Find St. Landry Parish Marriage and Divorce Records

St. Landry Parish Marriage License Rules

Marriage licenses are issued by the St. Landry Parish Clerk of Court marriage license office. Louisiana allows a marriage license to be issued in any parish, even when the parties live elsewhere, but the ceremony must take place in Louisiana. The record stays with the parish that issued the license. If St. Landry Parish issued the license, the signed license must be returned to the St. Landry Parish Clerk after the ceremony so the marriage record can be kept there.

The clerk lists the marriage license area as Suite 206, with marriage-license phone extensions 5128 and 5126 through the main clerk number. Applicants must plan around the 24-hour waiting period and the 30-day expiration period. A license must be obtained at least 24 hours before the ceremony, and an unused license expires 30 days from the date and time it was issued. These timing rules matter for both local weddings and ceremonies planned by people who are coming to St. Landry Parish from outside the area.

The official marriage-license page is the best starting source for current requirements. It explains the license fee, acceptable documents, rules for prior marriages, minor-applicant limits, Social Security number disclosure, and the one-party appearance affidavit when only one applicant comes to the clerk's office.

The clerk's marriage-license source is shown in the screenshot from the official St. Landry Parish marriage license requirements page.

That source is central because it ties the St. Landry Parish marriage records process to the clerk's own fee, document, waiting-period, and copy rules.

Apply for St. Landry Parish Marriage Records

A marriage-license application should be prepared before visiting the clerk. Both applicants need identity and family information, and the clerk requires official documents rather than informal substitutes. Birth certificates or birth cards must have a raised seal. A driver's license, state ID, military ID, passport, or naturalization paper does not replace the birth certificate unless a State District Judge signs a birth-certificate waiver. A secondary photo ID is also required.

1. Call the Clerk of Court at 337-942-5606, extensions 5128 or 5126, to confirm marriage-license service details before going to Suite 206.
2. Bring official birth certificates or birth cards with raised seals, plus secondary photo identification for each applicant.
3. Prepare prior-marriage information, including the final divorce date or former spouse death date when either person was married before.
4. Bring the last four digits of Social Security numbers, residence addresses, parents' full names, and parents' places of birth.
5. Pay the $32.50 license fee in cash, then wait at least 24 hours before the Louisiana ceremony.
6. Make sure the ceremony occurs within 30 days and return the signed license to the issuing parish clerk.

If only one applicant appears, that person must bring documents for both parties and a marriage application with both signed and notarized signature affidavits. If an applicant has no U.S. Social Security number, that applicant must appear in person and write, sign, and date the statement before the issuing clerk. The statement cannot be prepared in advance. Note: Foreign-language birth, divorce, or death documents must be translated into English by that country's consulate under La. R.S. 13:3725.

St. Landry Parish Marriage Application Fields

The St. Landry Parish marriage-license workflow is document driven. The clerk's page lists identity facts, eligibility facts, family facts, and payment rules that must be satisfied before the license can issue. The table below converts those official requirements into a field inventory for applicants and for people checking whether a prior license application may have enough detail to support a copy request.

St. Landry Parish Marriage and Divorce Fees

Marriage records and divorce records use different fee schedules. Marriage-license fees come from the clerk's marriage page. Divorce filing costs come from the St. Landry civil-cost schedule effective February 1, 2024. Copy and certification fees can depend on the type of document requested, whether it is a plain copy, and whether a certified minute entry or court record is needed for legal use.

The Louisiana.gov St. Landry Parish local page points users to local parish channels for marriage and divorce record services rather than a single statewide divorce certificate office.

That statewide local page supports the same practical rule: St. Landry Parish marriage copies and divorce records are obtained through the local clerk channel tied to the record.

Search St. Landry Parish Marriage Records

To look up a St. Landry Parish marriage record, start with the issuing parish. A license issued in another Louisiana parish remains with that other parish, even if the ceremony took place in St. Landry Parish. For St. Landry-issued licenses, the copy request should include the bride and groom first and last names and the date the license was issued. If the request is for an older record, the Archives Department may be more useful than the regular marriage-license desk.

The clerk's archives page states that St. Landry Parish marriage licenses run from 1807 to present. That long date span makes the archive route important for family history, succession support, and old civil filings where a marriage fact must be proved. The Archives Department is in Room 11 in the basement of the courthouse, and the clerk lists Archives & Research extension 5151.

Online users may also encounter eVaultLA, which advertises searches for land records, marriage licenses, and civil information in participating parishes. The research did not verify a complete free St. Landry marriage image view without account limits, so certified copies should still be requested from the Clerk of Court.

Find St. Landry Parish Divorce Records

Divorce records are civil or family filings in the district-court system. Louisiana.gov states that certified copies of divorce records can be obtained from the Clerk of Court in the parish where the divorce occurred. In St. Landry Parish, that means the Clerk of Court and the Court Division are the core channels for divorce petitions, judgments, certified copies, and file review. The broader case record may also be found through ClerkConnect subscription access when the record is available online.

A divorce file may include a petition, answer, service papers, custody or support pleadings, property issues, hearing-officer conference orders, notices, the final judgment, and certified copies. Some family material can be limited by court order or by rules that protect minors and sensitive personal details. Adoption and juvenile-related material is more restricted than a routine divorce judgment. For the court side of the case, St. Landry Parish divorce records belong with the same civil/family filing system used for other district-court matters.

For broader court-file context, the district-court civil record may overlap with St. Landry Parish court records, but the copy request should still identify the divorce case and the exact document needed.

Certified St. Landry Parish Copies

Certified copies are used when a record must be accepted as an official clerk copy. Marriage-license certified copies cost $7.00 under the clerk's marriage page. Divorce certified copies follow the court-copy and certification schedule, including the listed certified minute entry amount when that is the document requested. A plain online printout may be useful for research, but it is not the same as a certified court copy.

For marriage copies, provide the bride and groom first and last names and the license issue date if known. For divorce copies, provide party names, case number if available, and the approximate judgment date. Requests can be made through the Clerk of Court by phone, mail, or in person. The Clerk's mailing address is P.O. Box 750, Opelousas, LA 70571, and the main phone is 337-942-5606.

The sheriff's telephone-access page is not a marriage or divorce record source, but it reflects a separate family-contact channel for people dealing with custody status during a pending family or criminal matter.

That distinction matters because jail communication, court divorce files, and marriage records are separate systems even when the same family needs all three.

Louisiana Vital Records Limits

Louisiana state and parish sources do not make St. Landry Parish divorce records a statewide vital-record certificate in the same way people may expect for birth or death records. The researched Louisiana.gov source directs certified divorce copy requests to the Clerk of Court in the parish where the divorce occurred. Marriage licenses also remain in the parish where the license was issued. That makes the St. Landry Parish Clerk of Court the practical record custodian for St. Landry marriage licenses and local divorce case records.