The jurisdiction of justices of the peace was first defined by the Territorial legislature in 1805. This act did not discuss their duties concerning marriage, but two years later, on February 24, 1807, the legislature legalized all marriages that had been made in the Territory of Orleans by a county judge, justice of the peace, minister, or commandant, if these marriages had been "contracted agreeably to the laws and usages of the country."

Later in 1807, the legislature did detail regulations for marriage. This act stipulated that no marriage was to be celebrated unless a license had first been obtained from a parish judge. It also established that marriage ceremonies were to be performed only by ordained priests or ministers who had themselves been issued a license by the parish judge. If there was an insufficient number of priests or ministers residing in the parish, however, the judge could issue licenses to perform marriages to justices of the peace.

The 1807 act also set up several regulations which remained in effect throughout the period covered by these records. In order to obtain a marriage license, minors were required to obtain consent of their parents (or closest family member), to be given in writing before the parish judge. Those over twenty-one were required to present proof that they were of age, in the form of "registers of their birth" or the "oath of two credible witnesses." The groom was also to post a bond as security that no legal impediment existed to the marriage.

In 18l6, the legislature divided the city and suburbs of New Orleans into 8 districts and authorized the governor to appoint a justice of the peace for each district. The act defined their jurisdiction in civil matters but, again, failed to specify their duties in connection with marriage. In 1820, however, the legislature passed another law legalizing marriages celebrated by parish judges and reiterating the authority of the parish judge to license justices of the peace to celebrate marriage. This law was enacted, the statute says, in order to put an end to doubts arising "as to the validity of certain marriages celebrated by the parish judges...as well as justices of the peace...."

This court system was fairly short-lived. Nine years later, on February 19, 1825, the legislature repealed "all acts and parts of acts creating justices of the peace" in New Orleans and replaced the justice of the peace courts with the City Court of New Orleans, comprised of one presiding judge and four associate judges. The judges of the City Court assumed all powers and duties previously vested in the justices of the peace, including the authority to celebrate marriages in Orleans Parish. Licenses to celebrate marriages were issued to the City Court judges by the Parish judge.

In 1845, the legislature required all ministers or magistrates celebrating a marriage to make a duplicate of the act of celebration, to be "signed by himself, by the parties, and three witnesses"; one of the copies was then to be sent to the Clerk of the District Court. These records are not included in the City Archives collection; records of the early justices of the peace have not survived.

In 1846, the legislature once again changed the court system in Orleans Parish and established the system of issuing marriage licenses and certificates that governs the records described here. At this time, the legislature abolished the City Court and revived the justice of the peace court system, dividing Orleans Parish into 6 districts, each of which was to elect a justice "at every general election thereafter...." This act authorized justices of the peace to issue marriage licenses, as well as to perform marriage ceremonies, and instructed them to keep records of both and "to deliver the said records to their successors in office." Another 1846 act established 6 justice of the peace in Jefferson Parish and gave them the power to issue marriage licenses and perform marriage ceremonies.

The system established in 1846 continued in effect during the entire time period covered by these records. However, beginning in 1870, changes in the system of registering marriages and further changes in the judicial system in Orleans Parish gradually lead to the end of the justice of the peace system. In 1870, the Recorder of Births and Deaths for Orleans Parish became the Recorder of Births, Marriages and Deaths and was given "concurrent power with other officers now designated by law, in the Parish of Orleans, to issue marriage licenses..."; all licenses were to be returned to his office, and all marriages were to be registered with him. In 1877, the Recorder of Births, Marriages and Deaths was placed under the aegis of the Board of Health, which was given the responsibility of registering all marriages (and other vital statistics).

Act 45 of 1880 established three City Courts for Orleans Parish (a fourth was added later that year), which replaced the justice of the peace courts. All "archives, books, and papers" of the justices of the peace were transferred to the City Courts. Finally, in 1882, the legislature amended Article 99 of the 1870 Civil Code, which had granted justices of the peace in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes the right to grant licenses. Licenses in Orleans Parish were henceforth to be granted by the Board of Health and by judges of the City Courts.

Changes in the boundaries of the justice of the peace districts outlined in 1846 and the adding or abolishing of districts at later dates complicate the task of researchers seeking records within a particular physical location in the city. With the exception of the 1st and 2nd Justice of the Peace districts (which remained stable throughout the period covered by the records) and the 8th Justice of the Peace district (stable after its creation in 1877), all of the districts underwent boundary changes. Thus, the records of the 4th Municipal District (formerly the city of Lafayette), for example, can be found, at different time periods, in the records of both the 6th and the 7th Justice of the Peace (some pre-1864 records remained with the records of the City of Lafayette and are cataloged separately). Records for the right bank of the Mississippi River can be found among the records of both the 5th and the 6th Justice of the Peace. The 7th Justice of Peace district created in 1856 and abolished in 1865 covers a completely different physical area than the 7th Justice of the Peace district created in 1871. A chart reflecting the boundary changes is appended to this finding aid. (Researchers should be aware, however, that there was no requirement that residents obtain their licenses from the justice of the peace for the district in which they lived.)