When you need to look up an arrest record in Union Parish, the records split across two systems: court filings held by the Union Parish Clerk of Court and booking records held by the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office at 710 Holder Rd, Farmerville, LA 71241. The Sheriff’s Office can be reached at (318) 368-3124 during normal business hours. The Clerk of Court’s contact information and records access are listed through the Louisiana Department of Health directory at Union Parish Clerk of Court. Court hours in Farmerville run 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; street parking around the courthouse area is limited to on-street spaces.
If someone you know was just booked tonight, our Union Parish inmate-search page has phone-first contact info.
Searching for records beyond Louisiana
Union Parish’s online court records cover cases filed within the parish, but arrests that pre-date the portal’s online window may not appear in any local search. A nationwide database search may help surface older records or cases filed in other states under the same name.
Running a preliminary scan through a multi-state database can flag name variants and records from parishes or states where the person previously lived. The preliminary scan is free; a full report requires creating an account.
Use this as one source among several, not a substitute for the official Clerk or Sheriff records described below.
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This tool is not a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA and may not be used to screen anyone for employment, housing, credit, or any other purpose covered by that law.
How to look up arrest records in Union Parish
“Public records shall be open to inspection, copying, or reproduction by any person” — that is the operative language of Louisiana’s open-records framework, and it means Union Parish arrest records are available to you without showing cause. The practical question is which office holds the record you need and what it costs to get it.
Clerk of Court — court-side records. The Union Parish Clerk of Court maintains the official docket for the 3rd Judicial District Court, which covers Union Parish. Felony and misdemeanor case filings, charge descriptions, dispositions, and attorney-of-record information all live here. The Clerk’s office is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The records-request fee is not published online — call to confirm the current per-page copy rate before visiting. Louisiana does not operate a single statewide trial-court portal; Union Parish records are searched at the parish level through the Clerk’s office directly.
Sheriff’s Office — booking-side records. The Union Parish Sheriff’s Office, located at 710 Holder Rd, Farmerville, LA 71241, holds booking records generated at the time of arrest. These are separate from court docket entries and may contain fields the court file does not — booking number, arresting agency, and the initial charge description as written by the arresting officer. Cash payments are accepted during normal business hours; mail payments to the Sheriff’s Office must be submitted as a money order or cashier’s check. Reach the office at (318) 368-3124.
Union Parish Detention Center — custody records. The Union Parish Detention Center, located at 707 Rodeo Circle, Farmerville, LA 71241, is the parish jail. The Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections lists the facility in its statewide directory. If the person you’re researching was held at the parish jail rather than transferred to a state facility, the Detention Center’s records are the booking-side source. Cash deposits to inmate accounts are accepted Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.
DOC inmate lookup — state-sentenced individuals. People sentenced to state prison rather than held at the parish jail are tracked by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. The DOC’s inmate information tool covers individuals in state custody and can confirm current facility placement. Use this when a case resulted in a state sentence rather than a parish-jail stay.
LA VINE — custody-status notifications. The LA VINE roster system (Louisiana Automated Victim Notification System) publishes parish-level custody rosters and allows registered users to receive automated alerts when a person’s custody status changes. This is a notification service, not a court-records search — it confirms current or recent custody, not the full case history.
Are Union Parish arrest records public?
Does an arrest record in Union Parish automatically become public? Yes — with narrow, well-defined exceptions. Under La. R.S. 44:1, Louisiana’s Public Records Law, arrest records are open to inspection by any person. You do not need to be a party to the case, a lawyer, or a journalist. The default is disclosure.
Court filings are public records under that same statute — sealed cases, juvenile records, and victim-protection redactions are the narrow exceptions. A case that was expunged under La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 971 is removed from public view; the Clerk will not confirm its existence to a member of the public after a valid expungement order is entered. Law enforcement agencies retain access to expunged records, but the general public does not.
Juvenile records are handled separately. Cases adjudicated in juvenile court are confidential by default and are not accessible through the same Clerk-of-Court request process that covers adult criminal records.
Arrest records and conviction records are related but separately maintained. An arrest record documents the booking event — the date, the charges as written at the time of arrest, and the booking number. A conviction record reflects what the court ultimately decided: guilty plea, verdict, or dismissal. The conviction record lives in the court docket at the Clerk’s office. The arrest record lives in the Sheriff’s booking system. You may need both to get the complete picture of a case.
Victim-protection redactions can remove identifying information about complaining witnesses from publicly accessible documents. The underlying charge and case number remain visible; the redacted fields vary by case type. If you receive a document with redacted fields, that is normal — it does not mean the record is sealed.
What’s in a Union Parish arrest record?
Six core fields appear on virtually every Union Parish booking record: full legal name, date of birth, booking date, booking number, charge or charges as written at arrest, and arresting agency. Those are the fields you can expect to see in a records request from the Sheriff’s Office.
The booking number is the Sheriff’s internal identifier for that arrest event. It is distinct from the court case number assigned by the Clerk of Court when charges are formally filed. If you are cross-referencing a booking record against a court docket, you will need both numbers — they do not match, and the systems that hold them are independent of each other.
Docket entries at the Union Parish Clerk of Court contain a different set of fields. The court file shows the case number, the formal charge as filed by the prosecutor (which may differ from the arrest charge), the attorney of record for the defense and the state, all hearing dates, and the disposition — guilty plea, not guilty verdict, dismissal, or nolle prosequi. Disposition data is critical if you are checking whether a case was resolved and how.
Booking photos (mugshots) are a separate question. The Union Parish Sheriff’s Office handles mugshot release as a matter of policy; for the current policy on whether booking photos are released on request, contact the Sheriff’s Office directly at (318) 368-3124. The policy is not posted online.
One practical note about the Union Parish Courthouse: the courthouse area in Farmerville has street parking only. If you are visiting the Clerk’s office in person to review records, plan for on-street parking and confirm the Clerk’s hours before driving. The Union Parish Courthouse holds both the Clerk’s office and the 3rd Judicial District courtrooms, so the building can be busy on court days.
How to expunge an arrest record in Union Parish
Petitioning to seal an arrest record in Union Parish is a routine legal procedure governed by La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 971, and the path you take depends on whether the arrest resulted in a conviction or not.
Non-conviction cases — no waiting period required. An arrest that ended in dismissal, acquittal, or a refusal to prosecute is eligible for expungement without any elapsed-time requirement. These cases often move through the process more quickly because the petitioner does not need to demonstrate a clean record over a waiting period. The arrest simply should not have produced a lasting public record, and the statute reflects that. An arrest that was never prosecuted at all is slightly different — you must wait for the prescriptive period to run before filing, because the state technically retains the ability to charge until that period expires.
Post-conviction cases — waiting periods apply. A misdemeanor conviction carries a five-year waiting period, measured from the completion of the sentence, probation, or parole — not from the conviction date itself. A felony conviction carries a ten-year wait measured the same way. A first marijuana-possession conviction is eligible after ninety days. One narrow exception applies to DWI cases resolved through pretrial diversion: even though no conviction resulted, a five-year wait from the date of arrest applies before the record can be expunged.
How to file. The petition is filed at the District Court through the Clerk of Court for Union Parish — the same office that holds the original case file. The Clerk’s office is at the Union Parish Courthouse in Farmerville. The filing fee is set by statute and collected at the Clerk’s counter; call the Clerk to confirm the current amount before filing. An indigency waiver path exists for petitioners who cannot afford the fee — ask the Clerk about the in forma pauperis procedure.
Self-petition vs. attorney-assisted. You can file a petition to expunge your own record without an attorney. The Louisiana State Legislature’s website at Louisiana Laws publishes the current statutory text. For complex cases — multiple charges, prior expungements, or cases involving DWI diversion — an attorney familiar with Union Parish practice is worth consulting. The Louisiana State Bar Association attorney search and the Louisiana Public Defender office are both available if you need legal help.
What remains visible after expungement. Once a court grants the expungement order, the record is removed from public access. The Clerk will not confirm the case to a member of the public. Law enforcement agencies, however, retain access to expunged records — the record does not disappear from law-enforcement databases, only from public view. This distinction matters if you are preparing for a background check in a context where law enforcement access is relevant.
Quick-contacts table
| Resource | What it confirms | What it cannot confirm | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union Parish Clerk of Court | Court case numbers, formal charges, dispositions, attorney of record | Booking details, mugshots, pre-filing arrest data | Visit in person at the Union Parish Courthouse, Farmerville, Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. |
| Union Parish Sheriff’s Office | Booking records, booking number, arresting agency, initial charge description | Court dispositions, expungement status | (318) 368-3124 — 710 Holder Rd, Farmerville, LA 71241; cash accepted during business hours |
| Union Parish Detention Center (DOC listing) | Current and recent parish-jail custody; facility address at 707 Rodeo Circle, Farmerville, LA 71241 | Court case history, charge dispositions | Cross-reference with LA VINE for custody-status alerts |
| LA VINE roster system | Current custody status; automated release notifications | Full case history, charge details, court dispositions | Register at the LA VINE portal to receive custody-change alerts |
| Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections | State-sentenced individuals; facility placement statewide | Parish-jail-only detainees; pre-conviction booking records | Use the DOC inmate information tool for state-custody lookups |
| Nationwide database search | May surface records from other states or cases pre-dating the local portal’s online window | Cannot guarantee completeness; not a substitute for official records | Use as a supplemental check after exhausting official sources |
Sources used for this page, verified 2026-09-01:
- Union Parish Clerk of Court — contact and records-access information for the 3rd Judicial District Court Clerk.
- Union Parish Sheriff’s Office — booking records, payment procedures, and law-enforcement contact at 710 Holder Rd, Farmerville, LA 71241.
- Union Parish Detention Center — Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections — facility listing and custody information for the parish jail at 707 Rodeo Circle, Farmerville, LA 71241.
- LA VINE roster system — Louisiana Automated Victim Notification System; parish-level custody rosters and release alerts.
- Louisiana Automated Victim Information and Notification (LAVINE) — program overview and registration for custody notifications.
- Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections — statewide inmate lookup and facility directory for state-sentenced individuals.
- the bail reform — statutory text relevant to parish jail operations and expungement procedures.
- Louisiana State Bar Association attorney search — find a licensed attorney for expungement or records matters.
- Louisiana Public Defender — public defender locator for those who qualify for appointed counsel.
Errors or outdated information? Report a correction — we review and update within 48 hours.
Frequently asked questions about Union Parish arrest records
What charges show up on a Union Parish arrest record, and what do I do if the information is wrong?
A Union Parish arrest record shows the charges as written by the arresting officer at the time of booking — not necessarily the charges the prosecutor ultimately filed in court. The two can differ. To see the formal charges and the case outcome, request the court docket from the Union Parish Clerk of Court. If a booking record contains an error — wrong name spelling, incorrect charge, or a case that was dismissed but still appears — contact the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office at (318) 368-3124 for booking-side corrections, or the Clerk of Court for court-docket corrections. For a record that should be sealed entirely, the expungement process under La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 971 is the formal remedy.
How do I get a Union Parish arrest record expunged, and how long does the process take?
File a Petition to Expunge at the Union Parish Clerk of Court, located at the Union Parish Courthouse in Farmerville. The eligibility clock depends on how the case resolved: a dismissal or acquittal carries no waiting period; a misdemeanor conviction requires five years from the end of the sentence; a felony conviction requires ten years. Once you file, the court sets a hearing date and notifies the relevant agencies. Processing time varies — call the Clerk’s office to ask about current scheduling. If you need legal help, the Louisiana State Bar Association attorney search can connect you with a licensed attorney in Union Parish.
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