Caddo Parish Marriage Licenses
The Caddo Parish Clerk of Court marriage department issues marriage licenses, keeps marriage records dating back to 1838, and states that it does not perform marriage ceremonies in the office. The local marriage record path is therefore a clerk record path, not a judge or sheriff path. A couple may start the application online, but the clerk's research material says applicants complete issuance through the clerk's office.
The clerk's official marriage instructions require both parties to appear unless one party signs the completed application before a notary before the other applicant arrives. Certified birth certificates are required for both parties. Identification may be a valid unexpired driver license, government ID, passport, or visa with U.S. Form I-94. Social Security numbers are required unless a documented passport or visa exception applies. Louisiana minor-marriage limits also matter: a person under 16 may not enter a matrimonial agreement, and applicants who are 16 or 17 need judicial authorization and written concurrence from the proper parent, legal custodian, or tutor.
The Caddo online marriage application is the source shown in the manifest for the local pre-application screen.
That application route helps prepare the license record, but it does not replace the clerk's identity, document, and payment review before issuance.
Apply for Caddo Parish Marriage
A marriage license application in Caddo Parish should be treated as a document-driven clerk transaction. The online application may save time, but the couple still needs the proof documents and the correct payment method. The clerk's marriage page says the license fee is $32 by cash or credit card and includes a certified copy for the couple. Credit-card convenience fees may apply.
- Start the Caddo Parish marriage application online if desired, using Party A and Party B as instructed by the clerk.
- Gather certified birth certificates, valid identification, and Social Security information or the documented exception papers.
- Go to the Caddo Parish Clerk of Court marriage department to complete issuance, or use the notarized absent-party process if one applicant cannot appear.
- Pay the license fee by an accepted method and confirm whether any card convenience fee applies.
- Keep the certified copy provided with the license packet, and request added certified copies from the marriage department when needed.
The clerk's forms page also lists a Marriage Application, Covenant Marriage Package, and Application for Minister License. Covenant marriage is optional and uses a separate package. A minister license application is for an officiant, not for the couple's own marriage license.
Caddo Parish Marriage Fields
The official research did not expose every live field inside the online application, so the safest field list is the clerk-documented requirement set. These fields and documents are the parts that matter when the clerk verifies identity and issues the marriage license.
| Field or document | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Party A / groom name | Yes | The clerk instructs online applicants to enter the groom as Party A. |
| Party B / bride name | Yes | The clerk instructs online applicants to enter the bride as Party B. |
| Certified birth certificate | Yes | Required for both parties, with added translation rules for foreign records. |
| Social Security number | Yes, unless exception | Passport or visa with I-94 may apply where no SSN exists. |
| Government ID, passport, or visa | Yes | Must be valid and unexpired under the clerk instructions. |
| Notarized absent-party affidavit | Conditional | Used when one party cannot appear before the deputy clerk. |
| Payment | Yes | The license fee is due at issuance. |
Caddo Parish Marriage Fees
Marriage and divorce records do not use one combined fee schedule. Marriage license and certified marriage-copy fees come from the clerk's marriage materials. Divorce filing costs were not fully captured in the open research, so exact divorce deposits should be confirmed with civil or domestic filings before filing.
| Item | Official amount or note |
|---|---|
| Marriage license | $32 cash or credit card, includes a certified copy for the couple |
| Certified marriage-license copy by office order | $6 plus postage |
| Certified marriage copy by mail | $6.78 check or money order noted in research |
| Phone order convenience fee | 3.49% credit-card convenience fee |
| Plain public-record copy | $1/page plus postage when requested through the clerk process |
| Divorce filing deposit | Not captured in open research; confirm with civil/domestic filings |
The clerk's fee rules make the request type important. A name-only search, a plain copy, a certified marriage license, and a certified divorce judgment are not the same purchase.
Search Caddo Parish Marriage Records
The local online marriage index is an index of names only. It can help confirm that a Caddo Parish marriage license record exists, but a legal copy still comes from the clerk. Marriage name index and marriage-license images run from 04/03/1838 to present in the clerk's remote-access coverage, which is useful for family history and older record searches.
Access channels include the clerk's online marriage index, the Clerk Connect account route, in-person help in Room 103, mail requests to the Marriage Department, phone orders at 318-226-6789, and copy email at copies@caddoclerk.com. For broader clerk access, the Caddo Clerk Web Inquiry page links to marriage inquiry and other clerk searches.
The Louisiana juvenile-record confidentiality statute is a manifest source because family records may overlap with protected minor-related proceedings.
Marriage licenses are generally clerk records, but records tied to children or juvenile court should not be treated like ordinary open marriage index results.
Find Caddo Parish Divorce Records
Divorce records are court case files, not marriage-license files. In Caddo Parish, divorce filings move through the First Judicial District Court and the Caddo Clerk's civil, family, or domestic filing channels. The clerk contacts page lists civil filings and domestic filings at 318-226-6776 and civil copies at 318-226-6791. Searches may use Clerk Connect civil inquiry or a written copy request when a case number, party name, or judgment date is known.
A certified divorce decree or judgment copy should be requested from the clerk as a court record. Divorce case files may include petitions, answers, service documents, rules, orders, judgments, custody terms, support terms, property exhibits, and protective-order related filings. Not all parts of that file are equally public. Custody, child support, financial exhibits, sealed exhibits, and protective information may be redacted, sealed, or withheld.
The Louisiana adoption confidentiality statute is one of the manifest sources for family-record limits.
That restriction matters because adoption records and some family court materials are not opened through an ordinary divorce-record search.
The adoption disclosure petition statute explains why a court process, not a clerk counter request, may be needed for identifying adoption information.
Divorce records and adoption records can both appear in family-law research, but they follow different access rules.
Certified Copies in Caddo Parish
Certified copies are used when a record must prove a legal event. A certified marriage-license copy proves the clerk-issued marriage license record. A certified divorce judgment proves the court's final order in the divorce case. Uncertified index results or portal screenshots may help with research, but they usually do not replace a certified copy for name changes, benefits, remarriage, or official filings.
For marriage copies, send mail requests to Caddo Parish Clerk of Court, Attention: Marriage Department, 501 Texas Street, Room 103, Shreveport, LA 71101, or contact the marriage department by phone. For divorce copies, use the civil copy channel or a written public-record request with party names, case number if known, record type, and delivery method. The Caddo Clerk's public-record request process says copies are $1 per page plus postage.
The Western District of Louisiana Shreveport division appears in the manifest because not every family-adjacent court question is a parish divorce case.
Federal court records are separate from Caddo Parish divorce records, even when a person lives in Shreveport.
The Western District bankruptcy court Shreveport office is also separate from the clerk's marriage and divorce files.
Bankruptcy filings may mention marital property or support claims, but they are searched through federal bankruptcy systems, not the parish marriage index.
Note: Caddo-specific divorce filing fees were not visible in the open research, so the page does not state an exact divorce filing amount.