Find Public Records in Shreveport
Shreveport public records are maintained by the Caddo Parish Clerk of Court and cover the full range of civil, criminal, property, and marriage filings for northwest Louisiana's largest city. Shreveport serves as the parish seat of Caddo Parish, so the courthouse is right in the city, making in-person access straightforward. The clerk's office handles filings from the 1st Judicial District, which covers Caddo Parish. Louisiana's public records law under La. R.S. 44:1 and Louisiana Constitution Article XII, Section 3 gives any person the right to inspect and copy records held by public agencies, with limited exemptions for things like juvenile records and certain health information.
Shreveport Quick Facts
Caddo Parish Clerk of Court
Public records for Shreveport are maintained by the Caddo Parish Clerk of Court. The office is at 501 Texas Street, Room 103, Shreveport, LA 71101. Phone is (318) 226-6776. The office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, except legal holidays. Because Shreveport is the Caddo Parish seat, the main courthouse is in the heart of the city, which makes visiting convenient for most residents.
The Caddo Clerk of Court website at caddoclerk.com is the online hub for public records information from this office. You can find current fee schedules, contact numbers for each department, forms, and links to online record search tools. The clerk maintains civil court filings, criminal case records, land conveyances, mortgage records, and marriage licenses for all of Caddo Parish, including Shreveport.
The 1st Judicial District covers only Caddo Parish. All district court cases filed in Shreveport are handled in this district, and the clerk is the official custodian of those records. If you are searching for a case that was tried in Shreveport, the Caddo Parish Clerk of Court is the right place to start.
The Caddo Parish Clerk website at caddoclerk.com provides access to public records information, fee details, and online search tools for Shreveport and Caddo Parish.
The LCRAA statewide portal indexes Caddo Parish records alongside all 64 Louisiana parishes for quick online lookups.
Online Access to Shreveport Public Records
The Louisiana Clerks statewide portal (LCRAA) at laclerksportal.org provides a free index of Caddo Parish court and property filings. This is the first place to check if you want to confirm a record exists before making the trip to the courthouse at 501 Texas Street. The portal covers all 64 Louisiana parishes from a single search interface.
ClerkConnect offers subscription-based access to deeper records for Caddo Parish, including civil filings, criminal case documents, and land records. Attorneys, title examiners, and investigators who search Shreveport records regularly often rely on this tool. The eClerks LA platform also covers Caddo Parish and gives another online option for document retrieval.
Note: Online index searches may not reflect filings from the past few days. New documents can take a short time to appear in online systems after they are filed with the Caddo Parish clerk.
Civil and Criminal Court Records in Shreveport
Civil case records from the 1st Judicial District include lawsuits, succession proceedings, family law matters such as divorce and custody, contract disputes, and civil judgments. All are public under La. R.S. 44:1. You can search civil records through the LCRAA portal or ClerkConnect, or request them at the courthouse at 501 Texas Street.
Criminal records in Caddo Parish cover felony and misdemeanor charges heard in the 1st Judicial District. The case file for each charge includes the indictment or bill of information, all motions and pleadings, minutes of court proceedings, and the final disposition. These records are open to the public unless a judge has ordered them sealed. Juvenile records are generally restricted under Louisiana law.
For arrest records from the Shreveport Police Department or the Caddo Parish Sheriff, contact those agencies directly. Arrest records are maintained by the arresting agency, not the clerk of court. For a statewide criminal history check, the Louisiana State Police at lsp.org can provide a background report that covers all 64 parishes under La. R.S. 15:588.
Property and Land Records
Every real estate transaction in Caddo Parish must be recorded with the clerk of court to be legally effective. Conveyance records at the Shreveport courthouse document the chain of title for all property in the parish. Mortgage and lien records show encumbrances that may affect a property. Both are public and searchable by name through the clerk's office or online.
Shreveport's real estate market generates a large volume of land filings each year. Title companies and attorneys working on Caddo Parish properties rely on the conveyance index regularly. If you need to find a property by address rather than owner name, the Caddo Parish Assessor's Office can help identify the owner before you run a name search through the clerk.
The ClerkConnect subscription service gives remote access to Caddo Parish land records including conveyances and mortgages filed with the Shreveport clerk of court.
This is useful for title searches and property research that would otherwise require multiple courthouse visits.
Marriage Licenses and Vital Records
Marriage licenses for Caddo Parish are issued and recorded by the Clerk of Court at 501 Texas Street. If a marriage took place in Shreveport or elsewhere in Caddo Parish, the marriage license and recorded certificate are on file with this office. You can request a copy in person or by mail.
Birth and death records are a state function in Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Health handles certified birth and death certificates for events statewide. For recent records, contact the Department of Health directly. Historical vital records are accessible through the Louisiana Secretary of State's archives and the free online vital records index at sos.la.gov.
The state vital records index at sos.la.gov covers historical vital records from Caddo Parish and across Louisiana, and is a useful tool for genealogy research in the Shreveport area.
Older birth, death, and marriage records from Shreveport and Caddo Parish can often be found here without a courthouse trip.
Statewide Public Records Resources
Beyond the Caddo Parish clerk's office, several statewide resources are useful for Shreveport residents. The Louisiana Secretary of State at sos.la.gov manages business registrations, election records, notary commissions, and historical archives. Business entity searches are available through GeauxBiz.
For formal public records requests under Louisiana law, the state's public records law framework under La. R.S. 44:1 requires agencies to respond promptly. Exemptions are listed in La. R.S. 44:4 and include items like tax records, medical records, and certain law enforcement files. But the default rule in Louisiana is that public records are open to anyone who asks.
The Louisiana Secretary of State at sos.la.gov holds state-level records relevant to Shreveport including business filings, election data, and the State Archives.
Business searches, notary records, and historical archives are accessible through this site from anywhere in Louisiana.
Nearby Cities
Shreveport sits across the Red River from Bossier City, which is the nearest qualifying city in northwest Louisiana.