Ouachita Parish Courthouse
Located at: 300 St John Street, Monroe LA. 71201
Please use the front entrance facing the river on South Grand. The St John Street entrance opposite St Francis is for disabled access only.
You may park, without cost, in the lot adjoining the Courthouse and Courthouse Annex, in the St. Francis Parking Garage above the fifth floor, or in the lot across the street by the Ouachita River
Directions to Ouachita Parish Courthouse:
I-20 Westbound
• Depart I-20 at the Civic Center Exit.I-20 Eastbound
• Go straight at the traffic light past Monroe City Court, past the St. Francis Hospital
Parking Garage, and past the next building (Courthouse Annex).
• The Ouachita Parish Courthouse will be on your right.
• Depart I-20 at the Civic Center Exit.
• Follow the signs to the Hospital, taking a left at the bank at the bottom of the hill to go
back under I-20.
• Take a left at the traffic light.
• Go past the St. Francis Hospital parking garage and past the next building (Courthouse
Annex). The Ouachita Parish Courthouse will be on your right.
Call Judges' Reception at 318-361-2250 if you need assistance.
History of the Courthouse
Ouachita Parish court records from the days of Fort Miro give
an interesting look into the history of the court system in Ouachita
Parish.
In the early days, the courts of justice met at various locations
throughout the parish to serve the general convenience. Of course
at that time, Ouachita Parish covered the entire northeast corner
of Louisiana. This area has since been divided into the parishes
of Ouachita, Madison, Tensas, East Carroll, West Carroll, Morehouse,
Union, Caldwell and Franklin.
The first courthouse in Ouachita Parish was built in 1816 on a
plot of land, donated by Don Juan Fihoil, which is the present
courthouse square. The courthouse was a two-story structure of
mixed hewn logs and frame with the ground floor used for a jail
and the second floor as a courtroom. Also in 1816, a building
that was used as the Clerk of Court's Office was constructed.
It was a small, one room stucco building. It was constructed on
the southeast corner of the plot of land. This building, which
is still standing, is considered to be the oldest in Ouachita
Parish.
In 1819, a steamboat, named the "James Monroe", traveled
down the Ouachita River. The residents then changed the name of
Fort Miro to Monroe.
The first legal hanging in Ouachita Parish was in October of 1822.
A man named Russell Brooks was convicted of murdering the man
who stole his horse, so he was hung from the branch of an oak
tree on the courthouse lawn.
The second courthouse was built in 1860. It was constructed of
wood frame and stucco. In April of 1864, Yankee gunboats partially
destroyed the courthouse as is evidenced by a note to his superiors
from a Northern officer "We burned the courthouse, railroad
depot and bridge at Monroe."
The third Ouachita Parish courthouse, a red brick two-story building
with plantation style galleries, was completed on Nov. 8, 1883.
East Baton Rouge contractors Hannan & Voss built the structure
at a cost of $25,000.
In 1924, Ouachita Parish residents approved a bond issue for approximately
$500,000 to build a new and modern courthouse on the same original
site. The new courthouse, built of reinforced concrete, Indiana
limestone and a granite base, was completed in 1926. It had a
copper roof and marble corridors, stairways and wainscoting. The
new courthouse included three stories with a basement and one
extra floor that was used for the jail. The jail included a gallows
room, which ended public hangings.
For almost forty years, the courthouse provided adequate space
for the parish government and courts, but with the growth of the
parish due to the industrial expansion in the area, more room
was needed. After much debate and consideration the police jury
voted to award the contract to remodel the Ouachita Parish courthouse
to Jesse F. Heard & Sons, Inc. The $1,567,000 remodeling project
began in the fall of 1966 and was completed in the spring of 1969.
The central part of the courthouse as well as the marble stairways
and halls remained much the same, with the major changes being
in the two extensions at each end of the building where complete
renovation and enlargement of the facility was completed.
The current and most recent renovation to the historic Ouachita
Parish Courthouse was brought about by the growth of the justice
system in the area and the need for additional courtrooms and
office space for both court and parish governmental functions.
The old Ouachita Parish jail, on the fourth floor of the courthouse,
was gutted and that space was reconfigured and built out as new
courtrooms and offices for the nine 4th Judicial District Court
judges and the administrative staff of the court. The original
third floor courtrooms also received a refurbishing and updating
with modern communications facilities and increased security.
Local architect Bill Land, whose father designed the 1960's renovation,
was responsible for the redesign and update planning of the facility
to fill the needs of today and the foreseeable future.