Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: Bienville Parish E911 Office – 970 First St, Arcadia, LA 71001 | (318) 263-7434; handles all 911 dispatch and issues street addresses for new dwellings.
Sheriff: Bienville Parish Sheriff’s Office – 100 Courthouse Drive, Arcadia, LA 71001 | (318) 263-2215 | Fax (318) 263-7418; Sheriff John E. Ballance, in office since 2000; 36 regular deputies plus 7 part-time deputies; also serves as the parish’s Ex-Officio Tax Collector, per Louisiana’s statewide sheriff structure. Bienville Parish Jail – same address | (318) 263-7415 | Fax (318) 263-7433.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-20 and LA-9 serve Arcadia, the parish seat, in North Louisiana.
Notes: Bienville Parish, founded in 1848 and named for New Orleans founder Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, is home to Driskill Mountain – at 535 feet, the highest natural point in the entire state of Louisiana. Arcadia itself sits at Louisiana’s highest incorporated-municipality elevation.
Notes: Bienville Parish is genuinely the site of one of the most famous events in American law-enforcement history: the May 23, 1934 ambush and killing of outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, on rural Louisiana Highway 154 about 8 miles south of Gibsland. A six-man posse led by Texas Ranger Frank Hamer and Bienville Parish Sheriff Henderson Jordan ended the couple’s two-year, multi-state crime spree in a hail of gunfire; their bodies were brought to Arcadia for embalming at a furniture-store-turned-funeral-parlor, drawing enormous crowds. The former café where the pair bought their last meal in Gibsland is now the Bonnie & Clyde Ambush Museum (2419 Main St, open since 2005), and the actual ambush site is marked by monuments along Highway 154.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Bienville Parish Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/bienville-parish.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Bienville Parish Library (main branch, Arcadia) – confirm current address/phone via bienvilleparish.org.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Bonnie & Clyde Ambush Museum and ambush-site monument, Driskill Mountain (Louisiana’s highest natural point), and the annual Authentic Bonnie and Clyde Festival (held around the May anniversary) are the parish’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine Bonnie and Clyde connection is one of the most nationally famous law-enforcement history facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Bienville Parish Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/bienville-parish.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
⚠️ Bienville Parish does NOT have its own animal control department or shelter facility. As of late 2023, the Bienville Parish Police Jury contracted with the Claiborne Animal Clinic (in neighboring Claiborne Parish) at $400/month to house animals seized by parish law enforcement outside the ten incorporated municipalities – this is explicitly not a public-facing animal shelter. For strays or animal welfare concerns, the Sheriff’s Office has coordinated informally with the Humane Society of Louisiana (New Orleans-based, statewide hotline 888-648-6263) and local volunteer rescuers. Confirm current arrangements directly with the Sheriff’s Office or Police Jury, as this is an evolving, resource-limited situation.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Bienville Parish Police Jury Public Works – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/bienville-parish.
NOTES: Bienville Parish is the first parish in the second batch of the Louisiana v2 A+ sourced standard. The genuine Bonnie and Clyde connection is one of the most nationally famous law-enforcement history facts covered anywhere in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Bienville Parish County
Bienville Parish is where Bonnie and Clyde were killed – the May 23, 1934 ambush near Gibsland ended the Depression-era outlaws’ two-year crime spree in a hail of bullets, and the ambush site and museum draw visitors to the northwest Louisiana spot where America’s most famous criminal couple died.
Arcadia (the parish seat, population ~2,700) and Gibsland (population ~900) serve the parish’s timber and agricultural communities.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Bienville Parish Assessor at 100 Courthouse Drive, Suite 3, Arcadia, LA 71001, phone 318-263-2507. LA residential assessed at 10% of fair market value; $75,000 homestead exemption.
Courts & Legal
Bienville Parish Clerk of Court at 100 Courthouse Drive, Arcadia, LA 71001, phone 318-263-2123, handles successions.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
CLERK OF COURT (Records, Vital Records, Mortgages)
100 Courthouse Dr., Arcadia, LA 71001
(318) 263-2123
Genealogy
Parish-level record sources
Bienville Parish Clerk of Court (succession/estate case files – see Succession section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Bienville Parish genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
A NOTE ON LOUISIANA LAW: Louisiana is the only U.S. state built on a civil-law tradition (rooted in the Napoleonic Code) rather than English common law. Louisiana doesn’t use the word “probate” – the equivalent process is called a “succession,” and its 64 parishes are the equivalent of counties elsewhere. Community property and separate property rules also work differently here than in common-law states, which can affect what’s actually part of the succession.
Where to go
Bienville Parish 2nd Judicial District Court, Clerk of Court 100 Courthouse Drive, Suite 1100, Arcadia, LA 71001 (318) 263-2123 Bienville Parish is in northwestern Louisiana, seated in Arcadia.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Small Succession Affidavit – under La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 3421 et seq., available for estates with a gross value of $125,000 or less at the date of death (or of any value if the decedent has been dead more than 20 years). No court proceeding is required. At least two people must sign – typically the surviving spouse (if any) plus one or more heirs, sworn before a notary. If the estate includes immovable property (real estate), the affidavit can’t be recorded until 90 days after the date of death, and it must be recorded with the Clerk of Court/Recorder in every parish where the decedent owned real estate.
Succession Without Administration (“simple possession”) – used when there are no debts to pay and all heirs agree; commonly resolved in 30 to 90 days via a Petition for Possession.
Administered Succession – required when a court-appointed succession representative needs to inventory assets and pay debts before distribution; typically takes 3 to 9 months, longer if contested.
Important: for anything beyond a small succession affidavit, Louisiana courts generally require a licensed Louisiana attorney to represent the succession – self-representation and generic online forms are not accepted the way they are in many other states.
Step 2: filing a regular succession
File a Petition for Possession (simple cases) or a Petition for Administration (if a representative and formal administration are needed) in the district court of the parish where the decedent was domiciled at death.
The court admits any will and, where needed, appoints an executor (testate) or administrator (intestate), issuing Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
In an administered succession, the representative prepares a sworn descriptive list of assets, pays valid debts, and accounts to the court.
The court issues a Judgment of Possession, which must then be recorded in the parish conveyance/land records and with the parish tax assessor to clear title.
What it costs
Filing fees vary by parish and case type; publication costs apply when legal notices are required.
A full administered succession typically requires attorney representation – flat fees for straightforward matters often run in the low thousands of dollars, more if contested or complex.
A small succession affidavit is far less expensive and, when no real estate is involved, can often be handled without an attorney – though even small errors can cause a bank, title company, or the Louisiana OMV to reject the affidavit.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
100 Courthouse Dr., Arcadia, LA 71001
(318) 263-2131
SHERIFF / TAX COLLECTOR
100 Courthouse Dr., Arcadia, LA 71001
(318) 263-2131
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
REGISTRAR OF VOTERS (Elections)
100 Courthouse Dr., Arcadia, LA 71001
(318) 263-2111
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Bienville Parish Health Unit – confirm current contact via Louisiana Department of Health regional office listings.
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
Population: 13,000
Area: 818 sq mi
Established: 1848
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Bienville Parish County residents.
