St. Bernard Parish Deed Records

St. Bernard Parish deed records are maintained by the Clerk of Court in Chalmette, Louisiana. The office holds all conveyances and mortgage records for property in the parish and provides public access as required by state law. You can search St. Bernard Parish deed records through the eClerks LA statewide portal for free index data, or visit the Chalmette courthouse during regular business hours to inspect documents and request certified copies.

St. Bernard Parish Clerk of Court

Clerk Randy S. Nunez heads the St. Bernard Parish Clerk of Court at 1101 W. St. Bernard Highway in Chalmette. Mailing address: P.O. Box 1746, Chalmette, LA 70044. Phone: (504) 271-3434. Fax: (504) 278-4380. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. The clerk's office is the official recorder for all conveyances and mortgages filed on St. Bernard Parish property and maintains the grantor-grantee index that serves as the foundation for all title research in the parish.

St. Bernard Parish is directly east of New Orleans, on the east bank of the Mississippi River and along the shores of Lake Borgne. The parish is largely residential and suburban, with Chalmette as its main community. St. Bernard Parish has a history of significant storm impacts, including major flooding from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which displaced much of the population and disrupted many property records. The clerk's office has worked to restore and maintain the public record archive, and the current system covers deed records for the parish.

The clerk's office processes deed recordings, certified copy requests, and public record searches. Staff can assist with searches of the grantor-grantee index for both older Book and Page records and newer instrument-numbered documents. Contact the office at (504) 271-3434 to confirm current hours and what information to provide with a copy request.

Search St. Bernard Parish Deed Records

The free statewide eClerks LA portal at eclerksla.com is the primary online access tool for St. Bernard Parish deed records. This portal, created under La. R.S. 13:754, covers all 64 Louisiana parishes and lets you search by grantor or grantee name to find instrument numbers, filing dates, and document types at no cost. Viewing full document images requires a paid subscription. The eClerks Alert fraud monitoring service is also available free through this platform and lets you watch for new filings under your name in St. Bernard Parish or any other Louisiana parish.

For in-person research, the Chalmette courthouse is the complete source for St. Bernard Parish deed records. Both the older physical index books and newer digital records are available to researchers. Contact the clerk's office before your visit at (504) 271-3434 to confirm current hours and what information to bring for a title search. Mail requests for certified copies are also processed by the office.

For the earliest land records covering St. Bernard Parish territory, the Louisiana State Land Office at doa.la.gov holds original land grants and tract books dating to the original surveys of the area. Phone: (225) 342-4570. Given St. Bernard Parish's early settlement by Spanish Canary Islanders (Isleños) in the late 1700s, some of the oldest title records for this area are significant historical documents.

St. Bernard Parish Deed Records and Fees

St. Bernard Parish deed records include all documents in the conveyance and mortgage indexes. The conveyance index holds acts of sale, cash sales, donations, exchanges, partitions, oil and gas leases, royalty deeds, rights of way, and easements. The mortgage index covers mortgages, judgments, tax liens, mechanic's liens, and UCC financing statements. A thorough title search on any St. Bernard Parish property requires checking both indexes for the full period of ownership.

Louisiana Civil Code Article 3338 requires recording to make documents affecting immovable property effective against third parties. An unrecorded deed in St. Bernard Parish cannot be enforced against a later buyer who acquired the property without actual knowledge of the prior transaction. Recording fees follow the state Act 173 schedule under La. R.S. 13:844: 1-5 pages at $105; 6-25 pages at $205; 26-50 pages at $305; 51-plus pages at $305 plus $5 per additional page. Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2742, recorded documents become permanent St. Bernard Parish archives and are not returned after filing.

Nearby Parishes

St. Bernard Parish borders Orleans, Plaquemines, and St. Tammany parishes.