Art. 287.District Court Clerk Ex Officio Notary

Article 287 folds a second office into the clerk's own: every district court clerk is ex officio a notary, meaning the clerk holds notary powers automatically, by virtue of the clerkship itself, with no separate commission to apply for.

As a notary, the clerk may administer oaths and exercise every other function, power, and authority Louisiana law gives to notaries — a broader role than in most other states, since Louisiana's civil-law tradition gives notaries a hand in tasks like preparing authentic acts that common-law states typically leave to lawyers alone.

This ties directly to the clerk's other duties in this chapter. When Article 283 requires a notary for an order the clerk signs, the clerk's own notarial authority under Article 287 means the clerk's office can often handle that need directly, rather than sending a party out to find one.