East Baton Rouge Parish Bankruptcy Records
East Baton Rouge Parish bankruptcy records are filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, and you can search them through PACER or the court's public access terminals at no cost for basic lookups.
East Baton Rouge Quick Facts
Bankruptcy Court for East Baton Rouge Parish
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Louisiana handles all bankruptcy cases filed by East Baton Rouge Parish residents and businesses. The court sits at 707 Florida Street, Room 119, Baton Rouge, LA 70801. You can call the clerk's office at (225) 346-3333. Office hours run Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM. The court does not take cases on federal holidays.
Hon. Douglas D. Dodson serves as the bankruptcy judge for the Middle District. William Guercio III is the court clerk. For CM/ECF questions or technical help, you can call (225) 389-3552 or the toll-free number at 1-866-558-6631. Filers who are not attorneys can use the public access terminals inside the clerk's office at no charge to view case files and dockets.
341 meetings of creditors take place in Room 324 at the same Florida Street building. These meetings are open to the public under 11 U.S.C. § 341. Most people appear in person, though the court sometimes permits telephonic attendance. Check the court's schedule before you go.
The court website is at www.lamb.uscourts.gov. The site has case search tools, fee schedules, local rules, and filing guides. The Middle District follows the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, including Fed. R. Bankr. P. 5003, which requires the clerk to keep an accurate docket for every case.
The Middle District of Louisiana covers nine parishes: Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana. All bankruptcy cases from these parishes go to the same Baton Rouge courthouse.
The Middle District bankruptcy court homepage is shown below. You can use the site to look up cases, check local forms, and find the filing instructions specific to this district.
Visit the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Middle District of Louisiana
The court's case information page at lamb.uscourts.gov/case-information lets you search for bankruptcy filings by name, case number, or Social Security number through PACER. New users must register at pacer.uscourts.gov before they can access documents online.
How to Search East Baton Rouge Bankruptcy Records
The main way to search East Baton Rouge Parish bankruptcy records online is through PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records). PACER charges $0.10 per page for documents you view or download. If your total charges in a quarter stay under $30, the fee is waived. Registration is free. Under 11 U.S.C. § 107, bankruptcy records are public, so anyone can access them.
You can also call McVCIS, the Multi-Court Voice Case Information System, at 1-866-222-8029. This phone line is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Each call gives you up to five case records. McVCIS is a good option if you want basic case status info without logging into PACER.
If you want to review documents in person, go to the clerk's office at 707 Florida Street during business hours. Free public access terminals are available there. Staff can help you find the right case if you are not sure how to search. There is no fee to use the terminals.
The ClerkConnect portal at clerkconnect.com offers another way to search state and local court records in Louisiana. ClerkConnect is a subscription service run by a private company, but it pulls data from official clerk databases. The portal below shows how you can use it to find records from multiple Louisiana parishes at once.
ClerkConnect can be useful if you need to search across more than one parish or want quick access without going to a courthouse in person. Keep in mind that it is a third-party service and may not have real-time updates from every court system.
Filing Fees and Chapter Types
Filing fees for bankruptcy in East Baton Rouge Parish are set by federal law under 28 U.S.C. § 1930. The fee for Chapter 7 is $338. Chapter 13 costs $313. Chapter 11 is $1,738. Chapter 12 is $278. These fees cover the filing itself; they do not include attorney fees, credit counseling costs, or any other expenses you may have.
The court can grant fee waivers in some Chapter 7 cases if your income is below 150% of the federal poverty line. You must apply using the correct form when you file. Installment payments are also available in some cases. See the fee schedule at lamb.uscourts.gov/schedule-fees for the full list of fees the court charges.
Copies of court documents cost $0.50 per page. A certified copy is $11. A record search by court staff costs $32. These charges apply whether you request records in person or by mail.
East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court
The East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court maintains state and local court records, including civil filings that sometimes run alongside bankruptcy cases. This is a separate office from the federal bankruptcy court. J. Douglas "Doug" Welbourn serves as clerk. Greg Brown is chief deputy. The office is at 222 Saint Louis Street, Room 179, Baton Rouge, LA 70802. The mailing address is P.O. Box 1991, Baton Rouge, LA 70821. You can reach the office by phone at (225) 389-7642 or by fax at (225) 389-5594.
The clerk's website is at www.ebrclerkofcourt.org. The site has links to online record searches, filing information, and resources for self-represented filers. The screenshot below shows the clerk's main homepage.
Visit the East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court
The clerk's office can help you find state court records that may relate to a bankruptcy case, such as civil judgments, liens, or property records. These records are separate from federal bankruptcy filings but are often relevant when you are researching someone's financial history.
| Address | 222 Saint Louis Street, Room 179, Baton Rouge LA 70802 |
|---|---|
| Mailing | P.O. Box 1991, Baton Rouge LA 70821 |
| Phone | (225) 389-7642 |
| Fax | (225) 389-5594 |
| Website | ebrclerkofcourt.org |
East Baton Rouge Parish Archives
The East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk maintains an archives department with records going back to 1782. These historical records include old bankruptcy filings, such as the documented Bankruptcy of Fulwar Skipwith, a well-known early Louisiana figure. If you need older records that predate electronic filing systems, the archives department can help you locate them.
The archives also offer research services for people who need help finding older documents. You can contact the archives through the clerk's website at ebrclerk.com/archives. The screenshot below shows the archives page where you can learn about available services and how to request records.
Visit the East Baton Rouge Parish Archives
The archives are especially useful for legal research, estate work, and title searches where older financial records or court judgments need to be verified. Staff can assist with searches by mail or in person.
Privacy and Redaction Rules
Federal bankruptcy records are public under 11 U.S.C. § 107, but some personal information must be kept private. Under Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9037, filers must redact Social Security numbers (show only last four digits), financial account numbers (show only last four digits), names of minors (initials only), and dates of birth (year only). These rules protect sensitive information while keeping the rest of the case public.
If you find unredacted personal data in a public filing, you can ask the court to restrict access under a motion to seal. The court handles these requests case by case. Privacy protection in bankruptcy is a shared duty: filers must redact their own documents, and the clerk's office monitors for compliance.
eClerks Louisiana
Louisiana's eClerks system at eclerksla.com gives you access to parish clerk records from across the state. Under La. R.S. 13:754, clerks of court are required to make their records available electronically. eClerks LA pulls from those systems to let you search multiple parishes at once. This is helpful if a bankruptcy case involves property or judgments in more than one parish.
Keep in mind that eClerks LA covers parish-level records, not federal bankruptcy court records. For federal filings, you still need PACER. Use both systems together for a full picture of someone's court history in Louisiana.
Cities in East Baton Rouge Parish
The following cities in East Baton Rouge Parish have individual records pages with local court and search information.
Nearby Parishes
These parishes border East Baton Rouge and are also served by the Middle District of Louisiana bankruptcy court.