Lookup Caddo Parish District Court

Caddo Parish District Court

Louisiana uses district courts as its primary trial courts of general jurisdiction. In Caddo Parish, that court is the First Judicial District Court. The State Court Structure Map confirms that the District Court is the primary trial court, the Caddo Parish Clerk of Court is the unified clerk, and probate is handled through the Probate Division of District Court rather than a separate surrogate or orphans' court.

The primary courthouse is the Caddo Parish Courthouse at 501 Texas Street in downtown Shreveport. The clerk is in Room 103, the sheriff's courthouse office is in Room 101, and the District Attorney is on the 5th floor. Many First JDC judges and sections use the same Texas Street courthouse, while juvenile court functions are listed at the Juvenile Justice Center on Spring Street.

Caddo Parish District Court Sections

The First JDC is organized into civil, family law, and criminal divisions, with sections assigned to authorized judges. The research from the official judges page and local rule structure lists the following Caddo Parish District Court sections and court offices.

The Louisiana Supreme Court is a manifest source for statewide court structure and rules.

State rules matter because First JDC local structure sits inside the broader Louisiana trial and appellate court system.

District Court vs Local Courts

Caddo Parish court records are not all District Court records. Shreveport City Court, justice of the peace courts, mayor's courts, sheriff records, prosecutor records, and federal courts can all be the correct source for different matters. The State Court Structure Map lists lower courts as City Court, Justice of the Peace Court, and Mayor's Court.

Caddo District Court Case Flow

Case flow depends on whether the matter is civil, criminal, family, juvenile, or probate. The First JDC appendix says initial filings, including succession matters and minor settlements, are filed with the clerk, randomly assigned a docket number and section, delivered to the assigned judge with the proposed order or judgment, and returned to the clerk after judicial action.

Criminal flow: Arrest or summons › first appearance or magistrate review › bill of information or indictment › arraignment › pretrial motions › plea or trial › disposition › sentencing › appeal.

Civil and family flow: Petition filed › random section assignment › service › answer or response › motions and hearings › trial or settlement › judgment › appeal.

Succession flow: Petition or affidavit filed › docket and section assignment › judge review › order or judgment of possession › clerk return and certified copies › conveyance recording when real estate is involved.

Caddo District Court Divisions

Civil divisions handle lawsuits, judgments, garnishments, collections, damage suits, landlord-tenant matters, name changes, and other noncriminal suits. Domestic sections handle divorce, custody, support, family protective matters, and related filings. Criminal sections handle felony and district-court criminal cases, with criminal division sections designated 1 through 5 in the local structure.

Juvenile Court has three sections and handles adoption, child in need of care, family in need of services, delinquency, paternity, termination of parental rights, traffic, UIFSA, voluntary transfer of custody, minor marriages, and related juvenile matters. Juvenile court records are confidential under Louisiana law except for traffic violations and specific authorized disclosure.

The Caddo Clerk criminal division page is a manifest source for criminal record costs and clerk services.

Criminal division records are court files kept by the clerk, while prosecutor files and sheriff records use separate access channels.

The Caddo Clerk FAQ page is a manifest source for practical clerk and marriage answers.

FAQ material can answer filing and copy basics, but case-specific court action belongs with the assigned court section or clerk department.

Caddo District Court Appeals

Appeals from Caddo Parish district-court judgments generally go to the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal. Further review may go to the Louisiana Supreme Court. Federal cases follow a different path: the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Shreveport division, appeals to the U.S. Fifth Circuit rather than to the Louisiana Second Circuit.

The Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal is a manifest source for the Caddo Parish state appeal route.

Appeal records may be separate from the district court file, so a trial-court search may not show every appellate brief, opinion, or writ filing.

Access Caddo District Records

District Court records are generally searched through the Caddo Clerk and Clerk Connect. The clerk's Web Inquiry page links civil, criminal, property, and marriage access paths, while daily criminal docket information is available through a separate Caddo daily docket page. Certified copies, older files, sealed or restricted files, and records not visible online require the clerk's written request route or department contact.

The Caddo Clerk marriage records page appears in the District Court manifest because family and district-court records often overlap with marriage and divorce questions.

Marriage licenses are clerk records, while divorce files are district-court records in civil or domestic channels.

Recent local context also matters. A 2025 Caddo DA post citing the Louisiana Supreme Court 2024 report stated that Caddo Parish had 6,962 adult criminal non-traffic filings and 60 jury trials in 2024. That volume explains why docket number, court section, and department routing are important when requesting records.

Note: The failed First JDC local rules appendix image row had no filename, so no image was added for that PDF row.