Cameron Parish District Court Overview
Louisiana uses district courts as the primary trial courts of general jurisdiction. Cameron Parish is served by the 38th Judicial District Court, a one-parish district court with original jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters in Cameron Parish. The Louisiana Judiciary directory identifies District Court 38 as one judge and one parish, and the research file lists Judge Penelope Q. Richard as the local district judge.
The Cameron Parish District Court is not the records counter. The Clerk of Court is the custodian for filings, civil and criminal records, probate and succession files, divorce decrees, marriage records, mortgage and conveyance records, copy requests, and certificates. The court office is the better channel for scheduling, Zoom participation, and docket-setting instructions. Treat those as different tasks before calling or visiting.
Cameron Parish District Court Table
The local court list is compact because Cameron Parish has one primary trial court rather than a set of numbered district courts. The official courthouse and contact research also shows the Clerk, appellate court, and lower-court gap that matters for routing records. The table uses the Phase B court-table format, but the local facts call for one district court row and related office rows rather than invented divisions.
| Court / Office | Type | Address / Contact | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38th Judicial District Court | General jurisdiction trial court for Cameron Parish civil and criminal matters | P.O. Box 578, Cameron, LA 70631; Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. | 337-775-5649 |
| Judge Penelope Q. Richard | One elected judge for the 38th JDC | Judicial assistant Jaclyn Richard, jrichard@38jdc.com; administrative assistant Kaylee Livingston, klivingston@38jdc.com | 337-775-5649 |
| Cameron Parish Clerk of Court | District-court file custodian, filings, copies, certificates, marriage, mortgage, conveyance, jury, and elections | 119 Smith Circle, Room 21, P.O. Box 549, Cameron, LA 70631; info@cameroncoc.com | 337-775-5316 |
| Justice of the Peace / local courts | Possible limited lower-court channels where established | Official Cameron JP or mayor-court docket pages were not located during research. | Confirm locally |
| Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit | Intermediate appellate court for Cameron Parish state cases | 1000 Main Street, Lake Charles, LA 70615; P.O. Box 16577, Lake Charles, LA 70616 | 337-433-9403 |
District Court vs Lower Courts
The State Court Structure Map resolved Cameron Parish's primary trial court as District Court and identified lower courts as Justice of the Peace Court and mayor or municipal-level local courts where established. No separate county court layer was identified for Louisiana in this project. That matters because many court-record questions that might go to a county court in another state instead route to the District Court or Clerk in Cameron Parish.
| Comparison Point | District Court | Justice of the Peace / Local Court | Federal Court |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main role | General civil and criminal trial court for Cameron Parish. | Limited local matters where a court is established. | Federal civil, criminal, bankruptcy, and appellate matters. |
| Record custodian | Cameron Parish Clerk of Court for district-court files. | Confirm with the specific local court or municipal office. | Federal Clerk or PACER, depending on court. |
| Docket access | 38th JDC scheduling rules and Clerk records, with no public local calendar found. | No official Cameron JP or mayor-court docket page located. | PACER and federal CM/ECF systems. |
| Appeal path | Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit, then Louisiana Supreme Court. | Depends on court type and state procedure. | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for federal district appeals. |
For docket-setting detail, the separate Cameron Parish court dockets page tracks the court FAQ process for settings, rules to show cause, trial placement, and Zoom hearings.
Cameron Parish Case Flow
Civil and criminal cases move through different steps, but both rely on the Clerk for filed documents and the court for settings and rulings. The 38th JDC FAQ states that scheduling and status conferences can be requested through a motion to set sent to the Clerk or by email to the judge's office with copies to all parties. Motions are electronically filed with a rule to show cause order through the Clerk, and trial placement can be requested by letter or motion to fix for trial.
Civil flow: Petition filed › service or answer › motions or rules to show cause › hearing or trial setting › judgment › appeal if taken.
Criminal flow: Arrest or charge filing › arraignment › pretrial motions › plea or trial › disposition › sentencing › post-conviction or expungement filing if any.
Zoom hearings are available by contacting the judge's office and providing an email address. That is a court scheduling issue, not a Clerk copy request. A person seeking the record of what happened should use the Clerk's Cameron Parish court records channels after the event is entered or filed.
Cameron Parish District Court Work
The 2025 Louisiana Supreme Court annual report lists the 38th/Cameron filing statistics as 51 juvenile filings, 158 civil filings, 404 criminal filings, 2,280 traffic filings, and 2,893 total filings. It reported no civil or criminal jury trials and an average filing-to-disposition time of 166 days. Those figures show a small but active court where traffic volume far exceeds civil and criminal filing counts.
District-court records can include petitions, answers, motions, orders, service returns, exhibits, judgments, criminal charges as filed, arraignment minutes, pleas, dispositions, sentences, probation terms, fines and costs, and expungement filings. Juvenile, adoption, sealed, expunged, personal identifier, and some medical or capacity material may be restricted or redacted before public release.
Note: A district-court filing count is not a live calendar and should not be used to confirm a hearing date.
Cameron Parish Appeals Path
State appeals from Cameron Parish go to the Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit in Lake Charles. The Third Circuit contact block in the research file lists 1000 Main Street, Lake Charles, LA 70615, mailing P.O. Box 16577, Lake Charles, LA 70616, phone 337-433-9403, fax 337-491-2590, and hours Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Further state review goes to the Louisiana Supreme Court in New Orleans.
Federal court screenshots are useful only as contrast here. The important routing point is simple: a Cameron Parish state case starts in the District Court, records are kept locally by the Clerk, and state appeals do not go to the federal courts merely because a party dislikes the outcome.
Cameron Parish Federal Court Context
Federal courts are useful context for Cameron Parish users, but they are a separate system. Cameron Parish is in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, and the Western District's Lake Charles Division groups Cameron with nearby parishes. Federal cases can include federal criminal prosecutions, federal-question civil suits, diversity cases, prisoner civil-rights matters, federal agency cases, and other cases within federal jurisdiction.
The Western District homepage provides federal context for Cameron Parish. Source: U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
That source should be used only when the matter is federal, not when the record is a Cameron Parish District Court file.
The Lake Charles federal division page gives the nearby federal courthouse context. Source: Western District Lake Charles Division page.
The Lake Charles federal courthouse is relevant for federal cases tied to Cameron Parish, but it is not the place to request local district-court certified copies.
Cameron Parish Bankruptcy Records
Bankruptcy is handled by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana, not by the Cameron Parish District Court. The research file states that the Lake Charles bankruptcy courtroom is at the federal courthouse but is unmanned, with users directed to the Lafayette office. Bankruptcy records use federal CM/ECF and PACER channels, not the Cameron Parish Clerk's district-court record counter.
The bankruptcy court homepage identifies the separate federal bankruptcy system. Source: U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
This source separates bankruptcy records from Cameron Parish District Court civil and criminal records.
The Lake Charles bankruptcy location page adds the local courtroom detail. Source: Bankruptcy Court Lake Charles page.
Because the Lake Charles bankruptcy courtroom is listed as unmanned, record questions should follow the bankruptcy court's contact instructions rather than the parish courthouse route.
Federal Appeals From Cameron Parish
Federal appeals from Louisiana federal district courts go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. That path applies to federal cases, not appeals from Cameron Parish state district-court judgments. State appeals from Cameron Parish use the Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit, with further review by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
The Fifth Circuit source gives the federal appeal context. Source: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
The image helps distinguish federal appeal routing from the Louisiana state appeal path that follows a Cameron Parish District Court judgment.