Find Ouachita Parish Obituary Records
Ouachita Parish obituary records include death certificates held by the Clerk of Court in Monroe, a library-based master obituary index with over 230,000 names, and state vital records databases for older deaths. This page covers every major source for searching Ouachita Parish death records, from the courthouse to the public library to state archives in Baton Rouge.
Ouachita Parish Quick Facts
Ouachita Parish Clerk of Court Death Records
The Ouachita Parish Clerk of Court is at 301 South Grand Street, Suite 104, Monroe, LA 71201. Hon. Dana Benson serves as Clerk. The mailing address is PO Box 1862, Monroe, LA 71210-1862. You can reach the office by phone at 318-327-1444 or by fax at 318-327-1462. Email is danab@opcoc.la.gov. Office hours are standard weekday business hours. This office handles court filings, real property records, and death certificates for recent deaths.
Death certificates from July 2012 to the present are available at the Clerk's office for a fee of $26.00 per copy. For deaths before July 2012, you need to contact the Louisiana Vital Records Registry at (504) 593-5100. The state office is the custodian of older death records and requires proper identification and a qualifying relationship to the deceased for access.
Ouachita Parish is part of the 4th Judicial District Court, which also covers Morehouse Parish. The district court for Ouachita can be reached at 318-361-2250. Succession and probate matters connected to deaths are filed with the civil division of the district court, which the Clerk's office also manages.
The Ouachita Parish Clerk's website at opclerkofcourt.com has online case search and contact information. The image below is from the Louisiana court records page for Ouachita.
The clerk's site provides links to online records search, filing information, and the office's contact details for Monroe, Louisiana.
| Clerk of Court | Hon. Dana Benson |
|---|---|
| Address | 301 South Grand Street, Suite 104, Monroe, LA 71201 |
| Mailing | PO Box 1862, Monroe, LA 71210-1862 |
| Phone | 318-327-1444 |
| Fax | 318-327-1462 |
| danab@opcoc.la.gov | |
| 4th JDC Phone | 318-361-2250 |
| Death Cert Fee | $26.00 (July 2012-present) |
Ouachita Parish Library Obituary Index
The Ouachita Parish Public Library at 1800 Stubbs Avenue in Monroe holds a Master Index of Obituaries. This index contains over 230,000 names and covers deaths from 1825 through 1991. It is one of the most extensive obituary collections in Louisiana and makes Ouachita Parish a strong place to research deaths that predate modern vital records systems.
The library can be reached at 318-327-1490. Multiple branches serve the parish, so call ahead to find out which location holds the collection you need. Library staff can help you search the index and identify which newspaper issues may carry the full obituary text for names you find in the index. This is a great free resource that does not require you to prove a family relationship.
The News-Star newspaper publishes obituaries for Monroe and the surrounding Ouachita Parish area. Historical issues of local papers, including older Monroe papers, may be on microfilm at the library. This gives you another way to find obituary content even when the official death record itself is restricted.
Note: The library obituary index covers names and approximate dates, not full death certificates. For a certified copy, you still need to go through the Clerk of Court or state Vital Records.
State Vital Records for Ouachita Parish Deaths
Deaths from before July 2012 require contact with the Louisiana Vital Records Registry in New Orleans. The office is at 1450 Poydras Street, Suite 400, and the phone is (504) 593-5100. Walk-in hours run 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM on weekdays, not counting state holidays. The mailing address is PO Box 60630, New Orleans, LA 70160. Mail requests take 8 to 10 weeks.
Under R.S. 40:41, Louisiana death records are confidential for 50 years after the year of death. Access is limited to the surviving spouse, parents, adult children, siblings, grandparents, and grandchildren of the deceased, plus attorneys and succession representatives with qualifying documentation. The fee at the Vital Records office is $7.00 plus $0.50 per certificate. VitalChek handles online and phone orders at 1-877-605-8562 with additional fees.
The Louisiana court records resource for Ouachita at louisianacourtrecords.us provides additional links and contact info. The image below shows that resource page.
This third-party records site aggregates clerk contact information and links to online case search tools for Ouachita Parish.
Historical Ouachita Parish Death Records
Deaths more than 50 years old are public under Louisiana law. The Louisiana State Archives at 3851 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge hold microfilmed death records from 1911 through 1974. Phone is (225) 922-1206. The online search index at vitalrecords.sos.la.gov lets you search by name for older deaths and order copies online. Photocopies run $5.00 and certified copies run $10.00, sent by mail.
The Ouachita Parish library obituary index covering 1825 to 1991 fills in a lot of the gap between old newspaper records and the formal vital records system. Combined with the State Archives and the SOS online index, these tools cover most of the recorded deaths in Ouachita Parish from the 1800s to the present.
Administrative rules for requesting certified copies are in La. Admin. Code tit. 48, § V-11707. The rule requires requesters to state their relationship to the deceased and provide identifying information to help staff find the record. Payment by check or money order is required for mail requests. The registry does not accept cash sent through the mail.
Cities in Ouachita Parish
Monroe is the parish seat and the largest city in Ouachita Parish. It is the only city in this parish that qualifies for a dedicated records page.
Nearby Parishes
Ouachita Parish borders several other northeast Louisiana parishes. Families with roots in the Monroe area may also have records in these neighboring parishes.