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Sheriff: LaSalle Parish Sheriff’s Office – First and Courthouse, Jena, LA 71342 (1050 Courthouse Street, P.O. Box 70) | (318) 992-2151 | Fax (318) 992-2155; Sheriff “Lane” Windham, in office since 2024; 55 regular deputies plus 5 part-time deputies. LaSalle Parish Jail – same address | Fax (318) 992-2155. LaSalle Correctional Center – 3719 Highway 165 N, Olla, LA | (318) 495-6200 | Fax (318) 495-6208.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. ⚠️ InmateAid-relevant: the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center (formerly the LaSalle ICE Processing Center), a 1,160-bed federal immigration detention facility operated by the GEO Group, is located at 830 Pinehill Road near Jena and has operated since 2007.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-165 and LA-8 serve Jena, the parish seat, in Central Louisiana; Olla is another key town, having lost a historic rivalry with Jena over the parish courthouse location due to Jena’s more central position.
Notes: LaSalle Parish is named for French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: LaSalle Parish Courthouse – Jena, LA.
Notes: LaSalle Parish, and specifically the town of Jena, is the site of the widely covered “Jena Six” case. In August 2006, after a Black student asked whether he could sit under a tree at Jena High School traditionally used by white students, three nooses were found hanging from that tree the next morning; the white students involved received only school suspensions. Racial tensions escalated over the following months, and in December 2006 six Black teenagers were arrested and initially charged with attempted second-degree murder for beating a white classmate, while a white student involved in a related altercation received only a minor charge. The case, which drew national civil-rights attention and one of the largest civil-rights marches in recent history in September 2007, became widely cited in discussions of racial disparities in the American criminal justice system; the most serious charges were ultimately reduced.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: LaSalle Parish Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/lasalle-parish.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
LaSalle Parish Library (main branch, Jena) – confirm current address/phone via the parish library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The town of Olla’s early-20th-century sawmill and lumber-industry heritage (Urania Lumber Company, Tremont Lumber Company) and the surrounding Louisiana Central Hill Country are notable local features.
Notes: The Jena Six case is one of the most nationally significant civil-rights news events of the 2000s covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: LaSalle Parish Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/lasalle-parish.
Office: LaSalle Parish Police Jury Public Works – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/lasalle-parish.
NOTES: LaSalle Parish is the sixth and final parish in the fifth batch of the Louisiana v2 A+ sourced standard. The Jena Six case is one of the most nationally significant civil-rights news events of the 2000s 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 La Salle Parish County
La Salle Parish is central Louisiana’s Catahoula Lake and Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog parish – Louisiana’s largest natural lake with its extraordinary seasonal waterfowl concentrations and the origin of Louisiana’s state dog define a parish where Jena serves the surrounding timber and agricultural communities near the geographic center of Louisiana.
Jena (the parish seat, population ~3,000) is La Salle Parish’s governmental hub on US 84, a central Louisiana community whose Catahoula Lake access, timber economy, and Catahoula dog heritage anchor its identity.
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La Salle Parish Assessor at 431 1st Street, Jena, LA 71342, phone 318-992-2186. LA assessed at 10% of fair market value.
Courts & Legal
La Salle Parish District Court at 431 1st Street, Jena, LA 71342, phone 318-992-2101, 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)
5th and Courthouse Sq., Jena, LA 71342
(318) 992-2158
Genealogy
Parish-level record sources
LaSalle Parish Clerk of Court (succession/estate case files – see Succession section above).
Local societies
No dedicated LaSalle 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
LaSalle Parish 28th Judicial District Court, Clerk of Court Courthouse Street (P.O. Box 1316), Jena, LA 71342 (318) 992-2158 LaSalle Parish is in central Louisiana, seated in Jena.
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
5th and Courthouse Sq., Jena, LA 71342
(318) 992-2151
SHERIFF / TAX COLLECTOR
5th and Courthouse Sq., Jena, LA 71342
(318) 992-2151
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
REGISTRAR OF VOTERS (Elections)
5th and Courthouse Sq., Jena, LA 71342
(318) 992-2101
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
LaSalle Parish Health Unit
(318) 992-4820
LA DCFS — Central Region
(318) 487-5600
LA Medicaid
(888) 342-6207
LaSalle General Hospital
lasallegeneralhospital.com (Jena — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: LaSalle 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: 14,500
Area: 661 sq mi
Established: 1910
Public Records
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