The defendant shall answer within ten days of the service of citation, except that when the citation is served through the secretary of state, the delay, as to all defendants, shall be fifteen days after service.
Art. 4903.Delay For Answering In Parish and City Courts
Book VIII. Trial Courts of Limited Jurisdiction · Title II. Procedure In Trial Courts of Limited Jurisdiction · Chapter 1. Parish and City Courts · Enacted 1986 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 4903 gives a parish or city court defendant ten days from service of citation to answer, extending that delay to fifteen days for every defendant in the case when service is made through the secretary of state.
Full Text of Art. 4903
Amendment History
Acts 1986, No. 156, §1.
Plain-English Summary
Article 4903 sets the answer clock for parish and city court defendants at ten days from service of citation, noticeably shorter than the delays that apply in an ordinary district court proceeding and consistent with the faster pace these courts are built for.
That baseline shifts when a defendant is served through the secretary of state, a method used for certain out-of-state or otherwise hard-to-reach defendants. In that situation, the delay extends to fifteen days, and Article 4903 makes that extended delay apply to every defendant in the case, not only the one served through the secretary of state.
The delay set here anchors several other articles in this chapter. Article 4904 will not let a default judgment be rendered until this window closes without an answer, and Article 4903's own compressed timeline previews the shortened deadlines that run throughout the rest of this chapter, from citation through new trial.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a defendant have to answer in Louisiana parish or city court?
Ten days from service of citation.
Does the answer delay change if the defendant is served through the secretary of state?
Yes, it extends to fifteen days, and that extension applies to every defendant in the case.
Is this delay shorter than in an ordinary district court case?
Yes, reflecting the streamlined procedure of parish and city courts.
What happens if the defendant does not answer within this delay?
The plaintiff may pursue a default judgment under Article 4904.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure (legis.la.gov). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: ten day answer delay parish court LouisianaArticle 4903 Louisianasecretary of state service fifteen days Louisianadelay for answering city courtdefault judgment answer deadline parish court