To get a copy of a deed in Louisiana, contact the Clerk of Court in the parish where the property is located. You can search and order online through the statewide eClerks LA portal or a parish’s own site, walk into the clerk’s office and pull the record in person, or mail a written request. Standard copies run about $0.50 to $1.00 per page, and a certified copy adds a flat certification fee of roughly $5.00 to $10.00 depending on the parish.
Deeds are public records in Louisiana. Any person can request one, and no fee can be charged just to look at a record at the clerk’s office.1FindLaw. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 44 Section 31 The clerk of the district court in each parish serves as the ex officio parish recorder and keeps the conveyance records where deeds are filed.2Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 44 RS 44-71 Ask for conveyance records; mortgages, judgments, and liens are filed on a separate side of the office.3Calcasieu Clerk of Court. Mortgage, Conveyance, and Cancellation Department
What to Gather Before You Ask
You can search without a full set of details, but the more you bring, the quicker the clerk (or you) can find the right document. Useful pieces of information include:
- Full legal names of the seller (vendor) and buyer (vendee). Louisiana conveyance indexes are organized by party name in the order the clerk received them.
- The approximate date of the sale, donation, or other transfer, so the search can be narrowed to a range in the index.
- The property address and, if possible, the legal description — lot, square, and subdivision for city property, or metes and bounds for rural land. A prior tax bill or assessment notice usually shows the legal description.
- The instrument number or the book and page reference, if you already have it from a closing packet, a title abstract, or an earlier search. This pulls the exact document immediately.
- The parcel identification number assigned by the parish assessor, which links directly to the property in the clerk’s system.
Searching and Ordering Online
The Louisiana Clerks Remote Access Authority (LCRAA) runs a statewide portal covering the conveyance and mortgage indexes of dozens of parishes. It launched in 2015 with 52 parishes’ land record indexes.4Louisiana Clerks Remote Access Authority. Who Is Louisiana Clerks Remote Access Authority The public-facing site is eClerks LA at evaultla.com.
A basic index search for land records is free and returns the names of the parties, the recording date, the instrument number, and the book and page.5eClerks LA. eClerks LA Home To view or print the actual document image, you need a paid parish subscription through the Parish Search option. Some parishes also run their own portals with different pricing, so if the parish you need is not on eClerks LA, check its clerk’s website directly.
Once you have the instrument number or book and page, you can either buy the image online or use that reference to order a certified copy from the clerk.
Requesting a Copy In Person
Going to the clerk’s office is the most reliable route, especially if you are not sure which document you need. Most offices have public terminals for searching the conveyance index, and staff can help you navigate. Because inspection is free, you can look through the index and the document before you decide whether to pay for a copy.
When you find the deed, the office can produce a standard photocopy or a certified copy on the spot. Bring a check or cash; card acceptance varies by parish.
Requesting a Copy by Mail
If you cannot visit in person and would rather not use the online portal, send a written request to the parish Clerk of Court. Include the property address, the names of the parties, the approximate date, and any instrument or book-and-page numbers you have. Some parishes post a request form on their website; others accept a plain letter.
Enclose payment for the estimated copy and certification fees. A check or money order made out to the parish Clerk of Court is the safest choice. Turnaround runs from several business days to a few weeks depending on the parish and how much digging the request takes. If you are not sure what to send, call first — underpayment will delay the order, and clerks generally refund overpayments.
Copy Fees
Louisiana law lets each custodian set a reasonable fee schedule, posted where the public can see it, so exact charges differ by parish.6Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 44 RS 44-32 As a general guide:
- Standard copies typically cost $0.50 to $1.00 per page. Lafayette Parish, for example, charges $1.00 per page for office copies.7Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court. Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court Fees
- Certified copies add a certification fee on top of the per-page charge, generally in the range of $5.00 to $10.00. Lafayette Parish charges $10.00 for certification plus the copy charges. St. Helena Parish charges $5.00 per certified page, or $5.00 to certify a copy you bring in yourself.7Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court. Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court Fees8St. Helena Clerk of Court. St. Helena Clerk of Court Civil Fees
Standard Copy or Certified Copy
A standard photocopy is enough for personal reference: checking a legal description, reviewing the chain of ownership, or pulling information for an insurance claim. A certified copy carries the clerk’s seal and signature attesting that it is a true reproduction of the recorded document, and you will typically need one when a third party has to rely on the deed’s authenticity. Common examples:
- Mortgage applications, where lenders routinely require a certified copy of the current deed for underwriting.
- Title insurance, particularly when the chain of title reaches back into older documents.
- Court proceedings, including litigation, successions, and boundary disputes, where courts expect certified copies as evidence.
- Recording in another parish, when a transfer affects land in more than one parish and the instrument needs to be filed in each.
Orleans Parish and Older Deeds
Orleans Parish handles property records through the Land Records Division of the Office of the Clerk of Civil District Court rather than a typical parish clerk’s office. In-person research is free, and online access is available through a paid subscription. The parish holds more than 275 years of property documents.9Office of the Clerk of Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans. Office of the Clerk of Civil District Court – Land Records Division
For older properties elsewhere in the state, the original deed may predate the parish’s digital index. Most clerks keep physical index books and microfilm going back well over a century, and searching them usually means an in-person visit. Staff can point you to the correct volume and time period.
One thing to know if you are also filing something new: once a document is recorded with a Louisiana clerk, the original is not returned. It becomes a permanent part of the parish archives, which is exactly why requesting a copy later is the normal way to get one back.10Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court. Streamline Your Recordings Today