Clerk of Court moves to Parish Government Building
Published 12:05 am Saturday, December 7, 2019
LAPLACE — Effective this week, the St. John Clerk of Court’s Office will be accepting requests for documents, marriage licenses, criminal minutes and civil documents at its new location inside the Parish Government Building, 1811 W. Airline Highway in LaPlace.
Traffic court and misdemeanor court will continue at the Arcuri Center/Courthouse Annex, located at 1020 Cambridge Drive in LaPlace.
However, Clerk of Court Eliana DeFrancesch has some concerns over whether the new office, located near the back of the Parish Government Building, has enough space to accommodate up to five staff members.
Parish Council Discussion
When the Parish Government building was designed, the intent was for the Clerk of Court to be located near the front of the building. DeFrancesch addressed the St. John Parish Council and requested her office be relocated to its original earmarked location, an area currently occupied by utilities billing.
“My office is supposed to be where the billing department is right now, and my staff is where the billing department used to be,” DeFrancesch said. “It’s not conducive to the clerk’s office functioning correctly.”
Chief Financial Officer Robert Figuero said the switch was made to provide more space for utilities billing, which includes four individuals working in the office for forty hours per week. Figuero said the original intent was that the Clerk of Court was only going to bring one or two employees to the new building five or six times a month, along with one full time person.
Daily traffic also determined the relocation, according to Councilman Lennix Madere.
“When we first got into this building, size didn’t matter to me,” Madere said. “What mattered were the individuals who had to come down that hallway to pay their water bills. That’s a long distance for handicap people to come all the way around and through the building all the way to the back.”
Figuero said he would continue working with DeFrancesch toward a solution that accommodates both departments.
For more information about the St. John Clerk of Court, visit stjohnclerkonline.org.