St. Tammany Parish Traffic Citations and Records

St. Tammany Parish traffic ticket records are filed through the 22nd Judicial District Court, which serves both St. Tammany and Washington parishes. The Clerk of Court office in Covington handles records for citations issued within the parish, and online access is available through the reSearchLA system. This page covers how to find records, reach the right office, and understand the payment process.

How St. Tammany Parish Traffic Tickets Are Processed

St. Tammany Parish is one of the fastest-growing parishes in Louisiana. Its location north of Lake Pontchartrain, with easy access to New Orleans via the Causeway and I-12, means heavy traffic volumes on major corridors. The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office, Covington Police, Slidell Police, Mandeville Police, and Louisiana State Police all issue citations within parish boundaries.

When a traffic ticket from any of these agencies advances into the court system, it goes through the 22nd Judicial District Court. The Clerk of Court, currently Jessica Jenkins Brewster, maintains those case records at the courthouse in Covington. The 22nd JDC is a shared court with Washington Parish, but each parish's cases are tracked separately within the same judicial district.

St. Tammany Parish also has municipal courts in its larger communities. Slidell, for example, has a city court that handles some traffic matters independently of the district court. Cases that go through municipal or city courts are recorded by those courts, not by the main Clerk of Court in Covington. If you're looking for a citation from a specific city, it may be worth checking whether that city has its own court first.

Note: Justice of the peace courts operate throughout the parish and handle minor violations in some areas. Records from those courts are not held by the Clerk of Court in Covington.

St. Tammany Parish Clerk of Court: Contact Details

The Clerk of Court's office is the central records repository for traffic cases filed in the 22nd JDC for St. Tammany Parish. Contact information:

• Location: Covington, Louisiana
• Phone: (985) 809-8700
• Website: sttammanyclerk.org

In-person visits to the courthouse in Covington let you search case records, request copies, and confirm court dates. Bring the citation number or the full name as it appears on the ticket. The clerk's website at sttammanyclerk.org may also have information on services, hours, and any online options available directly through the clerk's office.

Mail requests are accepted. Include the citation or case number, the name on the ticket, the approximate offense date, and a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want documents returned. Ask about fees before sending payment. Certified copies of court records carry a per-page charge, and the amount can vary.

St. Tammany Traffic Records Online: The reSearchLA System

St. Tammany Parish uses the reSearchLA online system for public access to court records. This platform covers cases filed through the Clerk of Court, including traffic citations docketed in the 22nd JDC. You can search by name or case number and pull up filing history, case status, and available documents.

reSearchLA is the state-supported records access system used by several Louisiana parishes. It offers a consistent interface across participating clerks' offices and gives you the ability to search multiple parishes from a single platform if needed. St. Tammany is one of the more active parishes on the system given its population size.

The St. Tammany Parish Clerk of Court's online presence at sttammanyclerk.org provides access points and information about record search options for traffic and other court cases.

Through reSearchLA and the clerk's website, you can confirm case status, check for pending court dates, and verify whether a fine payment was recorded. This saves a trip to Covington if all you need is a quick case status check.

Note: reSearchLA access may require creating an account. Some features may involve a fee depending on the type of record or document you're requesting.

Traffic Ticket Payment in St. Tammany Parish

Whether you can pay a traffic ticket without appearing in court depends on the specific citation. Some violations allow prepayment. Others require you to show up. The ticket itself should indicate whether an appearance is mandatory. When in doubt, call the Clerk of Court at (985) 809-8700 and ask.

Louisiana treats payment of a traffic ticket as a guilty plea. Once you pay, the conviction is entered on your driving record with the Office of Motor Vehicles. Louisiana does not add points to driver licenses, but the conviction still appears on your record. Insurance companies check those records, and certain violations can lead to rate increases at renewal time.

Court costs in Louisiana are added to the base fine. The amount shown on your ticket is typically just the fine portion. Court costs can add a significant amount on top of that. Always get the total balance owed from the clerk's office before you send payment. Sending only the base fine amount will not close the case.

Failing to appear or pay a St. Tammany Parish traffic citation can lead to a license suspension through the Department of Public Safety. That suspension stays in place until the original matter is resolved and reinstatement fees are paid. Dealing with the ticket right away is always the simpler path.

Slidell: Traffic Records Within St. Tammany Parish

Slidell is the largest city in St. Tammany Parish and one of the qualifying cities with its own page on this site. Traffic tickets issued within Slidell city limits may be handled by Slidell's municipal court, by the 22nd JDC, or by a combination depending on the nature of the citation and how it was filed.

For citations that went through the district court system, the records are at the Clerk of Court in Covington. For matters handled by Slidell's city court, you'd contact that court directly. The Slidell traffic records page has more specific information on how citations in that city are processed and where to look for those records.

The rest of St. Tammany Parish, including Covington, Mandeville, Madisonville, and other communities, follows the standard district court process for traffic matters that advance past the payable stage.

Louisiana Traffic Laws Covering St. Tammany Citations

Traffic citations issued in St. Tammany Parish are subject to Louisiana state traffic law. R.S. 32:393 governs how convictions are reported to the OMV. When a traffic case is resolved in the 22nd JDC, the outcome is sent to the state and added to the driver's official record. That record follows you regardless of which parish the case was in.

Public access to those case records is established by R.S. 44:1, the state's public records law. Traffic case files at the Clerk of Court are open records. You don't need a legal justification to request them. Fees may apply for copies, but access is not restricted for routine traffic matters.

R.S. 32:398.2 governs accident report records. If a traffic ticket in St. Tammany Parish came out of a crash, the crash report is a separate document held by the responding agency, usually the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office or Louisiana State Police. That report is not part of the court case file and must be requested separately.

Drivers can review their own Louisiana driving record through the OMV Express Lane portal. This shows conviction data reported by courts statewide, including St. Tammany Parish cases. Checking it after a case is resolved confirms the disposition was recorded correctly.

State Resources for St. Tammany Drivers

The Louisiana Department of Public Safety oversees statewide driver licensing, the OMV, and the official driving record system. If a traffic conviction in St. Tammany Parish triggered a license action, DPS is the agency that handles reinstatement and related matters.

The DPS online portal, the Louisiana Express Lane, allows drivers to order driving records, pay reinstatement fees, and manage license matters without visiting an office.

St. Tammany Parish residents have access to OMV offices in the area. Check the DPS website for current office locations and hours in the parish before visiting. Online options handle most routine requests and are available around the clock.

Cities in St. Tammany Parish

Slidell is the qualifying city in St. Tammany Parish with its own traffic records page.

Nearby Parishes

St. Tammany Parish borders several other parishes on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain and into southeast Louisiana.