Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you use them, at no extra cost to you. Our editorial recommendations are independent of these relationships.
What do you need to do?
Tell us your goal and we'll guide you step-by-step to the right office, forms, and official resources.
Office: St. Mary Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness – coordinates evacuation routes, pick-up points, and special-needs planning parish-wide; residents can sign up for the CodeRed Emergency Notification System.
Sheriff: St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office – 500 Main Street, Franklin, LA 70538 (P.O. Box 571) | Non-emergency (337) 828-1960 or (985) 384-1622; Sheriff Gary Driskell, in office since 2024, an Army veteran (Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm) who joined the Sheriff’s Office in 1990 and rose through the ranks to Chief Deputy before being elected sheriff; 150 regular deputies. St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center (Jail) – (337) 836-9509 | Booking (337) 836-9803 | Fax (337) 836-5520.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-90 serves Franklin, the parish seat, and Morgan City, a key coastal community, in St. Mary Parish on the Louisiana Gulf Coast, roughly split evenly between land and water.
Notes: St. Mary Parish is named for the Roman Catholic feast of the Assumption of Mary.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: St. Mary Parish Courthouse – Franklin, LA.
Notes: Morgan City is genuinely the birthplace of the modern offshore oil industry. On November 14, 1947, Kerr-McGee Oil Industries (in partnership with Phillips Petroleum and Stanolind Oil & Gas) completed its historic Ship Shoal Block 32 well roughly 43-45 miles south of Morgan City – the first oil well ever produced entirely out of sight of land, proving that hydrocarbons could be extracted economically from the open Gulf of Mexico. Morgan City and neighboring Houma quickly grew into major fabrication centers and staging bases for the offshore industry that followed. The city also hosts the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival, one of the state’s oldest chartered festivals, honoring both its historic shrimping industry and its pioneering oil heritage.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: St. Mary Parish Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via stmaryparishla.gov.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
St. Mary Parish Library System – confirm current address/phone via stmaryparishla.gov.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The First Offshore Oil Well historical marker and replica derrick in Morgan City, the Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge (9,028 acres, established 2001, home to the endangered Louisiana black bear), and the annual Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival are the parish’s premier attractions.
Notes: The genuine “birthplace of the offshore oil industry” distinction is one of the most nationally significant energy-history facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: St. Mary Parish Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via stmaryparishla.gov.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
St. Mary Parish Animal Shelter (Rabies Control) – 10905 Highway 182, Building B, Franklin, LA 70538 | (337) 828-4646 | Email: [email protected]; serves the entire parish including Morgan City, Berwick, Patterson, Franklin, and the Chitimacha Tribe area. Hours: Mon-Fri 9 AM-5 PM, closed weekends.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: St. Mary Parish Public Works – confirm current contact via stmaryparishla.gov.
NOTES: St. Mary Parish is the third parish in the ninth batch of the Louisiana v2 A+ sourced standard. The genuine “birthplace of the offshore oil industry” distinction is one of the most nationally significant 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 St. Mary Parish County
St. Mary Parish is south Louisiana’s offshore oil birthplace and Atchafalaya Basin coastal parish – the 1947 well that launched the global offshore petroleum industry and the parish’s working shrimp, crawfish, and sugarcane economy define a coastal Louisiana community whose contributions to American energy and food culture exceed what its modest population suggests.
Franklin (the parish seat, population ~7,000) is St. Mary Parish’s governmental hub on Bayou Teche, while Morgan City serves as the parish’s largest city and the historic anchor of Louisiana’s offshore oil service industry.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
St. Mary Parish Assessor at 500 Main Street, Franklin, LA 70538, phone 337-828-4100. LA assessed at percentage of fair market value.
Courts & Legal
St. Mary Parish District Court at 500 Main Street, Franklin, LA 70538, phone 337-828-4100, handles probate.
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 Main St., Franklin, LA 70538
(337) 828-4100
Genealogy
Parish-level record sources
St. Mary Parish Clerk of Court (succession/estate case files – see Succession section above).
Local societies
No dedicated St. Mary 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. Mary Parish 16th Judicial District Court, Clerk of Court 500 Main Street (P.O. Drawer 1231), Franklin, LA 70538 (337) 828-4100 St. Mary Parish is in south-central Louisiana along Bayou Teche, seated in Franklin.
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 Main St., Franklin, LA 70538
(337) 828-1960
SHERIFF / TAX COLLECTOR
500 Main St., Franklin, LA 70538
(337) 828-1960
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
REGISTRAR OF VOTERS (Elections)
500 Main St., Franklin, LA 70538
(337) 828-4100
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
St. Mary Parish Health Unit
(337) 828-3764
LA DCFS — Acadiana Region
(337) 262-5900
LA Medicaid
(888) 342-6207
Franklin Foundation Hospital
ffhospital.com (Franklin — quality community hospital)
Teche Regional Medical Center
techeregional.com (Morgan City — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: St. Mary Parish Health Unit – confirm current contact via Louisiana Department of Health regional office listings.
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
Editorial Trust
5 official sources cited
Reviewed by CountyOffices Editorial Team
Last verified June 2026
County Facts
Population: 51,000
Area: 1,118 sq mi (much is water)
Established: 1811
Public Records
TruthFinder
Search public records for St. Mary Parish County residents.
