Arrest Records for St. Landry Parish, Louisiana

Arrest records in St. Landry Parish flow through two distinct systems: the St. Landry Parish Clerk of Court, located at 118 S. Court St. in Opelousas and reachable at 337-942-5606, holds the court-side docket for felony and misdemeanor cases filed in the 27th Judicial District Court. The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office maintains the booking-side records — arrest reports, booking photos, and jail logs — separately. No single online portal covers both systems for this parish; a complete check typically requires contacting both offices. Arrive early at the Saint Landry Parish Courthouse, as parking in the surrounding area fills up, and note that certain transactions there are cash only.

If someone you know was just booked tonight, our St. Landry Parish inmate-search page has phone-first contact info.

Searching for records beyond Louisiana

A St. Landry Parish records check covers only cases filed here. If the person you’re researching has lived in Evangeline, Acadia, or St. Martin Parish — or in other states — those records won’t appear in any local portal. A nationwide search tool may help surface records from other parishes or states that local systems can’t reach, including cases that predate online filing windows or were filed under a prior name.

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How to look up arrest records in St. Landry Parish

Under Louisiana’s open-records framework, arrest records created by St. Landry Parish agencies became public documents the moment they were generated — meaning you have a legal right to request them today, not after a waiting period. That right, established by La. R.S. 44:1, applies to booking records held by the Sheriff and to court filings held by the Clerk of Court. The practical path depends on which piece of the record you need.

Clerk of Court — court docket records. The St. Landry Parish Clerk of Court at 118 S. Court St., Opelousas, LA 70570, holds the official case files for the 27th Judicial District Court. This includes felony charges, misdemeanor charges, arraignment dates, plea entries, and dispositions. Call the Clerk at 337-942-5606 to confirm current records-request fees and weekday office hours before visiting. The Louisiana Department of Health’s directory entry for the St. Landry Parish Clerk of Court provides contact details. Note that St. Landry Parish does not currently offer a public online case-search portal — you’ll need to request records in person or by mail. The courthouse is a large building; staff can assist with directions once inside. Caps and food are not permitted inside the building, and phones must be silenced.

Sheriff’s Office — booking records. The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office maintains arrest reports and booking records generated at the parish jail. These are separate from the Clerk’s court files and may include booking date, charges at the time of arrest, and the arresting agency. Contact the Sheriff’s Office directly to request copies — the office does not publish an online booking log. Confirm contact details and any applicable fees before submitting a written request.

Louisiana State Police background checks. For a statewide criminal history record, the Louisiana State Police processes name-based and fingerprint-based background checks. A name-based check may surface St. Landry Parish convictions that were reported to the state repository, but it won’t capture arrests that didn’t result in conviction unless those records were separately submitted. The LSP background-check service is the appropriate path when you need a certified statewide record rather than a parish-specific document.

Louisiana DOC — state prison records. If a case resulted in a state prison sentence, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections inmate lookup can confirm current custody status and facility assignment. The DOC tracks state-sentenced individuals; parish jail detainees are tracked separately by the Sheriff.

A practical note on the Clerk’s office: forms for certain documents are available at a table outside the office before you enter, so you can complete paperwork before reaching the counter. Confirm numbers and hours before visiting or calling, as office schedules can change.

Are St. Landry Parish arrest records public?

“All books, records, writings, accounts, letters and letter books, maps, drawings, photographs, cards, tapes, recordings, memoranda, and papers” held by public bodies are presumed open — that’s the operative language of Louisiana’s Public Records Law, La. R.S. 44:1, and it covers arrest records generated by the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office and the 27th Judicial District Court alike. The default is disclosure, not restriction.

Sealed records are the primary exception. Once a court grants an expungement order under La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 971, the record is removed from public view. The Clerk of Court and the Sheriff are both required to restrict access to sealed records. A sealed record does not appear in response to a public-records request, and the agencies are generally prohibited from confirming its existence to the public. Law enforcement agencies, however, retain access to sealed records for their own purposes.

Juvenile records carry a separate, stronger protection. Proceedings in the St. Landry Parish Juvenile Court are confidential by statute, and juvenile arrest records are not accessible through the same public-records channels as adult records.

Victim-protection redactions apply in certain cases. Records involving domestic violence, sexual assault, or child abuse may have identifying information about victims redacted before release, even when the underlying arrest record is otherwise public.

Pending charges present a nuance worth knowing. An arrest record is public even before a case is resolved — the arrest itself is a public act. A not-guilty verdict or a dismissal does not automatically seal the record. The person must separately petition for expungement to remove the record from public access. Until that petition is granted and the order is entered, the arrest remains visible to anyone who requests it from the Clerk or the Sheriff.

What’s in a St. Landry Parish arrest record?

Booking paperwork and court docket entries tell different parts of the same story — and they live in different offices. Understanding which fields appear where helps you know exactly what to request and from whom.

Sheriff-side booking record. When someone is arrested and brought to the St. Landry Parish jail, the Sheriff’s Office creates a booking entry. That entry typically includes: full legal name and date of birth, booking date and time, the charges as stated at arrest (which may differ from what the District Attorney later files), the arresting agency, and a booking number. A booking photo is also generated at this stage. Whether the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office releases booking photos on request or publishes them online is not posted publicly — call the Sheriff’s Office to confirm the current mugshot release policy before making a specific request.

Clerk-side court record. Once the District Attorney files charges in the 27th Judicial District Court, the case moves to the St. Landry Parish Clerk of Court’s docket. The court record adds: the case number assigned by the Clerk, the formal charge or charges as filed (which controls the legal proceeding, not the booking charge), arraignment date, attorney of record for the defense, prosecuting assistant district attorney, all hearing dates and continuances, bond amount and conditions, and the final disposition — guilty plea, verdict, dismissal, or nolle prosequi. Disposition data is the most important field for a records-checker trying to understand the outcome of a case, and it lives exclusively in the court file, not the booking record.

A practical gap: the booking record and the court record are not automatically linked in a single searchable system for St. Landry Parish. You may find a booking entry at the Sheriff with no corresponding court case (if charges were refused or the case was diverted), or a court case with a booking number that requires a separate Sheriff’s request to retrieve the full arrest report. Plan to contact both offices if you need the complete picture. The Saint Landry Parish Courthouse at the S. Court St. address is where both the Clerk’s office and the District Court are located.

How to expunge an arrest record in St. Landry Parish

Does the arrest you’re researching qualify to be sealed — and if so, how long does the process take? The answer depends almost entirely on how the case ended.

Non-conviction cases: no waiting period. An arrest that ended in dismissal, acquittal, or a refusal to prosecute by the District Attorney is typically eligible for expungement without any elapsed-time requirement. This is the most straightforward path under La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 971. You do not have to wait years after a dismissal — you can petition as soon as the case is closed. An arrest that was never prosecuted at all is slightly different: you must wait for the applicable prescriptive period to run before petitioning. One exception applies to DWI cases resolved through pretrial diversion — even though no conviction results, a five-year wait from the date of arrest is required before the record can be sealed.

Post-conviction cases: waiting periods apply. A misdemeanor conviction becomes eligible for expungement five years after completion of the sentence, probation, or parole — whichever ends last. A felony conviction requires ten years from that same endpoint. These waiting periods are the controlling timing rule; the statute sets no limit on how many times a misdemeanor record may be expunged. A first marijuana-possession conviction has a shorter path: ninety days after completion of sentence.

Filing the petition. Expungement petitions under the same statute are filed at the District Court through the Clerk of Court — in St. Landry Parish, that means the 27th Judicial District Court Clerk at 118 S. Court St., Opelousas. The petition must name all agencies that hold the record (typically the Sheriff and the Clerk), and copies must be served on the District Attorney’s office and the arresting agency. Call the Clerk at 337-942-5606 to ask about the current filing fee and whether a fee-waiver form is available for indigent petitioners.

Self-petition vs. attorney-assisted. Louisiana law does not require an attorney to file an expungement petition — you can file pro se. The Louisiana State Bar Association’s attorney locator and the Louisiana Public Defender office can connect you with legal help if you want assistance navigating the process. Attorney assistance is particularly useful when the case involved multiple charges, a felony, or when the District Attorney is likely to object.

What sealing actually does. After the court grants the order, the record is removed from public access. The Clerk of Court and the Sheriff are required to restrict it. The public — including anyone running a records check through the Clerk’s office — will not see it. Law enforcement agencies retain access for their own purposes. The record is not destroyed; it is sealed. Two narrower rules apply to specific dismissal mechanisms: an article 894 DWI dismissal is available only once in a ten-year period, and an article 893 felony dismissal is available only twice in a lifetime — but those are set-aside rules, separate from the expungement timing rules above.

Quick-contacts table

Frequently asked questions about St. Landry Parish arrest records

How do I find out what’s on my St. Landry Parish arrest record?

You have two places to check. The St. Landry Parish Clerk of Court at 118 S. Court St., Opelousas — reachable at 337-942-5606 — holds the court-side docket for any charges filed in the 27th Judicial District Court, including dispositions. The St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office holds the booking-side records: arrest reports, booking date, and charges at the time of arrest. Because these are separate systems, a complete picture of your own record requires contacting both offices. For a statewide view that may include cases from other parishes, the Louisiana State Police processes name-based criminal history requests. If you want to verify what appears in other states where you’ve lived, a nationwide third-party search may help surface records that parish portals don’t cover.

Can I get a St. Landry Parish arrest record expunged, and how long does it take?

Eligibility depends on how the case ended. An arrest that was dismissed, resulted in acquittal, or was refused by the District Attorney can typically be petitioned for expungement under La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 971 without any waiting period — the case just needs to be closed. A misdemeanor conviction requires five years from the end of sentence, probation, or parole. A felony conviction requires ten years from that same endpoint. A first marijuana-possession conviction qualifies after ninety days. File the petition at the 27th Judicial District Court through the Clerk of Court at 118 S. Court St. — call 337-942-5606 to confirm the current filing fee and ask about an indigency waiver if cost is a concern. You can file without an attorney, but the Louisiana State Bar Association attorney locator can connect you with legal help if you want it. After the court grants the order, the record is removed from public access — law enforcement retains access, but the general public does not.