When you need to look up an arrest record in St. Charles Parish, your two primary sources are the Saint Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office Criminal Records Division and the St. Charles Parish Clerk of Court, both accessible through the courthouse at 15045 River Road in Hahnville. The Sheriff’s Criminal Records Division maintains booking-side records at Criminal Records Division on the Sheriff’s website. The Parish Council’s public records request form covers parish-government records. The courthouse is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays; in-person payments accept cash or money order.
If someone you know was just booked tonight, our St. Charles Parish inmate-search page has phone-first contact info.
If you need records outside St. Charles Parish
St. Charles Parish’s online records cover only cases filed here. A nationwide search may help surface records from other Louisiana parishes that don’t publish online, federal cases that parish portals never show, or entries under name variants from places you’ve lived outside Louisiana. The preliminary scan is free; a full report requires creating an account.
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How to look up arrest records in St. Charles Parish
Does St. Charles Parish publish arrest records online, or do you need to request them in person? The answer depends on how recent the record is and which system holds it.
The Sheriff’s Criminal Records Division is the county-official source for booking-side arrest records. This is where you go for records generated by the Saint Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office — the agency that runs the parish jail and handles most arrests in the parish. The Sheriff’s website hosts this division’s records page directly. For records requests or questions, call (985) 783-6237 (verify before calling); the Special Services Office operates Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with no off-street parking at that location.
Court-side records — docket entries, case numbers, charges as filed, and dispositions — live with the Saint Charles Parish Clerk of Court, located inside the courthouse at 15045 River Road, Hahnville, LA 70057. The courthouse main line is (985) 783-5000. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Plan for lines — the facility can be busy, and phone lines are sometimes difficult to reach, so an in-person visit is often more reliable. Bring only your ID and essential documents; phones, purses, and electronics are not permitted inside. Parking is available on site.
St. Charles Parish does not operate a single searchable online case portal for trial-court records. Louisiana has no statewide trial-court search tool; each parish maintains its own records. For older, paper-era records predating any digital system, you will need to submit a written public records request. Use the St. Charles Parish public records request form on the parish website. The cutoff between digitally accessible and paper-only records is not published online — ask the Clerk of Court when you call or visit.
If the person was transferred to state custody after sentencing, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections maintains a separate inmate lookup. That tool covers state prison placements, not parish jail bookings.
St. Charles Parish also has elected constables who serve civil process and may hold records related to justice-of-the-peace courts. The St. Charles Parish constables directory lists precinct contacts. Traffic warrant matters handled by justices of the peace fall under a separate statutory framework; the Louisiana Legislature publishes relevant authority documents through its official records system.
Are St. Charles Parish arrest records public?
Arrest records in St. Charles Parish are public records by default. Louisiana’s open-records framework, codified at La. R.S. 44:1, establishes that records held by public bodies — including law-enforcement agencies and courts — are presumptively open to any person who requests them. An arrest record is not the same as a conviction record, though both are public.
Booking records are generated by the Sheriff’s Office at the time of arrest. They document the fact of the arrest, the charges alleged, and the booking details. Conviction records are maintained by the Clerk of Court and reflect what happened after the case moved through the District Court — whether charges were dismissed, reduced, or resulted in a guilty plea or verdict. A person can have an arrest record with no corresponding conviction if the case was refused by the prosecutor, dismissed, or resolved in acquittal.
Sealed and expunged records are the primary exception to the default-public rule. Once a court grants an expungement under Louisiana law, the record is removed from public view. Law enforcement retains access, but the general public — and most background-check databases — does not. Juvenile records carry additional protections and are generally not accessible through the same channels as adult arrest records. Victim-identifying information may also be redacted from records involving certain offenses before release to the public.
Requesting a record under La. R.S. 44:1 does not require you to state a reason. Submit your request to the Sheriff’s Criminal Records Division or the Clerk of Court depending on which record type you need. The agency has three business days to respond, though complex requests may take longer.
What’s in a St. Charles Parish arrest record?
A St. Charles Parish booking record typically contains six to eight distinct data fields that together identify the person and the alleged offense.
On the Sheriff’s side — the booking entry — you will generally see the subject’s full legal name, date of birth, booking date and time, booking number, the charge or charges as entered at booking (usually the statute citation and a short description), and the arresting agency. The booking number is the Sheriff’s internal identifier for that specific arrest event. Physical descriptors such as height, weight, and race are also standard booking fields. Mugshot policy for St. Charles Parish is not posted on the Sheriff’s website — call the Criminal Records Division to confirm whether booking photos are released with records requests.
On the court side — the docket entry held by the Clerk of Court at the St. Charles Parish Courthouse, 15045 River Road, Hahnville — you will see the case number assigned by the District Court, the charges as formally filed by the prosecutor (which may differ from booking charges), the attorney of record for both sides, and the case disposition if the matter has concluded. Docket entries also show hearing dates, bond amounts set at first appearance, and any motions filed. These fields are separate from the booking record and live in a different system.
The two systems — Sheriff booking records and Clerk of Court docket records — do not always match exactly. A booking charge of “simple burglary” might become a different charge after prosecutorial review, or might be refused entirely. Checking both sources gives you the complete picture of what was alleged and what the court ultimately did with it.
For state-sentenced individuals transferred out of the parish jail, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections inmate lookup at Inmate Information shows current facility placement and sentence information, but not the original booking fields — those remain with the Sheriff.
How to expunge an arrest record in St. Charles Parish
After a case concludes — whether by dismissal, acquittal, or completion of a sentence — Louisiana law provides a path to seal the record from public view through the expungement process governed by La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 971.
Juvenile records have their own sealing procedures, which are typically more accessible than the adult expungement process. If the record you’re working with involves a person who was under 17 at the time of the offense, the juvenile court track applies and the eligibility rules differ from those described below. Confirm the applicable procedure with the Clerk of Court or a licensed attorney.
For adult records, eligibility depends on how the case resolved. An arrest that ended in dismissal, acquittal, or a refusal to prosecute carries no elapsed-time wait — you can petition immediately after the case closes. An arrest that was never prosecuted requires waiting for the prescriptive period to run before filing. A DWI resolved through pretrial diversion carries a five-year wait from the date of arrest before expungement is available.
For convictions, the waiting period runs from the completion of the sentence, probation, or parole — not from the conviction date itself. A misdemeanor conviction requires a five-year wait after sentence completion. A felony conviction requires ten years. A first marijuana-possession conviction is eligible after ninety days. These are the periods set by Louisiana law; the statute itself is the controlling authority, and you should confirm current requirements with the Clerk of Court or an attorney.
To petition for expungement in St. Charles Parish, file a Petition to Expunge with the District Court through the Saint Charles Parish Clerk of Court at 15045 River Road, Hahnville, LA 70057. The courthouse main line is (985) 783-5000. Filing fees apply; ask the Clerk about the current fee schedule and whether an indigency waiver is available if cost is a barrier.
You can file the petition yourself without an attorney. The Louisiana State Bar Association’s attorney finder can connect you with a licensed attorney if you want legal assistance. The Louisiana State Public Defender may also be able to assist in qualifying cases.
After a successful expungement, the record is removed from public access. Law enforcement agencies retain the ability to see the sealed record. Most civilian background-check databases will no longer show it, though the timing of database updates varies by vendor.
Quick-contacts decision table
| Resource | What it confirms | What it cannot confirm | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office Criminal Records Division | Booking date, booking number, charges at arrest, physical descriptors | Court disposition, case number, attorney of record | Call (985) 783-6237 or visit the Sheriff’s website |
| Saint Charles Parish Clerk of Court — 15045 River Road, Hahnville | Case number, formal charges filed, disposition, attorney of record, bond set | Booking-side fields (booking number, mugshot) | (985) 783-5000 · weekdays 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. |
| St. Charles Parish public records request form | Parish-government records; formal written requests for records not available online | Real-time booking data; court docket entries | Submit form online; allow processing time |
| the state prison inmate locator | State prison placement, sentence information for DOC-sentenced individuals | Parish jail bookings; pre-sentencing records | Search by name at doc.la.gov |
| St. Charles Parish constables directory | Justice-of-the-peace court contacts; civil process service | Sheriff’s Office or District Court records | Contact the relevant precinct constable directly |
| Nationwide third-party search | May surface records from other states, federal cases, or parishes without online portals | Completeness not guaranteed; may lag official sources | Use as a supplemental check after official sources |
Sources verified 2026-08-31:
- St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office — Criminal Records Division: county-official source for booking records and criminal records requests.
- St. Charles Parish public records request form: official parish-government portal for written records requests under La. R.S. 44:1.
- St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office — official website: main Sheriff’s Office contact and services page.
- St. Charles Parish constables directory: precinct contacts for justice-of-the-peace court matters and civil process.
- the state corrections inmate search: state-level inmate lookup for DOC-sentenced individuals.
- Louisiana DOC facility locations: directory of state correctional facilities by parish.
- the state bar lawyer directory: locate a licensed Louisiana attorney for expungement assistance.
- Louisiana State Public Defender: public defender locator for qualifying cases.
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Frequently asked questions about St. Charles Parish arrest records
How do I visit or contact the right office to get a St. Charles Parish arrest record?
Booking-side records come from the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office Criminal Records Division. Court-side records — case numbers, formal charges, and dispositions — come from the Clerk of Court at the St. Charles Parish Courthouse, 15045 River Road, Hahnville, LA 70057, reachable at (985) 783-5000. The courthouse is open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Plan for wait times; phones can be difficult to reach, so an in-person visit is often more reliable. Leave phones and electronics in your car — they are not permitted inside the building.
How do I get a St. Charles Parish arrest record expunged?
File a Petition to Expunge with the District Court through the Clerk of Court at 15045 River Road, Hahnville. Louisiana law (La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 971) sets the eligibility rules: arrests ending in dismissal or acquittal can be petitioned immediately; misdemeanor convictions require five years after sentence completion; felony convictions require ten years. A first marijuana-possession conviction is eligible after ninety days. You can self-petition or work with an attorney — the Louisiana State Bar Association’s attorney finder can help you locate one. Ask the Clerk about the current filing fee and whether an indigency waiver applies to your situation.
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