There is no New Orleans County. Louisiana is the only U.S. state that doesn’t use counties at all — it uses parishes, and the area people search for as “New Orleans County” is officially Orleans Parish.1Louisiana.gov. Local Louisiana A Louisiana parish is the legal equivalent of a county in any other state, so anywhere a form, agency, or website asks for your county, the correct answer in New Orleans is Orleans Parish.
Why Louisiana Has Parishes and Not Counties
The name comes from French and Spanish colonial rule. Both were Catholic nations, and the Roman Catholic Church had already divided colonial Louisiana into local administrative units called parishes (French paroisses, Spanish parroquias) by the late 1700s. When Louisiana became a state in 1812, it kept those boundaries as its civil divisions instead of adopting the English county system used elsewhere. There are 64 parishes in total.
The difference is a naming convention, not a difference in power. A parish collects taxes, administers elections, operates courts, and enforces state law within its borders, exactly as a county does.2Legal Information Institute. Parish Federal agencies, the U.S. Census Bureau, and national organizations such as the National Association of Counties all treat parishes as county equivalents.
What to Write When a Form Asks for Your County
Write “Orleans Parish.” That is the official answer for any address inside the City of New Orleans. If a drop-down menu only lists counties and offers no parish option, Orleans is the entry that corresponds to the city.
One Government for Both the City and the Parish
New Orleans isn’t a city sitting inside a larger county with its own separate officials. The City of New Orleans and Orleans Parish occupy the exact same territory, and a single consolidated government handles everything that would normally be split between city and county layers. The city’s boundaries are defined to match the parish limits precisely under the Home Rule Charter.3Municode Library. New Orleans Home Rule Charter
In practical terms, there is no separate county-level body to contact for anything. The mayor and the seven-member City Council run both the city and the parish. One assessor’s office, one clerk, one set of courts.
Where to Go for the Usual County Business
Property assessments and the homestead exemption go through the Orleans Parish Assessor’s Office. A homeowner who lives in the property as a primary residence qualifies to have the first $75,000 of the home’s market value removed from taxation, but the exemption is not automatic — you have to file for it with proof of ownership, a valid ID showing the property address, and a current utility or cable bill matching the property.4Orleans Parish Assessor’s Office. Homestead and SAL The exemption itself is set by the Louisiana Constitution.5FindLaw. Louisiana Constitution of 1974 Art VII Section 20
Land records, property deeds, mortgages, liens, lawsuits, divorces, successions, and foreclosures all run through the Clerk of Civil District Court for Orleans Parish.6Orleans Parish Civil Clerk of Court. Welcome to the Clerk of the Civil District Court for Orleans Parish Marriage licenses are also obtained through the parish, at a cost of $27.50.7Louisiana Department of Health. How To Obtain An Orleans Parish Marriage License
The Courts You’ll Actually Deal With
Orleans Parish has two trial-level courts instead of one. Civil District Court handles civil matters, including personal injury lawsuits, property disputes, probate, and family law. Criminal District Court handles felony prosecutions and other criminal cases. This split dates to 1880 and is unusual within Louisiana, where most parishes use a single district court for both.
Because the city and parish are consolidated, there is no separate municipal court operating alongside a parish court. A traffic citation, a code enforcement matter, or a lawsuit filed within parish boundaries all move through the same court system, with one clerk’s office and one path through the local judiciary, regardless of whether the issue feels like a city matter or a county matter.