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Louisiana County
St. John the Baptist Parish County Government Offices
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Office: St. John the Baptist Parish Department of Emergency Preparedness – coordinates all preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation activities parish-wide; Email: [email protected].
Sheriff: St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office – 1801 West Airline Highway, LaPlace, LA 70068 (P.O. Box 1600) | Non-emergency (985) 652-6338 or (985) 652-9513 | Fax (985) 359-8651; Sheriff Mike Tregre, in office since 2012, an East St. John High School and Southern University graduate; 252 regular deputies plus 16 part-time deputies; the office recently invested in an Everbridge-based Emergency Alert System. St. John Parish Prison – same address | (985) 359-8625 | Fax (985) 653-7418.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. ⚠️ St. John the Baptist Parish suffered severe damage as Hurricane Ida made landfall nearby as a Category 4 storm on August 29, 2021.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: I-10 and I-55 converge in LaPlace, the parish’s largest community, in the historic “German Coast” region between New Orleans and Baton Rouge; Edgard is the official parish seat.
Notes: St. John the Baptist Parish, established in 1807, is one of Louisiana’s original nineteen parishes, named for St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Edgard.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: St. John the Baptist Parish Courthouse – Edgard, LA.
Notes: LaPlace is officially the “Andouille Capital of the World,” a title bestowed by then-Governor Edwin Edwards in the 1970s; the smoky pork sausage tradition dates to the parish’s German and Acadian settlers, with producers like Jacob’s Andouille operating since 1928. The annual Andouille Festival, running since 1972, draws over 20,000 visitors each October. The parish was also the starting point of the 1811 German Coast Uprising, the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history – the revolt began at the Andry Plantation here on the night of January 8, 1811, before marching toward New Orleans through neighboring St. Charles Parish.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: St. John the Baptist Parish Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via sjbparish.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
St. John the Baptist Parish Library System – confirm current address/phone via sjbparish.gov.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Historic antebellum homes including San Francisco Plantation, Whitney Plantation, and Evergreen Plantation; the St. John the Baptist Community Center (2900 US Hwy 51, LaPlace) hosting the annual Andouille Festival; and the parish’s traditional Christmas Eve “Bonfires on the Levee” are the premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine “Andouille Capital of the World” distinction is one of the most distinctive culinary-heritage facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: St. John the Baptist Parish Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via sjbparish.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
St. John Parish Animal Shelter – 488 West 2nd Street, LaPlace, LA 70068 (mailing address also listed as 1811 W. Airline Hwy) | (985) 651-7387 (“PETS”) | Email: [email protected] or [email protected]. Hours: 8 AM-4:30 PM, Monday-Saturday.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: St. John the Baptist Parish Public Works – confirm current contact via sjbparish.gov.
NOTES: St. John the Baptist Parish is the sixth and final parish in the eighth batch of the Louisiana v2 A+ sourced standard. The genuine “Andouille Capital of the World” distinction and the 1811 German Coast Uprising connection are among the most distinctive 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 St. John the Baptist Parish County
St. John the Baptist Parish is Louisiana’s River Road Whitney Plantation and petrochemical corridor parish – the slavery museum that tells the story from the enslaved people’s perspective and the ongoing environmental justice debate along the industrial River Road define a parish of significant historical and contemporary social importance between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
Edgard (the parish seat, population ~2,400) is St. John the Baptist Parish’s governmental hub on the River Road, a Louisiana River Parish community whose Whitney Plantation proximity, Mississippi River setting, and LaPlace commercial activity anchor its identity.
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St. John the Baptist Parish Assessor at 1801 W. Airline Highway, LaPlace, LA 70068, phone 985-652-5311. LA assessed at 10% of fair market value.
Courts & Legal
St. John the Baptist Parish District Court at 2369 Highway 18, Edgard, LA 70049, phone 985-497-3331, 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)
2393 LA-18, Edgard, LA 70049
(985) 497-3331
Genealogy
Parish-level record sources
St. John the Baptist Parish Clerk of Court (succession/estate case files – see Succession section above).
Local societies
No dedicated St. John the Baptist 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
St. John the Baptist Parish 40th Judicial District Court, Clerk of Court Corner of East Third Street & River Road (P.O. Box 280), Edgard, LA 70049 (985) 497-3331 St. John the Baptist Parish is on the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, seated in Edgard.
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
1801 W. Airline Hwy., LaPlace, LA 70068
(985) 652-6338
SHERIFF / TAX COLLECTOR
1801 W. Airline Hwy., LaPlace, LA 70068
(985) 652-6338
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
REGISTRAR OF VOTERS (Elections)
1801 W. Airline Hwy., LaPlace, LA 70068
(985) 652-9569
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
St. John the Baptist Health Unit
(985) 652-8808
LA DCFS — Metro Region
(504) 838-5300
LA Medicaid
(888) 342-6207
St. Charles Parish Hospital
stcharlesparish-hospital.com (accessible)
Ochsner Medical Center
ochsner.org (Jefferson Parish — accessible for major care)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: St. John the Baptist 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: 43,000
Area: 219 sq mi
Established: 1807
Public Records
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