St. Martin Parish Deed Records

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

St. Martin Parish Clerk of Court

The St. Martin Parish Clerk of Court is located at the Courthouse Annex, 415 St. Martin Street, St. Martinville, LA 70582. Mailing address: P.O. Box 308, St. Martinville, LA 70582. Main phone: (337) 394-2210. Civil Division: (337) 394-2240. Criminal Division: (337) 394-8404. Fax: (337) 394-7772. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Parking is available adjacent to the Courthouse Annex. Notably, staff at the St. Martin Parish Clerk's office speaks both English and French, reflecting the strong Cajun and Acadian heritage of this region.

St. Martin Parish is in south-central Louisiana, in the Acadiana region. The parish is bisected into two non-contiguous parts by neighboring Iberia Parish, with the western part centered on St. Martinville and the eastern part extending toward the Atchafalaya Basin. The Atchafalaya River and its basin run through the eastern portion of the parish, making this one of the most distinctive geographic areas in Louisiana. Property types range from agricultural land and crawfish ponds to residential lots and commercial tracts in and around St. Martinville and Breaux Bridge.

The clerk's office processes deed recordings, certified copy requests, and public record searches for all St. Martin Parish property. Staff can help with the grantor-grantee index for both older Book and Page records and newer instrument-numbered documents. Contact the main office at (337) 394-2210 or the civil division at (337) 394-2240 before visiting to confirm current hours and copy fees.

Search St. Martin Parish Deed Records

The free statewide eClerks LA portal at eclerksla.com covers St. Martin Parish for free name-based index searches. This portal, created under La. R.S. 13:754, covers all 64 Louisiana parishes and shows filing dates, document types, and instrument numbers at no cost. Full document images require a paid subscription. The eClerks Alert free monitoring service lets you watch for new filings under your name in St. Martin Parish or any other Louisiana parish.

For in-person research, the St. Martinville Courthouse Annex maintains the complete archive of St. Martin Parish deed records. Staff can assist with searches of both the older Book and Page index books and newer digital records. Contact the office at (337) 394-2210 to confirm current hours before visiting. Mail requests for certified copies are also accepted with the appropriate instrument information and payment.

For the earliest land records covering St. Martin Parish territory, the Louisiana State Land Office at doa.la.gov holds original state patents and tract books from the colonial era. Phone: (225) 342-4570. St. Martin Parish has one of the oldest European settlement histories in Louisiana, with land grants dating to the French and Spanish colonial periods.

St. Martin Parish Recording Fees and Documents

Recording fees in St. Martin Parish follow the standard 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. The $5 LCRAA portal fee is included in all recording fees. Documents must have a 2-inch top margin on the first page and 1-inch margins on all other sides, with a minimum 8-point type size.

Louisiana Civil Code Article 3338 requires recording to make documents affecting immovable property effective against third parties. An unrecorded deed in St. Martin Parish cannot be enforced against a later buyer who had no actual notice of the prior transaction. Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2742, recorded documents become permanent St. Martin Parish archives and are not returned after filing.

The conveyance index in St. Martin Parish covers acts of sale, cash sales, donations, exchanges, partitions, oil and gas leases, royalty deeds, rights of way, and easements. Given the parish's location along the Atchafalaya Basin, wetlands rights, duck hunting leases, and crawfish pond agreements are also common document types in the St. Martin Parish conveyance record. The mortgage index covers mortgages, judgments, tax liens, mechanic's liens, and UCC financing statements.

Nearby Parishes

St. Martin Parish borders Lafayette, Iberia, St. Mary, Assumption, and St. Landry parishes.