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Office: Jefferson Davis Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness – coordinated through the Sheriff’s Office; call (337) 824-3850 for information.
Sheriff: Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office – 1530 Hwy 90 W, Jennings, LA 70546 (P.O. Box 863) | Non-emergency (337) 824-3850 or (337) 821-2100 | Fax (337) 821-2105; Sheriff Kyle Miers, a Welsh High School graduate with 23 years’ prior law enforcement experience (Ward 3 Marshal’s Office and Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office, including SWAT, dive team, and felony investigations), elected November 2023 and sworn in July 1, 2024, unseating longtime incumbent Ivy Woods; 100 regular deputies, 4 part-time, and 11 auxiliary deputies. Jefferson Davis Parish Correctional Center – 321 East Plaquemine, Jennings, LA | (337) 821-2104 | Fax (337) 821-2105.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-10 and US-90 serve Jennings, the parish seat, in Southwest Louisiana’s Acadiana region, roughly midway between Lafayette and Lake Charles.
Notes: Jefferson Davis Parish, one of Louisiana’s last-created parishes (established by law in 1912, effective 1913), was carved from the former Imperial Calcasieu Parish and is named for Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Jefferson Davis Parish Courthouse – 300 State Street, Jennings, LA.
Notes: Jennings is genuinely known as the “Cradle of Louisiana Oil.” On September 21, 1901 – just nine months after the famous Spindletop gusher in nearby Beaumont, Texas – wildcatter W. Scott Heywood struck Louisiana’s first commercial oil well, the Jules Clements No. 1, roughly seven miles northeast of town, producing an initial 7,000 barrels a day and launching the state’s entire oil industry. A historical marker unveiled in 1951 during the Louisiana Golden Oil Jubilee, and today’s Louisiana Oil and Gas Park along I-10, commemorate the discovery.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Jefferson Davis Parish Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/jefferson-davis-parish.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Jefferson Davis Parish Library (main branch, Jennings) – confirm current address/phone via the parish library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Louisiana Oil and Gas Park (I-10 Exit 64) commemorating the 1901 discovery, and Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge, are the parish’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine “Cradle of Louisiana Oil” origin story is one of the most economically foundational energy-history facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Jefferson Davis Parish Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/jefferson-davis-parish.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Jennings Animal Control – 2108 Isabelle St, Jennings, LA 70546 | (337) 821-5519.
Other municipal shelters within the parish include Welsh Animal Shelter (townofwelsh.com) and Lake Arthur Animal Control, 102 Arthur Avenue, Lake Arthur, LA | (337) 774-2411; there is no single parish-wide shelter – services are organized by municipality.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Jefferson Davis Parish Police Jury Public Works – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/jefferson-davis-parish.
NOTES: Jefferson Davis Parish is the third parish in the fifth batch of the Louisiana v2 A+ sourced standard. The genuine “Cradle of Louisiana Oil” origin story is one of the most economically foundational energy-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 Jefferson Davis Parish County
Jefferson Davis Parish is southwest Louisiana’s first oil well and Cajun Prairie crawfish parish – the 1901 oil discovery that launched Louisiana’s petroleum industry and the rice-and-crawfish dual farming system of the Cajun Prairie define a parish where Jennings serves the surrounding Cajun agricultural and energy communities.
Jennings (the parish seat, population ~10,000) is Jefferson Davis Parish’s governmental hub on I-10, a southwest Louisiana Cajun community whose 1901 oil heritage, rice and crawfish farming, and courthouse anchor its identity.
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Jefferson Davis Parish Assessor at 300 State Street, Suite 101, Jennings, LA 70546, phone 337-824-3451. LA assessed at 10% of fair market value.
Courts & Legal
Jefferson Davis Parish District Court at 300 State Street, Jennings, LA 70546, phone 337-824-1160, 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)
300 State St., Jennings, LA 70546
(337) 824-1160
Genealogy
Parish-level record sources
Jefferson Davis Parish Clerk of Court (succession/estate case files – see Succession section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Jefferson Davis 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
Jefferson Davis Parish 31st Judicial District Court, Clerk of Court 300 North State Street, Room 106 (P.O. Box 799), Jennings, LA 70546 (337) 824-1160 Jefferson Davis Parish is in southwestern Louisiana, seated in Jennings.
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
300 State St., Jennings, LA 70546
(337) 824-3850
SHERIFF / TAX COLLECTOR
300 State St., Jennings, LA 70546
(337) 824-3850
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
REGISTRAR OF VOTERS (Elections)
300 State St., Jennings, LA 70546
(337) 824-1533
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Jeff Davis Parish Health Unit
(337) 824-1722
LA DCFS — Southwest Region
(337) 491-2000
LA Medicaid
(888) 342-6207
Jennings American Legion Hospital
jalh.com (Jennings — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Jefferson Davis 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: 31,000
Area: 658 sq mi
Established: 1912
Public Records
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