The numbers we have verified
The lowest figure we verified is $54 (Alexandria City Court (Small Claims Division), Rapides Parish) and the highest is $425 (Union Parish Clerk of Court (Clerks Docket Suit), Union Parish).
Counts and ranges are generated from our verified data when this page is built. A parish without a verified fee says so on its own page and never gets an estimated number.
Many courts, one claim limit
Where a court has a small claims division, state law sets the limit the same everywhere: the division hears cases "where the amount in dispute does not exceed five thousand dollars, exclusive of interest, court costs, attorney fees, or penalties" (La. R.S. 13:5202(A)). The same section says "the judges and clerks of the respective courts shall serve as the judges and clerks of the small claims divisions" (13:5202(C)), so each court's clerk collects that court's own costs.
A parish can have several of these courts. Orleans Parish has two city courts, one for Algiers on the west bank and one for the rest of the city, and their small claims fees differ.
| Orleans Parish court | Filing fee |
|---|---|
| First City Court of the City of New Orleans | $119.50 |
| Second City Court of the City of New Orleans | $115.50 |
| East Baton Rouge Parish court | Filing fee |
|---|---|
| Baton Rouge City Court (Small Claims Division) | $86.50 |
City courts and clerk's suits cost very different amounts
City court small claims fees are usually the lower figures. In parishes where we found no city court fee, the parish clerk of court often publishes a fee for a clerk's suit, sometimes called a clerk's docket or clerk book suit, for claims up to $5,000 in district court. That is a deposit against the court's costs, and it is much larger: several clerks list it in the hundreds of dollars, and Natchitoches Parish's clerk notes the plaintiff is billed if costs run over the deposit.
Justice of the peace courts in the same parishes set their own, usually lower, costs, but most do not publish them online. Our parish pages say which kind of court each verified figure comes from.
| Rapides Parish court | Filing fee |
|---|---|
| Alexandria City Court (Small Claims Division) | $54 |
| Union Parish court | Filing fee |
|---|---|
| Union Parish Clerk of Court (Clerks Docket Suit) | $425 |
Extra defendants and service add up quickly
Most Louisiana courts we verified charge more for each additional defendant, and the amounts vary widely from court to court. Service by a constable, marshal or sheriff is often extra and can depend on where the defendant lives; Alexandria City Court, for example, publishes different totals for service in Alexandria, in Pineville and out of town. Our parish pages list these extras where the court publishes them.
What this means if you are filing in Louisiana
First find out which court covers the defendant's address: a city court, a parish court or a justice of the peace court. Then check that court's own fee schedule, or call its clerk. Our calculator shows the range of the fees we verified for parishes without a verified court, and tells you to confirm with the court rather than guessing.
If the fee is a hardship, see our Louisiana fee waiver guide for how to ask the court to let you proceed without paying costs in advance.
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Sources
- La. R.S. 13:5202, Small claims divisions: jurisdiction (as amended through Acts 2020, No. 205) (read October 2026, archived copy of 2026-05-07)
- Baton Rouge City Court, Civil Court Cost Schedule (effective January 1, 2026) (read September 2026)
- First City Court of the City of New Orleans, price list (July 1, 2024) (read September 2026)
- Natchitoches Parish Clerk of Court, Civil Department (read October 2026)
The Louisiana Legislature's site was not reachable from our location, so La. R.S. 13:5202 was read from the Internet Archive's copy on the capture date shown. Check the current text before relying on it for a filing.
This is general information, not legal advice. Fees change; confirm the current amount with the court before you file. How we check our data: methodology.