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Office: Claiborne Parish 911 Office – 300 Hwy 146, Homer, LA 71040 | (318) 927-9400 or (318) 927-2011; 911 Administrator Walter Johnson.
Sheriff: Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office – 300 Hwy 146, Homer, LA 71040 | (318) 927-2011 | Fax (318) 927-2550 (civil/tax line (318) 927-4807); Sheriff Sam Dowies, in office since 2020; 70 regular deputies plus 4 part-time deputies. Claiborne Parish Detention Center – same address | (318) 927-9800 | Fax (318) 927-5914.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. ⚠️ Note: as of mid-2026, the Claiborne Parish courthouse sustained storm damage that temporarily postponed court dates – confirm current courthouse status before a visit.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-79 and LA-9 serve Homer, the parish seat, in North Louisiana near the Arkansas border, with Haynesville as the parish’s other key town.
Notes: ⚠️ InmateAid-relevant: David Wade Correctional Center (DWCC), a Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections facility with a capacity of roughly 1,244 inmates, sits in an unincorporated area of Claiborne Parish between Homer and Haynesville, and is a major local employer. The facility is named for Lt. General David Wade, a highly decorated Claiborne Parish native who later served as Louisiana’s state corrections director.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Claiborne Parish Courthouse – Homer, LA.
Notes: Claiborne Parish is genuinely the namesake of the Haynesville Shale, one of the most significant natural gas formations in the United States. Named for the town of Haynesville, the formation was identified by geologists decades earlier but only became commercially significant after Chesapeake Energy’s March 2008 discovery-well announcement touched off a drilling boom; the Haynesville Region is today the third-largest natural gas producer in the U.S. behind only the Appalachian and Permian basins, and a 2017 USGS estimate placed recoverable natural gas in the combined Haynesville/Bossier formations at roughly 304 trillion cubic feet.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Claiborne Parish Veterans Affairs – 300 Hwy 146, Homer, LA 71040; confirm current contact via claiborneparish.org.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Claiborne Parish Public Libraries – confirm current address/phone via claiborneparish.org.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Lake Claiborne State Park (⚠️ note: the lake has intermittently closed to boat traffic for maintenance/debris – confirm current status before a visit) and the H.S. Ford Memorial Museum are the parish’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine Haynesville Shale connection is one of the most economically significant energy-industry facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Claiborne Parish Tax Assessor – confirm current contact via claiborneparish.org.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Claiborne Animal Clinic – 3500 Hwy 79, Homer, LA 71040 | (318) 927-9323 | Fax (318) 927-4964 | Email: [email protected]; a veterinary clinic that also serves an animal-shelter/rescue role for the parish per the state shelter registry; offers low-cost spay/neuter. Hours: Mon-Thu 7:30 AM-5:30 PM, Fri 7:30 AM-5 PM, Sat 7:30 AM-12 PM, closed Sunday.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Claiborne Parish Police Jury / Highway Department – confirm current contact via claiborneparish.org.
NOTES: Claiborne Parish is the second parish in the third batch of the Louisiana v2 A+ sourced standard. The genuine Haynesville Shale connection is one of the most economically significant energy-industry 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 Claiborne Parish County
Claiborne Parish is northwest Louisiana’s antebellum courthouse and Haynesville Shale parish – Homer’s 1860 Greek Revival courthouse and the natural gas boom from the shale formation define a northwest Louisiana community navigating the intersection of heritage and energy economy.
Homer (the parish seat, population ~3,200) preserves its antebellum courthouse while serving the parish’s natural gas and timber communities near the Arkansas border.
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Claiborne Parish Assessor at 512 E. Main Street, Homer, LA 71040, phone 318-927-2264. LA residential assessed at 10% of fair market value; $75,000 homestead exemption.
Courts & Legal
Claiborne Parish Clerk of Court at 512 E. Main Street, Homer, LA 71040, phone 318-927-2205, 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)
512 E. Main St., Homer, LA 71040
(318) 927-2222
Genealogy
Parish-level record sources
Claiborne Parish Clerk of Court (succession/estate case files – see Succession section above).
The Homer Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the 1860 Claiborne Parish Courthouse, is a significant local landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Claiborne 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
Claiborne Parish 2nd Judicial District Court, Clerk of Court 512 East Main Street (P.O. Box 330), Homer, LA 71040 (318) 927-9601 Claiborne Parish was founded March 15, 1828, named for Louisiana’s first governor William C. C. Claiborne, in northwestern Louisiana. Its seat, Homer, is set around a courthouse square laid out in 1850. The Homer Historic District (NRHP) includes the 1860 Claiborne Parish Courthouse, which served as a Confederate troop departure point.
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
512 E. Main St., Homer, LA 71040
(318) 927-2011
SHERIFF / TAX COLLECTOR
512 E. Main St., Homer, LA 71040
(318) 927-2011
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
REGISTRAR OF VOTERS (Elections)
512 E. Main St., Homer, LA 71040
(318) 927-3782
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Claiborne Parish Health Unit
(318) 927-3547
LA DCFS — Northwest Region
(318) 676-7400
LA Medicaid
(888) 342-6207
Claiborne Memorial Medical Center
claibornememorial.com (Homer — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Claiborne Parish Health Unit – confirm current contact via Louisiana Department of Health regional office listings.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
Population: 15,000
Area: 755 sq mi
Established: 1828
Public Records
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