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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.
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Office: Catahoula Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/catahoula-parish; the Sheriff’s Office coordinates with fire departments and medical services for disaster response.
Sheriff: Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Office – 100 Pine Street, Harrisonburg, LA 71340 | (318) 744-5411 | Fax (318) 744-5568; Sheriff Toney J. Edwards, elected 2023; 45 regular deputies plus 15 part-time deputies. Catahoula Correctional Center – 499 Old Columbia Road, Harrisonburg, LA | (318) 744-2121 | Fax (318) 744-0033.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. ⚠️ InmateAid-relevant current-events note: in May 2026, federal prosecutors indicted several former Catahoula Parish Correctional Center supervisors, including a former warden, in connection with an alleged 2024 assault on restrained inmates and a subsequent cover-up; Sheriff Edwards addressed the indictments publicly. Families with questions about facility conditions or specific incidents should contact the Sheriff’s Office directly or consult current news coverage for the latest status.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: LA-8 and US-84 serve Harrisonburg, the parish seat, in North-Central Louisiana. Jonesville is another key community, at the confluence of the Ouachita, Tensas, Little, and Black Rivers.
Notes: Catahoula Parish takes its name from a Tensas word meaning “big, clear lake” – a reference to Catahoula Lake, which today lies within neighboring LaSalle Parish.
Notes: The town of Jonesville sits directly atop Troyville, one of the most significant – and most tragically lost – archaeological sites in North America. Built by Native Americans of the Baytown/Troyville culture between roughly 100 BCE and 700 CE at the strategic confluence of four rivers, the complex once included nine earthen mounds, among them the “Great Mound,” which at roughly 80-82 feet was the tallest mound in Louisiana and the second-tallest in eastern North America – significant enough that President Thomas Jefferson personally briefed Congress on its discovery. The Great Mound survived until the early 1930s, when its earth was stripped away for use as bridge-approach fill, a loss archaeologists consider one of the most irreplaceable in American archaeology; a modern reconstruction attempt begun in 2011 revealed that today’s engineers still cannot fully replicate the ancient construction techniques.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Catahoula Parish Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/catahoula-parish.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Catahoula Parish Library (main branch, Harrisonburg) – confirm current address/phone via the parish library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Troyville Earthworks historical marker site and Ancient Mounds Trail, the confluence of the Ouachita/Tensas/Little/Black Rivers at Jonesville, and Sicily Island Hills Wildlife Management Area (popular for birding) are the parish’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine loss of Louisiana’s tallest ancient mound is one of the more historically poignant archaeological facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Catahoula Parish Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/catahoula-parish.
Catahoula Vet Clinic – Jonesville, LA; a veterinary clinic (not a dedicated shelter) that has informally taken in strays from the surrounding region; serves parishes surrounding Catahoula and adopts to any suitable home.
⚠️ Note: a previous local rescue/adoption nonprofit, Catahoula Urban Tails, was shut down in 2020 following reports of poor animal welfare conditions; confirm current parish animal-welfare arrangements directly, as this is a historically under-resourced area for animal services.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Catahoula Parish Police Jury Public Works – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/catahoula-parish.
NOTES: Catahoula Parish is the first parish in the third batch of the Louisiana v2 A+ sourced standard. The genuine loss of Louisiana’s tallest ancient mound is one of the more historically poignant archaeological 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 Catahoula Parish County
Catahoula Parish is the birthplace of Louisiana’s state dog – the Catahoula Leopard Dog’s distinctive marbled coat and webbed feet evolved in this east-central Louisiana swamp country, and Catahoula Lake’s fluctuating waters create exceptional wildlife habitat on the Black River.
Harrisonburg (the parish seat, population ~300) and Jonesville (population ~2,000) serve the parish’s fishing, agricultural, and timber communities.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Catahoula Parish Assessor at 301 Bushley Street, Suite 2, Harrisonburg, LA 71340, phone 318-744-5222. LA residential assessed at 10% of fair market value; $75,000 homestead exemption.
Courts & Legal
Catahoula Parish Clerk of Court at 301 Bushley Street, Harrisonburg, LA 71340, phone 318-744-5497, 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)
200 Courthouse Square, Harrisonburg, LA 71340
(318) 744-5497
Genealogy
Parish-level record sources
Catahoula Parish Clerk of Court (succession/estate case files – see Succession section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Catahoula 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
Catahoula Parish 7th Judicial District Court, Clerk of Court 301 Bushley Street, Room 101 (P.O. Box 654), Harrisonburg, LA 71340 (318) 744-5497 Catahoula Parish is in east-central Louisiana, seated in Harrisonburg. The 7th Judicial District also covers Concordia Parish.
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
200 Courthouse Square, Harrisonburg, LA 71340
(318) 744-5411
SHERIFF / TAX COLLECTOR
200 Courthouse Square, Harrisonburg, LA 71340
(318) 744-5411
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
REGISTRAR OF VOTERS (Elections)
200 Courthouse Square, Harrisonburg, LA 71340
(318) 744-5223
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Office: Catahoula 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.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
Population: 9,500
Area: 704 sq mi
Established: 1808
Public Records
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