West Feliciana Parish District Court Overview
West Feliciana Parish is in the Twentieth Judicial District Court, commonly called the 20th JDC. The district serves East Feliciana and West Feliciana Parishes. The 20th JDC website says the court is one of Louisiana's 43 judicial districts and has original jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters in both parishes. Louisiana district courts are the principal general-jurisdiction trial courts, so local district court records can include civil suits, family filings, criminal cases, probate/succession filings, juvenile filings, adoption filings, orders, judgments, and appeals paperwork.
The West Feliciana courthouse is at 4785 Prosperity St., St. Francisville, LA 70775. The 20th JDC FAQ says the Clerk of Court is in the basement of the courthouse, while the Sheriff's office is on the first floor for fine-payment purposes. That routing detail is practical for records users. Judgment copies come from the Clerk of Court in the parish where the case was heard, while transcript requests go to the court reporter in the office of the judge who handled the case.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Louisiana source helps distinguish federal bankruptcy records from local district court files.
That federal court context helps separate parish district court records from bankruptcy records and other federal systems.
West Feliciana Parish District Court Table
The 20th JDC has two elected divisions. Division A is listed for Judge Kathryn E. "Betsy" Jones, Chief Judge, with a Clinton physical address. Division B is listed for Judge Sydney Picou Walker with the West Feliciana courthouse address. Official local sources did not publish a general main court phone on the homepage, so the table uses the Clerk or listed office routing where the research supports it.
| Court / Office | Type | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20th Judicial District Court, West Feliciana courthouse | General jurisdiction district court for civil and criminal matters | 4785 Prosperity St., St. Francisville, LA 70775 | Main court phone not published; use Clerk 225-635-3794 or judge staff contacts |
| 20th JDC Division A, Judge Kathryn E. "Betsy" Jones, Chief Judge | District court division | 12316 Woodville Street, Clinton, LA 70722; mailing P.O. Box 529, Clinton, LA 70722 | Phone not located in official source reviewed |
| 20th JDC Division B, Judge Sydney Picou Walker | District court division with West Feliciana physical address | 4785 Prosperity Street, St. Francisville, LA 70775; mailing P.O. Box 2758, St. Francisville, LA 70775 | Phone not located in official source reviewed |
| West Feliciana Clerk of Court | Filings, docketing, indexing, judgments, copies, marriage, land records | 4785 Prosperity St., St. Francisville, LA 70775; P.O. Box 1843 | 225-635-3794 |
| West Feliciana Justice of the Peace, 1st Justice Court | Local lower-court and notary public contact | 4785 Prosperity St., St. Francisville, LA 70775; P.O. Box 1622 | 225-784-3707 |
The PACER bankruptcy CM/ECF lookup is a federal court system, not the West Feliciana Parish district court docket.
Bankruptcy and federal records follow a different access route than 20th JDC parish case files.
District Court vs JP Court
West Feliciana Parish official sources did not show a separate county court, parish court, dedicated city court, dedicated family court, dedicated juvenile court, or standalone probate court. The useful comparison is between the 20th JDC, the Clerk's filing and records function, and the Justice of the Peace lower-court contact. Sheriff offices also appear in the records chain for fines, traffic payments, service, criminal records files, and jail records, but they are not the district court.
| Point | District Court / 20th JDC | Clerk of Court | Justice of the Peace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Role | Trial court with original jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters in East and West Feliciana Parishes. | Receives pleadings, dockets cases, indexes records, and provides copies and judgments. | Local lower-court and notary public contact listed by parish source. |
| Records | Orders, judgments, hearings, and case activity from district court proceedings. | Filed pleadings, case numbers, indexes, copies, marriage, land, succession, and other Clerk records. | Records or questions tied to the 1st Justice Court should be directed to that office. |
| Address | West Feliciana courthouse, 4785 Prosperity St. | Basement of the courthouse, per 20th JDC FAQ. | 4785 Prosperity St.; P.O. Box 1622. |
| Public search route | No public 20th JDC case search interface found. | Cott eSearch paid portal, in-person counter, mail, and phone. | No online JP docket search found in official parish source. |
West Feliciana Parish Case Movement
A district court record begins when a filing reaches the Clerk or when a criminal charging document is filed. The Clerk assigns numbers, enters matters on the docket, and indexes them. Judges handle hearings, orders, trials, and judgments. After judgment, copies are requested from the Clerk, transcripts are requested through the court reporter in the judge's office, and appeals route out of the district court under Louisiana appellate rules.
Criminal flow: Arrest or investigation › bill of information or indictment filed with Clerk › docketing and case number › arraignment and pretrial proceedings › plea or trial › disposition and sentencing › appeal where allowed.
Civil and family flow: Petition filed with Clerk › service and answer › motions or exceptions › hearings or trial › judgment › copy from Clerk › appeal where allowed.
Probate flow: Succession petition filed with Clerk › docket number assigned › inventory or descriptive list and required notices › judge reviews orders › judgment of possession or other final order › certified copies and recording as needed.
The Inmate Financial source relates to custody-linked financial services rather than district court filing.
It is useful here only as a reminder that jail payments and district court case records follow separate systems.
West Feliciana Parish District Court Divisions
The 20th JDC has two elected divisions rather than a large set of separate specialty courts. Division A is associated with Judge Kathryn E. "Betsy" Jones, Chief Judge, and the judge page lists the Clinton physical address, staff, court reporters, and law clerk. Division B is associated with Judge Sydney Picou Walker and lists the West Feliciana courthouse physical address. The 20th JDC and Clerk pages include interpreter and language service links, including Spanish and Vietnamese labels.
Civil, family, probate, juvenile, adoption, and criminal filings still pass through the Clerk. The research did not find separate West Feliciana pages for a city court, parish court, dedicated juvenile court, dedicated family court, or standalone probate court. Juvenile and adoption pleadings may be filed with the Clerk, but confidentiality limits apply, so public search pages should not promise ordinary lookup for those matters.
The City Tele Coin source concerns phone and video services for custody communication, not the 20th JDC docket.
District court users should keep jail communication tools separate from filed pleadings, judgments, and docketed court events.
Appeals from West Feliciana Parish District Court
Appeals from West Feliciana Parish District Court route through the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal and then, where allowed, the Louisiana Supreme Court. The local pages link to Louisiana Supreme Court rules, and the West Feliciana civil fee schedule lists a Motion and Order for Appeal advance deposit of $225. A person seeking an appeal record should separate the trial court file from the appellate record. The trial court pleadings, judgment, and order for appeal begin at the Clerk. Appellate briefs and appellate docket activity follow the First Circuit route after the appeal is lodged.
Transcripts are a special category. The 20th JDC FAQ says transcript requests go to the court reporter in the office of the judge who handled the case, and a fee applies. That means the Clerk can be the route for the judgment copy while the judge's court reporter is the route for the spoken hearing or trial transcript.
West Feliciana Parish Lower Courts
The official lower-court page found for West Feliciana Parish is the Justice of the Peace, 1st Justice Court. It lists James H. "Jim" Groody, Jr. as Justice of the Peace and Notary Public, with a physical address at 4785 Prosperity St., St. Francisville, LA 70775, mailing address P.O. Box 1622, and office phone 225-784-3707. The official page did not describe the full jurisdiction or provide an online docket search.
For practical records work, start with the court level that created the record. District court civil, family, probate, juvenile, adoption, and criminal filings route through the Clerk and 20th JDC. JP matters route to the Justice of the Peace office. Sheriff records, jail bookings, bonds, traffic payments, and criminal records files route to the Sheriff's Office. Parish-government public records route to the parish public-records request page, not to the district court.