catahoula Civil Court Filing Costs
The Catahoula civil filing-fee schedule took effect August 1, 2017. It sets advance deposits by action category and by how many defendants are named. Copies and record services carry separate costs. Use the figures to learn the schedule's categories. Do not treat them as a quote of what you owe today. Before filing or ordering any civil court record, confirm current Catahoula fees with the clerk. Ask about accepted payment methods too.
| Schedule item | Listed amount |
|---|---|
| Divorce, custody, damage, adoption, emancipation, interdiction, or visitation, one defendant | $300 advance deposit, plus $75 for each additional defendant |
| Executory, account, succession, tutorship, or garnishment action | $400 advance deposit, plus $75 for each additional defendant |
| Clerk suit or small succession | $300 advance deposit |
| File-stamped copy | $6 first page; $4 each additional page |
| Exhibits, attachments, transcripts, or depositions | $2 per page |
| Other exhibits | $5 |
| Certified copy / conformed copy | $5 certified; $3 conformed |
| Ordinary copy page / minute entry / indexed name | $1 page; $5 minute entry; $2 indexed name |
The clerk's fees and forms page is the official place for Catahoula Parish civil fee material and local form links. Start there.
That page ties the fee schedule to the clerk's current forms route. A Catahoula Parish civil request often costs less when it names the docket, minute entry, or exact document you need. Ask narrow.
Settings and Hearings on Civil Dockets
The Seventh JDC local rules show why a Catahoula Parish civil docket setting deserves a careful read. Under Rule 9.14, a trial is not fixed just because a party requests a date. The court fixes it by order, on motion or at its own direction. The motion should state the nature of the matter, the estimated trial length, whether a pretrial conference is requested, mutually convenient dates, and current-cost compliance. The judge may also set that conference.
The clerk's trial docket typically lists the trial day, docket number, title, and counsel. Written notice generally goes out at least ten days before trial unless the parties agree otherwise or are present in court. An earlier docket entry is not a completed hearing just because notice was sent. Verify any live Catahoula civil hearing with the clerk or the judge's office, since a continuance, order, or closure may have moved the date.
Catahoula Civil Docket Trial Notices
A Catahoula Parish civil docket can hold many kinds of entries. Examples include a motion for setting, a pretrial conference, a trial setting, a continuance, or a judgment. Each entry does a different job. A motion asks the court to act. A setting marks a future event. A continuance postpones one, which makes the later setting the date to verify. A judgment or dismissal is an outcome. But check its wording and scope against the court record itself.
Rule 9.14 also makes the division and the clerk's docket useful checkpoints. They anchor any Catahoula Parish civil court record. When you know only a date, ask for more. Request the case number, title, and current setting rather than trusting an old date. If a matter has gone up on appeal, the trial-court docket does not become the appellate docket. The Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit calendar is a separate public source. It covers appellate settings and docket information.
Catahoula Civil Docket Appeals
A Catahoula Parish civil appeal creates its own record. It also gets its own appellate case number. A trial-court result that names Catahoula Parish does not make the Seventh JDC docket the whole appeal file. The Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit handles that route. It publishes a public calendar of its hearings and docket information.
Keep three identifiers handy when an appeal is involved. One is the Catahoula trial-court number. Another is the appellate number if you have it. The third is the date of the order or judgment under review. Those details keep a civil docket request to the clerk separate from an appellate calendar inquiry. Never treat a trial-court filing date or setting as the current Third Circuit setting. Check the appellate source first.
Public Access to Civil Dockets
Catahoula Parish civil dockets and filed court records start with the clerk. Still, access depends on state law, court orders, and any limit tied to the particular record. Louisiana law provides a process for inspection and copying. It does not promise a free statewide docket website or open access to every exhibit. Make a focused request. Name the civil record, an approximate date range, the case number or a party, and the format you want. Say whether you need a plain or certified copy. For a broad search or a large copy order, ask for an estimate first.
Key Rules:
La. C.C.P. art. 251 identifies the clerk as custodian of filed records and addresses examination and copying during office hours, subject to other law.
La. R.S. 44:31 provides an adult right to inspect, copy, or reproduce public records, subject to the law's limits.
La. R.S. 44:32 addresses how a custodian presents records for examination and the permitted request procedure.
La. R.S. 44:33 addresses production timing when a public record is available or cannot be produced immediately.
Not every Catahoula Parish court file is open to the public. Sealed, juvenile, expunged, and other restricted records follow their own access rules. Some restrictions are narrow. Ask the Catahoula Parish custodian whether a restriction covers the civil docket you want. A redacted copy may still be available. A status record or another permitted response may be an option too.
Catahoula Civil Docket Fee Updates
Catahoula Parish posts its civil fee schedule as a PDF. Its effective date is August 1, 2017. Treat it as a list of advance deposits and copy charges. Do not treat it as proof that every amount still stands. Fees and payment methods change. Call the clerk before you file anything. Confirm the current charge before you order a certified record or pay a parish image service. Also confirm how you can pay.
Fee check: Ask the Catahoula clerk for a current estimate before payment, especially when a request includes exhibits, multiple pages, certification, indexing, retrieval, or service-related charges.
A narrow request saves money on copies. Start a Catahoula Parish civil docket request with the chronology or one specific minute entry. That often pinpoints the document you truly need, so you never have to order every attachment in the court file.
Catahoula Civil Court Record Requests
When the statewide locator comes up short for Catahoula Parish, go straight to the clerk. Say you need a Seventh JDC civil docket. Give the civil category, Division A or B if known. Add the case number, a party or entity, and an approximate year. State whether you want the docket itself, a minute entry, or a named document. Say whether a plain or certified copy will do. Delivery options, public-terminal access, offsite storage, fees, and current procedures are all fair questions. Use the current Catahoula Clerk of Court contact page. Skip the older numbers buried in historical rules materials.
Catahoula Parish Clerk of Court
Larisa Holley Field keeps the Seventh JDC record route for Catahoula civil court records.
301 Bushley Street, Room 101
Harrisonburg, LA 71340
Mail: P.O. Box 654, Harrisonburg, LA 71340
Phone: 318-744-5497
Fax: 318-744-5488
Email: catahoulaclerk13@gmail.com
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
A Catahoula Parish appeal travels under its own appellate case number. This holds even if the case started in the local district court. For a setting on appeal, check the Third Circuit's public calendar. A Catahoula Parish civil docket result is not the full appellate record. Note: Confirm any civil request with the clerk before you pay. Forms, fees, payment methods, and image access can change.