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Office: Vernon Parish Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness – 190 Ned Woodham, Leesville, LA 71446 (Vernon Parish Public Safety Operations Center) | (337) 238-0815 | Email: [email protected].
Sheriff: Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office – 1203 South 4th Street, Leesville, LA 71446 (P.O. Box 649) | (337) 238-1311 | Fax (337) 238-4987; Sheriff Sam “Sam” Craft, in office since 2000 – one of Louisiana’s longest-serving sheriffs, a Northwestern State University graduate; 120 regular deputies plus 15 part-time deputies. Vernon Parish Jail – same main number.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-171 serves Leesville, the parish seat, in West-Central Louisiana near the Texas border. Fort Polk, the U.S. Army’s Joint Readiness Training Center, occupies a large portion of the parish.
Notes: Vernon Parish is named for Mount Vernon, the Virginia home of George Washington.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Vernon Parish Courthouse – Leesville, LA.
Notes: Vernon Parish’s defining institution is Fort Polk, established in 1941 as Camp Polk to support the massive 1941 Louisiana Maneuvers and now home to the U.S. Army’s Joint Readiness Training Center. The installation has undergone a notable, well-documented series of recent name changes: originally named for Confederate General Leonidas Polk, it was officially redesignated Fort Johnson in a June 2023 ceremony honoring Sgt. William Henry Johnson, a Black WWI Medal of Honor recipient, as part of a broader Pentagon effort (required by the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act) to remove Confederate names from military installations. In June 2025, following a policy reversal, the base was renamed back to Fort Polk – this time honoring a different namesake, General James H. Polk, a WWII Silver Star recipient and later commander of U.S. Army Europe, rather than the original Confederate general.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Vernon Parish Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/vernon-parish.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Vernon Parish Library System – confirm current address/phone via the parish library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Fort Polk-Vernon Wildlife Management Area (105,545 acres, jointly managed by the U.S. Army and U.S. Forest Service) and Toledo Bend Reservoir’s eastern shore are the parish’s premier natural attractions.
Notes: The genuine, currently relevant Fort Polk/Fort Johnson naming history is one of the most recently significant military-installation facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Vernon Parish Assessor’s Office – confirm current contact via louisiana.gov/local-louisiana/vernon-parish.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Vernon Parish Animal Shelter (VPAS) – 272 J.L. O’Banion Rd, Leesville, LA 71446 | (337) 392-9613 | Email: [email protected]; a combined shelter and animal control facility operated by the Vernon Parish Police Jury; offers dog park access, spay/neuter/microchip standard on all adoptions, and pet cremation services for a fee. Hours: Mon-Fri 7 AM-4 PM (closed 12-1 for lunch); adoption-specific hours may vary – confirm before visiting.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Vernon Parish Public Works Department – 602 Alexandria Hwy, Leesville, LA | (337) 239-9933 | Email: [email protected].
NOTES: Vernon Parish is the fourth parish in the final (tenth) batch of the Louisiana v2 A+ sourced standard. The genuine, currently relevant Fort Polk/Fort Johnson naming history is one of the most recently significant military-installation 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 Vernon Parish County
Vernon Parish is Louisiana’s Army training county – Fort Johnson’s Joint Readiness Training Center defines the parish’s economy and population, and the Kisatchie National Forest’s longleaf pine hills provide the backdrop for one of the Army’s most important training installations.
Leesville (the parish seat, population ~6,500) serves the military community and the surrounding Kisatchie hills region.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Vernon Parish Assessor at 201 S. 3rd Street, Suite A, Leesville, LA 71446, phone 337-238-9983. LA residential assessed at 10% of fair market value; $75,000 homestead exemption.
Courts & Legal
Vernon Parish Clerk of Court at 201 S. 3rd Street, Leesville, LA 71446, phone 337-238-1384, 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)
201 S. 3rd St., Leesville, LA 71446
(337) 238-1384
Genealogy
Parish-level record sources
Vernon Parish Clerk of Court (succession/estate case files – see Succession section above).
The 1910 Vernon Parish Courthouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Fort Johnson (military installation) are significant local resources.
Local societies
No dedicated Vernon 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
Vernon Parish 30th Judicial District Court, Clerk of Court 201 South 3rd Street (P.O. Box 40), Leesville, LA 71446 (337) 238-1384 Vernon Parish was founded March 30, 1871, named for Mount Vernon (George Washington’s home), in central Louisiana. Its seat, Leesville, is also its largest municipality (though Simpson is the largest by area). Fort Johnson (formerly Fort Polk) is a major nearby military installation. The 1910 Classical Revival Vernon Parish Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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
201 S. 3rd St., Leesville, LA 71446
(337) 238-1311
SHERIFF / TAX COLLECTOR
201 S. 3rd St., Leesville, LA 71446
(337) 238-1311
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
REGISTRAR OF VOTERS (Elections)
201 S. 3rd St., Leesville, LA 71446
(337) 238-1384
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Vernon Parish Health Unit
(337) 238-6428
LA DCFS — Southwest Region
(337) 491-2000
LA Medicaid
(888) 342-6207
Byrd Regional Hospital
byrdregional.com (Leesville — quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Vernon 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: 51,000
Area: 1,329 sq mi
Established: 1871
Public Records
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