Terrebonne Parish District Court Overview
The Thirty-Second Judicial District Court is the primary trial court for Terrebonne Parish. The official court site describes it as one of Louisiana's 43 judicial districts and states that it has original jurisdiction over all civil and criminal matters in the parish. The court operates from the Terrebonne Parish courthouse complex at 7856 Main Street in Houma and has five elected district judges.
District Court is the forum most users mean when they ask for Terrebonne Parish trial-court records. It is not the only court in the parish. City Court of Houma handles its own city-court traffic, misdemeanor, and civil matters. Mayor's courts and justice of the peace courts may also handle limited local matters. Appeals from the 32nd JDC generally route to the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal, then to the Louisiana Supreme Court where review is available.
The 32nd JDC Division C page provides a local example of a judge division page with address, suite, phone, staff contacts, video-conference access, and interpreter text.
Those division pages are useful for hearing logistics, while filed record searches and certified copies still run through the Clerk of Court.
Terrebonne Parish District Court Divisions
The research confirmed that the 32nd Judicial District Court has five elected district judges. Full current judge-page details were only captured for Division C during this research pass. Other judge URL variants were listed as official source candidates, but several returned errors during image capture and should not be treated as verified staff-contact sources without rechecking. The table below separates verified local details from broader court structure.
| Court or Division | Type | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32nd Judicial District Court | Primary trial court for Terrebonne Parish | 7856 Main Street, Houma, LA 70360 | (985) 873-6560 |
| Division C, Judge Juan W. Pickett | District-court division | 7856 Main Street, Suite 302, Houma, LA 70360 | (985) 873-6560; fax (985) 873-6562 |
| Terrebonne Parish Clerk of Court | District-court record custodian | 7856 Main Street, Houma, LA 70360; mail P.O. Box 1569 | (985) 868-5660 |
| City Court of Houma | Separate city court | 8046 Main Street, Houma, LA 70360 | (985) 868-4361 on nCourt; (985) 868-4232 on Clerk fee chart |
Terrebonne Parish District Court Jurisdiction
District Court handles the main civil and criminal workload in Terrebonne Parish. Civil cases can include contract disputes, injury claims, property disputes, injunctions, name changes, and post-judgment collection matters. Criminal records can include bills of information or indictments, arraignment minutes, pleas, motions, warrants, dispositions, sentencing minutes, and appeal notices. Divorce, family, and probate or succession files also route through the district-court and Clerk system unless a specific proceeding is restricted by law.
The Clerk relationship is essential. The judge or division may control hearings and orders, but the Clerk maintains the filed case record, docket entries, minutes, judgments, and certified-copy services. A person with a case number, docket number, party name, or filing year should use the Clerk's eSearch, mail, phone, or in-person access channel for copies.
- Civil filings: petitions, answers, motions, orders, judgments, and garnishment or collection filings.
- Criminal filings: charges filed by the District Attorney, arraignments, pleas, motions, dispositions, and sentences.
- Family filings: divorce, custody, support, and protective-order matters with redaction where required.
- Probate and succession: wills, inventories, letters, accountings, and judgments of possession.
District Court vs City Court
Terrebonne Parish record searches often fail when the search starts in the wrong court. The 32nd Judicial District Court is the court of general jurisdiction for parish civil and criminal matters. City Court of Houma is a separate local court for city-court traffic, misdemeanor, and limited civil matters. Justice of the peace and mayor's courts can also be relevant for local disputes, evictions, bench warrants, or limited citations.
| Question | District Court | City Court / Lower Courts |
|---|---|---|
| Where records route | Terrebonne Parish Clerk of Court and 32nd JDC | City Court of Houma or the issuing lower court |
| Common matters | Civil, criminal, family, divorce, probate, and many parish-level proceedings | City traffic, city misdemeanors, limited civil, local citations, and some bench warrants |
| Online payment/search clue | Clerk eSearch or DA/court traffic instructions | nCourt citation-number lookup for Houma City Court tickets |
| Copy source | Clerk of Court for filed district-court records | City Court or issuing court for city/lower-court files |
Terrebonne Parish Case Flow
District-court files grow as events occur. A civil case starts with a petition and service, then may add answers, exceptions, motions, orders, discovery-related filings, settlement documents if filed, judgment, and post-judgment actions. A criminal case may begin with arrest and booking outside the Clerk's file, then move to District Attorney screening, filed charges, arraignment, pretrial motions, plea or trial, disposition, sentence, probation terms, and appeal notices.
Criminal flow: Arrest or summons › DA screening › bill of information or indictment › arraignment › pretrial motions › plea or trial › disposition › sentencing › appeal.
Civil flow: Petition filed › service › answer or response › motions › hearing or trial › judgment › post-judgment filings › appeal.
Note: A jail booking or arrest record is not the same as the filed criminal court record; the two should be checked separately when timing matters.
Search Terrebonne Parish District Records
The online court-record path starts with the Terrebonne Clerk Public Records Search. The portal is sign-in and subscription oriented and includes technical requirements for the image viewer. If an account is not available, or if the record needs certification, users should call or visit the Clerk. The Clerk address is 7856 Main Street, Houma, Louisiana 70360, and the mailing address is P.O. Box 1569, Houma, Louisiana 70361.
Another 32nd JDC judge page URL was listed in the research source inventory as an official division page to use if available.
Division pages can help confirm a hearing office or staff contact, but case documents and certified copies remain Clerk record services.
Terrebonne Parish Appeals
Appeals from the 32nd Judicial District Court generally go to the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal. The Louisiana Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort. Appeal records are not the same as trial-court records. A trial-court judgment, minute entry, or pleading copy should be requested from the Clerk unless the needed document was filed in the appellate court.
Federal cases are separate again. A federal civil, criminal, bankruptcy, or appellate docket involving Terrebonne Parish will route to the Eastern District of Louisiana, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, PACER, or the Fifth Circuit, depending on the case. A local district-court search will not find those federal files.
District Court Remote Access
The inspected 32nd JDC judge page includes a "Join Video Conference" link and interpreter/language-services text in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. That is useful local evidence that remote-hearing and language access issues may be handled at the division level. A party should still confirm the specific hearing rules with the judge's office, Clerk, attorney, or court notice because access can differ by docket and date.