Search Morehouse Parish Death Records
Death records in Morehouse Parish are held by the Clerk of Court in Bastrop. The clerk's office issues certified death certificates for deaths that occurred in Louisiana after July 2012, and the Louisiana Vital Records Registry handles all older records.
Morehouse Parish Death Records Quick Facts
Morehouse Parish Clerk of Court
The Morehouse Parish Clerk of Court is at 100 East Madison Avenue, Bastrop, LA 71220. Mail requests to P.O. Box 1543, Bastrop, LA 71221-1543. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM CST. Phone: (318) 281-3343. Fax: (318) 281-3775. The current clerk is Hon. Tifani Stuckey Thomas.
The office uses three separate email addresses depending on the type of matter. For general inquiries, reach the office at morehouseclerk@gmail.com. For criminal matters, use morehouseclerkcriminal@gmail.com. For civil matters, use morehouseclerkcivil@gmail.com. Death certificate requests fall under the general or civil categories.
Morehouse Parish was created in 1844 from Ouachita and Carroll Parishes. The clerk's office holds marriage, divorce, probate, court, and land records dating back to 1844. That is nearly 180 years of local records in one place. For recent deaths, the clerk's office is the first stop. For older records, you will need to look elsewhere.
Death certificates are available from the parish clerk for deaths that occurred in Louisiana after July 2012. The fee is $26 per certified copy. Birth certificates cost $34. Copy fees for other types of records are $1 per page for regular copies and $5 additional for certified copies. These standard copy fees apply to court and land records, not vital records like death certificates, which have their own fee schedule.
Who May Request a Death Certificate
Louisiana restricts death certificate access for 50 years after the date of death. The record is not public during that window. Only a specific group of people can get a certified copy while the record is still within the confidential period.
The law allows requests from the surviving spouse, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, and grandchildren of the deceased. Others who can qualify include legal guardians with a certified custody judgment, insurance beneficiaries named in the policy, succession representatives handling the estate, and licensed Louisiana attorneys who provide their bar roll number. Funeral directors may also get a copy within one year of the death. Everyone who requests a death certificate must show valid ID and provide any required documentation at the time of the request.
Once 50 years have passed from the date of death, anyone can request a certified copy. The record becomes part of the public record at that point, and no family connection or legal interest is needed.
Online Access: Clerk Connect
Morehouse Parish participates in the Clerk Connect online portal at clerkconnect.com. The portal gives access to civil, criminal, and land records for the parish. It is the main tool for attorneys, researchers, and others who need to search court filings or property records online without visiting the courthouse in person.
The image below is from the Clerk Connect portal, which serves Morehouse Parish and other Louisiana parishes.
Clerk Connect is primarily used for court case records and land records. It does not allow online ordering of death certificates, but it is useful for locating probate cases, succession filings, and other court matters that often follow a death.
For free statewide record searches, the eClerks LA portal at eclerksla.com also provides index access to Morehouse Parish records. The eClerks LA system lets you search by name to find case numbers, filing dates, and basic case information.
Louisiana Vital Records: Deaths Before 2012
If the death you are researching occurred before July 2012, you must contact the Louisiana Vital Records Registry in New Orleans. The registry is at 1450 Poydras Street, Suite 400, New Orleans, LA 70112. Mail requests go to P.O. Box 60630, New Orleans, LA 70160. Phone: (504) 593-5100. Walk-in service runs Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM.
The state fee is $7 per certified copy. Mail requests take 8 to 10 weeks. Online orders can be placed through VitalChek for an added convenience fee. The state's Vital Records website is at ldh.la.gov/vital-records.
The following image is from the Louisiana State Archives research library page, which is a key resource for historical Morehouse Parish death records dating back to the 1800s.
The State Archives research library in Baton Rouge holds historical death records and allows in-person research appointments for those tracing Morehouse Parish ancestry.
Louisiana State Archives: Historical Records
The Louisiana State Archives at 3851 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge holds death records more than 50 years old. These are open to the public. The research library phone is (225) 922-1208. An online death records index is searchable at no cost through the Secretary of State's website at sos.la.gov. Certified copies from the Archives cost $10 and include a 3-year name search. Photocopies are $5 each.
Because Morehouse Parish records go back to 1844, the combination of parish records and state archives gives researchers a long window into local vital history. Marriage records, probate filings, and court records from that era are all part of the clerk's historical collection.
Applicable Statutes
The legal framework for death record access in Louisiana is found in R.S. 40:40 and R.S. 40:41. These statutes cover the registration of vital events and the rules for who may request access to those records. Both the Morehouse Parish Clerk of Court and the Louisiana Vital Records Registry follow these statutes when handling requests.
Cities in Morehouse Parish
Bastrop is the parish seat and the main city in Morehouse Parish. No cities in Morehouse Parish meet the 100,000-population threshold for a dedicated records page. Other communities include Mer Rouge, Collinston, and Oak Ridge. All residents should direct death record requests to the clerk's office in Bastrop.
Nearby Parishes
Morehouse Parish sits in the northern part of Louisiana. Deaths near a parish line should be confirmed for exact location before submitting a records request to any clerk's office.