The Lincoln Parish Court Calendar
The Third Judicial District Court calendar page posts annual calendars covering Lincoln and Union Parishes. Lincoln Parish's current scheduling tool is the color-coded 2026 calendar. It is marked "as of 12/08/25." It organizes planned court work by day, judge, division, and category. Civil court, felony, misdemeanor and traffic, criminal pre-trial, child support, and juvenile sessions appear there. Jury, DOM-TRO, Drug Court, holidays, and special blocks share the same document.
Treat the PDF as a map, not a case list. A block holding a date helps with planning. But it promises nothing about whether your matter will be called that day. Your notice and the case record still govern a particular appearance. The judges' office publishes the calendar itself. Linda Cook, Lincoln Parish Clerk of Court, keeps the district-court record material. Related jobs, but separate ones.
Lincoln proceedings sit within the Third Judicial District Court of Louisiana. It serves both Lincoln and Union Parishes. Ruston City Court and mayor's court run their own lower-court systems. Read the court name on your notice first. Then match it to the right calendar.
Lincoln Parish Calendar Divisions
Judge initials and division assignments drive the Lincoln calendar. Learn the legend before trusting any colored block. Skip that step and a session label can masquerade as a full docket entry. The calendar names all three divisions, then slots each setting category onto the dates assigned to a division.
| Calendar initials | Judge | Division |
|---|---|---|
| MBC | Monique B. Clement | A |
| TWR | Thomas W. Rogers | B |
| BEH | Bruce E. Hampton | C |
Division initials point to the scheduled judge. They say nothing about any result in a case. With a docket or suit number in hand, though, the court office can tell you exactly which division and setting apply.
How to Find Your Court Date
Begin with the court. Use the most exact identifier you have. The annual PDF is the public online source for Third JDC's planned Lincoln sessions. Clerk Connect may display case detail for a specific event under its account model. The Clerk and the judges' office can also help. They can steer a caller to the right record or scheduling channel. Louisiana offers no single universal public case index replacing these local routes.
- Read the court name, case or suit number, division, and date on the notice. A municipal citation should go to the municipal court named on it, not automatically to the Third JDC calendar.
- Open the current Lincoln PDF from the judges’ calendar page. Check its year and “as of” date, then read the whole cell for the scheduled category, holiday, jury block, conference, or special setting.
- Use Clerk Connect for available Lincoln case inquiry when a docket number or party details are known. Search availability, details, and report purchases can depend on the parish setup and account.
- For a specific appearance, call the Third JDC judges’ office at 318-251-5121. The official calendar directs calendar questions there. A lawyer of record can also confirm any setting information received in the matter.
- For the district-court file or a typed minute, call the Lincoln Parish Clerk at 318-251-5130 or ask at the Clerk’s office, 100 W. Texas Ave., Ruston. Ask first whether the correct department has the record and whether a staff-assisted lookup is available.
The Clerk posts no daily printed individual calendar and runs no public text-message reminder program. Public terminal availability is likewise undocumented. Call ahead before making the trip.
Lincoln Parish Court Sessions
The Third JDC local-rules appendix explains the ordinary rhythm behind the calendar. Lincoln civil, criminal, juvenile, and non-support sessions run from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A noon recess runs from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. Traffic sessions ordinarily run from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m. Those hours describe regular sessions, not a personal arrival time for your case.
The rules also set a Lincoln and Union recess. It runs during the first two full weeks of August. Civil consent matters follow a separate printed-slip procedure. Delivery is required by 2:00 p.m. the day before the hearing. Don't assume an open block reserves you a hearing time. Courthouse sessions do not accept unscheduled appearances.
For civil hearing coordination, the court's Return Date and Hearing Cover Sheet asks counsel to address availability. It also asks counsel to contact opposing counsel. That is why a case date can demand more coordination. The published calendar alone does not suggest it.
Reading a Court Setting
A setting is a planned court event, nothing more. It is not automatically a trial, judgment, conviction, or dismissal. Match the calendar category against your case notice and any Clerk Connect event record. For a case-specific question, use the source that carries an individual case name and number. It beats the annual PDF.
| Date | The scheduled calendar day. Confirm the calendar year and its “as of” date before relying on it. |
|---|---|
| Time | A session or specialty block may show a stated time. Ordinary session hours do not replace the time on a notice. |
| Division | MBC, TWR, or BEH identifies the Third JDC judge and Division A, B, or C assigned on the calendar. |
| Location | The calendar may identify a courthouse or annex setting, but a case-specific location should be confirmed with the judges’ office. |
| Setting type | Examples include civil court, felony, Misd/Traf, criminal PTC, jury, juvenile, child support, DOM-TRO, or Drug Court. |
When a setting is unclear, use the case number or suit number. It lets the Clerk or judges' office separate a general calendar category from the actual event in your Lincoln Parish matter.
Lincoln Parish Calendar Codes
The Lincoln calendar's legend relies on brief terms. Those abbreviations mark the kind of court work planned, never the confidential facts of a case. They also keep district-court traffic sessions distinct from city-court traffic matters.
- Misd/Traf
- A misdemeanor and traffic session. Confirm whether the notice instead names a city or municipal court.
- Criminal PTC
- A criminal pre-trial conference or session, which is a procedural event rather than a final outcome.
- DOM-TRO
- A domestic temporary-restraining-order setting. The calendar shows judge- and date-specific blocks, so current timing should come from the official office.
- Drug Court
- A specialty treatment-oriented block. The calendar does not publish participant records or outcomes.
- Reg Court / Opening of Court
- A regular or opening session label. Its exact use should be checked against the current calendar and local rules.
Juvenile and child-support labels deserve extra care. Seeing one on the calendar does not make names, case files, or sensitive supporting records public.
Resets, Continuances, and Cancellations
Think of the Lincoln PDF as a plan, not a promise. A setting listed there can still be continued, settled, reassigned, or dropped. That can happen before the day arrives. So a felony block on the calendar proves nothing about a conviction. A civil jury block does not mean every listed case will actually reach trial. When a date truly matters, pull the current case record. Get official confirmation before you rely on it.
What if a notice conflicts with a calendar cell? Keep both papers. Then ask the judges' office about the specific case or suit number. That office maintains the Third JDC calendar. It also coordinates hearing dates. The Clerk can help route a record question, but the calendar itself is not the Clerk's product. For a civil filing that needs a new hearing date, the court's cover sheet and local rules spell out what scheduling involves, including counsel availability and required filings.
Note: There is no real-time reset feed, so never treat a visible calendar entry as final confirmation.
Lincoln Parish Calendars and Dockets
The public calendar and Clerk Connect answer two different questions, and using them together keeps a planned session from being mistaken for a full case history. The calendar earns its keep when you already know the division or the broad type of setting. Clerk Connect does better work once an available case record can be narrowed by a local number, name, date, or case field.
| Source | Best use | Key limit |
|---|---|---|
| Third JDC annual calendar | Planned Lincoln sessions, divisions, and court categories | Not an individual case docket or current confirmation of every appearance |
| Clerk Connect | Available Lincoln case inquiry and detail or report options | Multi-parish access, account conditions, and parish configuration can limit what appears |
| Clerk or judges’ office | Routing a record or case-specific scheduling question | Ask the proper office and provide the exact local case or suit number |
Once the calendar points you to one docket or suit number, the Lincoln Parish case lookup route is the next stop. That is where more available case detail comes into view.
What To Do If You Miss a Setting
Act promptly. But do not guess what a missed setting means from a blank portal result or a vague calendar label. The court named on the notice controls. Contact that court, give the case or suit number, and ask how to confirm the status and the next lawful step. For a Third JDC matter, the judges' office handles scheduling confirmation. The Clerk routes you to the right record department.
Missed a setting? Contact the court named on the notice as soon as possible and preserve the notice, case number, and any calendar information.
Note: Lincoln Parish sources give no single uniform result for a missed appearance, so an online payment screen, calendar gap, or category label does not resolve the issue.
For a matter with counsel, contact counsel promptly. If legal advice is needed, consult a licensed Louisiana attorney.
Confirming Lincoln Parish Settings
Before you drive anywhere, compare the date on the notice with the current calendar. Then use the case number to seek an official confirmation. The Third JDC contact page lists the judges' office. It also shows its courthouse and annex locations. The Clerk's contact page identifies the records office and its department routes.
The division of labor is simple. Questions about the calendar, divisions, local forms, and hearing dates go to the judges' office. Docket material, typed minutes, copies, and record access go to the Clerk. A case in the Second Circuit Court of Appeal, a federal court, Ruston City Court, Grambling City Court, a mayor's court, or a justice court runs on that court's own schedule. It is not on the Lincoln district calendar.
That split is practical. The court maintains the calendar. The Clerk is the legal custodian of the district-court record. Name the court, division, date, and local number up front. Your confirmation gets more reliable.