Find Bankruptcy Records in Ascension Parish
Ascension Parish bankruptcy records are federal court documents held by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Louisiana, located in Baton Rouge. You can search these records online through PACER, by phone through the court's automated line, or in person at the Baton Rouge courthouse to find case filings, discharge orders, and creditor lists for Ascension Parish debtors.
Ascension Parish Quick Facts
Middle District Bankruptcy Court Serving Ascension Parish
Ascension Parish is served by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. The courthouse is at 707 Florida Street, Room 119, Baton Rouge, LA 70801. The main phone is (225) 346-3333. Fax is (225) 346-3334. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM. The presiding judge is the Honorable Douglas D. Dodson, and the clerk is William Guercio III.
The Middle District serves nine parishes total: Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana. All bankruptcy petitions from these parishes go through the single Baton Rouge location. There are no satellite offices in Gonzales or elsewhere in Ascension Parish.
Creditor meetings under Section 341 of the Bankruptcy Code are held in Room 324 of the same building at 707 Florida Street. If you receive a notice about a meeting of creditors, that's where you'll go. The court's website at lamb.uscourts.gov has a full list of local rules, and the fee schedule is posted there as well.
The CM/ECF Help Desk can be reached at (225) 389-3552 or toll-free at 1-866-558-6631 for questions about electronic filing. Free public access terminals are also available at the clerk's office for those who want to search records in person without a PACER account.
The Middle District of Louisiana Bankruptcy Court website provides forms, local rules, and case information for Ascension Parish residents.
The Middle District site lists judge assignments, the CM/ECF login portal, and the fee schedule applicable to all Ascension Parish bankruptcy filings.
Ascension Parish Clerk of Court
The Ascension Parish Clerk of Court is a state-level office with no role in federal bankruptcy proceedings. It maintains civil and criminal dockets, property records, and conveyance filings at the parish level. If you're researching a debtor in Ascension Parish, the clerk may have related civil judgments or liens that connect to a bankruptcy case, but the bankruptcy file itself is in Baton Rouge at the Middle District courthouse.
| Address | 828 S. Irma Blvd., Gonzales, LA 70737 |
|---|---|
| Mailing | P.O. Box 192, Gonzales, LA 70707 |
| Phone | (225) 621-0900 |
| Website | ascensionclerk.com |
The Ascension Parish Clerk's office is in Gonzales. Ascension is one of the faster-growing parishes in Louisiana, so the clerk's office handles a high volume of real estate and civil filings. After a bankruptcy discharge, a debtor's attorney sometimes records a satisfaction of lien at the clerk's office, which is why the two offices can be related even though they operate independently.
Visit the Ascension Parish Clerk of Court website for access to state-level civil, property, and criminal records in the parish.
The clerk's site offers online access to mortgage, conveyance, and civil records that may intersect with bankruptcy proceedings in Ascension Parish.
Note: Ascension Parish bankruptcy records are federal documents held at the Middle District courthouse in Baton Rouge, not at the Gonzales clerk's office.
Accessing Ascension Parish Bankruptcy Records Online
The primary tool for searching Ascension Parish bankruptcy records is PACER. Registration is free. Once logged in, select the Middle District of Louisiana and search by debtor name, case number, or partial Social Security number. PACER charges $0.10 per page to view documents. If you don't accumulate $30 in a calendar quarter, those charges are waived entirely.
The court also maintains case information through its own portal at lamb.uscourts.gov/case-information. The public access page at lamd.uscourts.gov/case-information-public-access explains what's available without a full PACER login. Free terminals in the clerk's office at 707 Florida Street offer walk-in access during business hours.
If you prefer a phone search, McVCIS is available at 1-866-222-8029, 24 hours a day. You can check up to five case records per call at no cost. The system gives you basic case status, chapter type, filing date, and disposition.
For older cases or paper records, call the clerk's office at (225) 346-3333. Staff can check records and arrange for copies. Record searches by staff cost $32.00. Certified copies are $11.00 per document. Plain copies run $0.50 per page.
Bankruptcy Filing Fees for Ascension Parish Cases
All filing fees in Ascension Parish bankruptcy cases are governed by 28 U.S.C. § 1930. These are federal fees, uniform across the country. The Middle District does not add local surcharges. Chapter 7 costs $338 to file. Chapter 13 is $313. Chapter 11 is $1,738. Chapter 12, for family farmers and fishermen, is $278.
Payment must be made in full at the time of filing unless the court approves an installment plan. Low-income Chapter 7 filers may apply for a fee waiver. The court decides based on income relative to federal poverty guidelines. Contact the clerk's office or check the court's FAQ page for the application form.
What Ascension Parish Bankruptcy Records Include
Under 11 U.S.C. § 107, nearly all bankruptcy case documents are public records. For Ascension Parish cases, this includes the petition, schedules of assets and debts, the creditor matrix, court orders, and the discharge or dismissal order. Creditor claim filings are also public and show who was owed money and how much.
Privacy rules still apply. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9037 requires that Social Security numbers be shown only as the last four digits, financial account numbers only as the last four digits, and birth dates only as the year. Filers and attorneys are responsible for redacting this information before submitting documents. The clerk does not redact on behalf of filers.
The docket for each case is maintained under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 5003. The docket shows every action taken in a case, in date order. It's the quickest way to get an overview. You can read the docket through PACER for $0.10 and decide which documents, if any, you need to open.
Additional Resources for Ascension Parish
The eClerks LA portal, created under La. R.S. 13:754 and launched in 2015, provides online access to Louisiana state court records. It does not include federal bankruptcy filings, but it's useful for researching civil judgments in Ascension Parish state courts that may be related to bankruptcy debts.
The Louisiana Supreme Court's website has a statewide attorney directory if you need to find a bankruptcy lawyer in the Gonzales or Baton Rouge area who is familiar with the Middle District. The Louisiana Legislature site has state statutes, including property law provisions that sometimes intersect with homestead exemptions claimed in bankruptcy cases.
If cost is a concern, legal aid organizations in the Baton Rouge area may cover Ascension Parish clients. The Middle District court also has a self-help page and form packets for pro se filers. The CM/ECF help desk at (225) 389-3552 is available for technical questions about electronic filing from Ascension Parish.
Cities in Ascension Parish
Prairieville is the largest community in Ascension Parish and has a dedicated page on this site.
Other communities in Ascension Parish include Gonzales, Sorrento, Dutchtown, and Donaldsonville. All Ascension Parish residents file bankruptcy through the Middle District of Louisiana in Baton Rouge.
Nearby Parishes
These parishes neighbor Ascension and are also served by the Middle District of Louisiana for bankruptcy purposes.