How to Run for Sheriff in Louisiana (2027)

Louisiana parishes elect their sheriffs in 2027. To run, you must be registered to vote in the parish and, at the time you file, have lived in Louisiana for the preceding two years and been actually domiciled in the parish for the preceding year (R.S. 18:451.2). You qualify with the clerk of court in your parish between Tuesday, August 3 and 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 5, 2027, by filing a notice of candidacy with either the qualifying fee or a nominating petition. The primary is on Saturday, October 9, 2027, and the general election, if one is needed, is on Saturday, November 20, 2027.

The qualifying fee for sheriff is $225, plus a $25 fee for the state's Campaign Sign Recycling Fund (R.S. 18:464(B)). Instead of paying, you may file a nominating petition signed by 400 voters registered to vote on the office (R.S. 18:465(C)). The rules below come from the Louisiana Revised Statutes (R.S.), the constitution and the Secretary of State's candidate guides. Confirm anything specific to your parish with your clerk of court.

For the full picture of the 2027 elections, including the Legislature and other parish offices, see our guide to running for local office in Louisiana.

What a sheriff does, and when the seat is elected

The Louisiana Constitution provides that "in each parish a sheriff shall be elected for a term of four years." It describes the sheriff as "the chief law enforcement officer in the parish, except as otherwise provided by this constitution," who "shall execute court orders and process" and is "the collector of state and parish ad valorem taxes and such other taxes and license fees as provided by law" (La. Const. Art. V, Sec. 27).

Before you decide to run, learn how your sheriff's office is organized, attend parish government meetings, and talk with people who understand the office's budget and staff.

In the Secretary of State's records for the parishes we checked, the current sheriff's term ends on June 30, 2028, so the next sheriff is chosen at the fall 2027 elections. The constitutional section on sheriffs does not apply to Orleans Parish, which follows its own election schedule. If you live in Orleans Parish, ask the Orleans Parish clerk of court about your dates.

Step 1: Check that you qualify

Registration. Every candidate must be a qualified elector, which means registered to vote. Your notice of candidacy lists the parish, ward and precinct where you are registered (R.S. 18:463(A)(1)(a)). If you have moved, update your registration well before August.

Residency and domicile. The two-year state residency and one-year parish domicile rule in R.S. 18:451.2 is measured as of the date you qualify (R.S. 18:451). It is the rule the Secretary of State's qualifications chart lists for sheriff, so ask your clerk of court whether anything else applies in your parish.

Rules that can disqualify a candidate.

• Felonies. No one under an order of imprisonment for a felony may qualify (R.S. 18:451). The constitution also bars a person convicted of a felony who has not been pardoned, unless more than five years have passed since the original sentence was completed (La. Const. Art. I, Sec. 10.1, as quoted by the Secretary of State).
• One office at a time. You may not be a candidate for more than one office in the same election, except for membership on a political party committee (R.S. 18:453).
• Tax returns. On the notice of candidacy, you certify that you filed federal and state income tax returns for each of the previous five tax years, filed for an extension, or were not required to file. A false certification is a ground for an objection to your candidacy (R.S. 18:492).

Step 2: Choose the fee or a nominating petition

You qualify by filing a notice of candidacy "accompanied either by a nominating petition or by the qualifying fee and any additional fee imposed" (R.S. 18:461(A)(1)). The petition is an alternative to the fee, not an extra requirement.

The fee route. The qualifying fee for sheriff is $225, plus the $25 sign recycling fee. A party's state central committee and parish executive committee may each add a fee of up to half the qualifying fee for candidates affiliated with that party (R.S. 18:464(C) and (D)). The Secretary of State's fee chart, revised in June 2026, lists a $112.50 state central committee fee for Democratic and Republican candidates for sheriff, and a $112.50 parish executive committee fee where the parish committee has assessed one. Ask your clerk of court for your exact total. The fee must be paid in cash, by certified or cashier's check on a state or national bank or credit union, by a U.S. postal money order, or by a money order issued by a state or national bank or credit union (R.S. 18:464(A)).

The petition route. A nominating petition for an office elected throughout a parish needs 400 signatures of voters registered to vote on the office (R.S. 18:465(C)). Signers may sign no earlier than Monday, April 5, 2027, which is 120 days before qualifying opens, and you must submit the petition to the registrar of voters by Tuesday, July 6, 2027. Collect more than 400 in case some signatures are not certified. Our guide to qualifying by fee or nominating petition walks through the form.

Step 3: Qualify with the clerk of court

Qualifying for the October 9 primary runs from Tuesday, August 3 to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 5, 2027 (R.S. 18:467 and 18:468). You qualify with the clerk of court for the parish in which you are registered to vote (R.S. 18:462(B)).

1. Fill in your ballot name carefully. You may use your given name, initials, a nickname in quotation marks, or a combination, with your surname. You may not use a title, a designation or an occupational or professional description (R.S. 18:463(A)(1)(b)).
2. List your party designation. Enter the name of your recognized party, "other," or "no party," as your voter registration shows. You cannot change it after you qualify.
3. Sign before a notary or two witnesses (R.S. 18:463(A)(2)(b)). Read each certification before you sign, and check with the Louisiana Board of Ethics for any other filings that apply to your campaign.
4. Bring a valid Louisiana driver's license or identification card and either the fee or your certified petition (R.S. 18:461(A)(1)).
5. File early in the window. A notice counts only if the clerk receives it during the qualifying period (R.S. 18:466), so a problem found on August 5 leaves little time to fix it. Ask the clerk's office for its qualifying hours.

After qualifying closes, a court action objecting to a candidacy must be filed by 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 12, 2027, the seventh day after the close of qualifying, based on R.S. 18:1405(A). Keep copies of everything you filed.

Step 4: Run a parishwide campaign

A sheriff's race is parishwide, so plan for volunteers, events and a steady way to stay in touch with the supporters you meet in every ward and town.

• Start early. If you use a petition, collecting signatures between April 5 and July 6 gives you a reason to meet voters months before qualifying.
• Visit doors in every part of the parish. As an example only: five people who each knock on 80 doors a week for 16 weeks would reach about 6,400 doors. Set your own numbers from the size of your parish.
• Mind the sign rule. The notice of candidacy includes a certification that you know the prohibitions on placing campaign signs on a highway right-of-way, publicly owned property or a utility pole (R.S. 18:463(A)(3)). Place signs only on private property with the owner's permission.
• Work toward the voter dates. Registration closes on Wednesday, September 8 in person or by mail and Saturday, September 18 online. Early voting runs from Saturday, September 25 to Saturday, October 2, Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (R.S. 18:1309). Polls are open on October 9 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

A candidate who receives a majority of the votes in the primary is elected (R.S. 18:511(A)). Otherwise, the two candidates with the most votes go on to the November 20 general election.

Step 5: Keep supporters informed by text

A short text tells supporters when early voting opens. Set it up in CampaignCNX+ before September.

1. Settle your committee first. Campaign texting from a registered number requires Campaign Verify, a check that confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that you are a real campaign. It needs a 527 committee (the federal tax status of a political committee) with an EIN (its federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Confirm that your filing can be viewed online before you request it, and ask Campaign Verify Support if it cannot. A $95 request made on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026 lasts until January 31, 2029. Campaign Verify decides eligibility.
2. Open your account. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration for you, as 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number) or as toll-free, and files your Campaign Verify token with it.
3. Add only supporters who agreed in writing. Use a sign-up sheet that plainly says the person agrees to receive campaign texts, and record the date. In CampaignCNX+, put these supporters in a group, tag the ward or town where you met them, and record the consent date and source in a custom field. Do not add petition signers or voters from a list who never asked to hear from you.
4. Schedule a reminder for early voting. Use the first-name merge field so each text is addressed to the person, and end the first message with the opt-out line:

Hi [First name], this is [Name], candidate for Sheriff. Early voting runs Sat, Sept 25 to Sat, Oct 2. Reply STOP to opt out.

Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and STOP replies are handled automatically. 100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month. For more wording, see our campaign text templates for local races, and for texting rules that apply to any campaign, see our page on political texting.

Prepare before the petition window opens

Confirm your registration and domicile, decide between the fee and a petition, and learn how your parish's sheriff's office works before April 5. When you are ready to keep supporters informed by text, start a CampaignCNX+ trial.