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Office: Jackson Parish Communications District (911) – governed by a 7-member Board of Commissioners including the Sheriff, hospital administrator, and Jonesboro police/fire chiefs.
Sheriff: Jackson Parish Sheriff’s Office – 150 Old Winnfield Road, Jonesboro, LA 71251 | (318) 259-9021 | Fax (318) 259-8268; Sheriff Brent D. Barnett, sworn in 2025, holds a BA from Louisiana Tech University and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy; 149 regular deputies plus 10 part-time deputies. Jackson Parish Jail – (318) 259-8799 | Fax (318) 259-8363.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-167 and LA-4 serve Jonesboro, the parish seat, in North Louisiana; the village of Hodge lies just north.
Notes: Jackson Parish, formed in 1845 from parts of Claiborne, Ouachita, and Union Parishes, is named for President Andrew Jackson.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Jackson Parish Courthouse – 500 East Court Street, Jonesboro, LA.
Notes: The village of Hodge grew up entirely around a company-owned paper mill, in operation continuously since 1928 (originally Southern Advance Bag and Paper Company, later Rock-Tenn, and today WestRock) – Hodge’s mayor has described the town as literally “founded as a paper mill town,” with the mill historically owning nearly everything within the tiny four-block community, including utility and wastewater service still supplied to Hodge, North Hodge, and East Hodge today. The mill remains Jackson Parish’s largest employer, generating several hundred million dollars in annual regional economic impact.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Jackson Parish Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/jackson-parish.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Jackson Parish Library (main branch, Jonesboro) – confirm current address/phone via jacksonparishpolicejury.org.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Jimmie Davis State Park, east of Jonesboro on Caney Lake Reservoir – named for the two-time Louisiana governor and country music singer-songwriter best known for co-writing “You Are My Sunshine” – is the parish’s premier attraction, offering swimming, boating, and camping.
Notes: The genuine “company town built around a still-operating 1928 paper mill” story is a distinctive piece of North Louisiana industrial history covered in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Jackson Parish Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/jackson-parish.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Jackson Parish Sheriff’s Department Animal Control – 1641 South Hudson, Jonesboro, LA 71251 | (318) 259-9021; operates a holding pen through the Sheriff’s Office. City of Jonesboro also maintains its own animal holding pens.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Jackson Parish Police Jury Public Works – 160 Industrial Drive, Jonesboro, LA 71251 | (318) 259-2361.
NOTES: Jackson Parish is the first parish in the fifth batch of the Louisiana v2 A+ sourced standard. The genuine “company town built around a still-operating 1928 paper mill” story is a distinctive piece of North Louisiana industrial history covered 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 Jackson Parish County
Jackson Parish is north-central Louisiana’s pine hills timber and natural gas parish – the forested hills and energy resources define a rural community between Monroe and Ruston in the north Louisiana uplands.
Jonesboro (the parish seat, population ~4,500) serves the parish’s timber, agricultural, and energy communities in the north Louisiana hills.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Jackson Parish Assessor at 500 E. Court Street, Suite 201, Jonesboro, LA 71251, phone 318-259-2151. LA residential assessed at 10% of fair market value; $75,000 homestead exemption.
Courts & Legal
Jackson Parish Clerk of Court at 500 E. Court Street, Jonesboro, LA 71251, phone 318-259-2424, 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)
500 E. Court St., Jonesboro, LA 71251
(318) 259-2424
Genealogy
Parish-level record sources
Jackson Parish Clerk of Court (succession/estate case files – see Succession section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Jackson 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
Jackson Parish 2nd Judicial District Court, Clerk of Court 500 East Court Avenue, Room 103 (P.O. Box 730), Jonesboro, LA 71251 (318) 259-2424 Jackson Parish was formed in 1845, named for Andrew Jackson, in the northern part of Louisiana. Its seat, Jonesboro, is also its largest town – founded in 1860 as a small family farm.
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
500 E. Court St., Jonesboro, LA 71251
(318) 259-9381
SHERIFF / TAX COLLECTOR
500 E. Court St., Jonesboro, LA 71251
(318) 259-9381
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
REGISTRAR OF VOTERS (Elections)
500 E. Court St., Jonesboro, LA 71251
(318) 259-2361
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Jackson Parish Health Unit
(318) 259-4435
LA DCFS — Northwest Region
(318) 676-7400
LA Medicaid
(888) 342-6207
Jackson Parish Hospital
jacksonparishhospital.com (Jonesboro — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Jackson Parish Health Unit – (318) 259-6601.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
Population: 15,000
Area: 572 sq mi
Established: 1845
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for Jackson Parish County residents.
