The Rapides Parish Clerk of Court would like to alert the public that an email scam has been circulating. The email notifies the recipient of a Notice to Appear in a court case, however, official court notifications that require court appearances are not sent via email for Rapides Parish. This email is a scam and members of the public should not respond to or click on any attachment or link pertaining to appearing in court. If you receive this email, you are advised to delete it as soon as possible and refrain from opening it.

The phone scam shows as our, the Rapides Parish Clerk of Court, phone number on caller IDs. The message on the other end uses fear and threats of arrest to con you into giving them money or information personal and/or financial. We, The Rapides Parish Clerk of Court, never call people about arrest warrants, collection of fines or penalties, and we do not accept payment for outstanding warrants. If you receive one of these calls, hang up and report it to us the Rapides Parish Clerk of Court, 318-473-8153 or the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office 318-473-6700.

Thank you.

The Office of the Clerk of Court is established by the Louisiana Constitution. Under the Constitution, the Clerk is the Recorder of Mortgages, Clerk of the District Court and the Election Officer of the parish. The Clerk is an elected position with a four year term.

The Records of Rapides Parish begin in 1865. The records prior to that date were destroyed in a courthouse fire during the Civil War. The records are microfilmed as authorized by the legislature. The Clerk's office has an ever increasing volume of records which creates an enormous housing and storage problem. Microfilm and optical imaging are a necessity to solve the problem of space and availability of records to the public.

The Clerk's office started keeping records on computer in 1984 and most aspects of the office from that point on are accessible by the computer. By law the records are open to the public with the exception of adoptions, judicial commitments, and any record ordered sealed by the court. This office is one of the few Clerk's offices in the state which is linked by computer with the Rapides Parish Sheriff and District Attorney. This combined program was designed in the interest of fiscal economy and for the benefit of the people they serve.

All filings, whether they are for the Recorder or the Clerk, must be clocked in as to date and time of filing in the respective office - Recorder or Clerk. Each filing must be docketed (numbered) and recorded in the appropriate book or record to which they relate; indexed and cross indexed for ready reference. The indices in the Clerk's office are kept alphabetically by the names of the parties involved. The originals must be retained in the office and are not returned to the parties as is done in most states.

The Rapides Parish Clerk's Office is self-supporting and operates on the fees collected for services rendered. No tax revenues are used. The fees collected for the services rendered are set by law. All salaries and expenses are paid out of the Clerk's Salary Fund. By law the governing body of the Parish has the responsibility for providing office space and utilities.

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Harassment Policy

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