Ouachita Parish Arrest Records

Arrests in Ouachita Parish occur when a person is suspected of having committed a crime or is caught in the act of committing a crime. A person must be restrained for an arrest to occur. The arresting officer may use force to enforce the constraint, or the arrestee may submit to the arresting officer's control. Arrests are only lawful if there is an outstanding warrant for a person's arrest or the arrest does not need one and complies with Art—213 of the Louisiana legislature.

Per the Louisiana Legislature's Article 228, Every law enforcement officer who makes an arrest or has someone in their custody must take the suspect to the closest jail or police station to be booked. Arrestees are booked when their name, offense, mugshot, and related information are entered into the law enforcement databases. This data is entered into a document known as a booking information summary. After being verified for accuracy, the summary is added to the criminal record of the arrested person as an arrest record.

Arrest records help law enforcement and the judiciary track a person's interaction with law enforcement. Even though arrest records do not give complete information about a person's criminal history, they can measure a person's indulgence in criminal activity. Arrest records also play an essential role in judiciary processes as they can be used as evidence in a trial, lawsuit, or hearing. Consequently, they may also be managed as part of Ouachita Parish Court Records.

Are Arrest Records Public in Ouachita Parish?

Yes. Arrest records in Ouachita Parish are public records per the Louisiana public records law. Under this law, no person can be denied access to arrest records unless a court order or state statute exempts that specific record from public disclosure. Therefore, arrest record custodians create channels to accept and process public record requests for Ouachita arrest records.

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

An Ouachita Parish arrest record that has been made public typically contains the following information per the Code of Criminal Procedure Article 228:

• The arrestee's full legal name, if it is known.
• The charges that led to the arrest and the name of the officer who made the arrest.
• A summary of the circumstances or facts that led to the defendant's arrest.
• The identities of every other person detained due to the same incidents or circumstances.
• The time, date and location of the alleged offense.

Ouachita Parish Arrest Statistics

The latest data from the FBI's Crime Data Explorer portal shows that the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office made 2262 arrests in 2022. Information on the portal showed that the most arrests were for drug possession offenses (642), constituting 28% of the arrests made for the year. Simple assault(334) comprised 15% of the arrests made in the Parish.

Some other prevalent crimes that led to arrests were theft (205) and aggravated assault (223), which made up 9% and 10%, respectively, of the total number of arrests. The least number of arrests was for murder and arson, with 1 and 4 arrests made, respectively.

Find Ouachita Parish Arrest Records

Individuals seeking Ouachita Parish arrest records may visit the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office. At the office, inquirers will be directed to the Records Division, where they may make a verbal or written request for arrest records. The records division maintains Ouachita Parish records in paper and electronic formats. To search their records, staff at the records division will need the name of a person of interest, the person's date of birth, or last known address. Requesters also have the option to have the records sent to their email. Inquirers may also find Ouachita parish arrest records by requesting the records department of the Parish sheriff's office through mail or by calling the division's office at (318) 324-2630. Mail requests should be addressed thus:

Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office
400 St. John St.
Monroe, LA 71201
(318) 329-1200

Interested persons may also peruse the public booking logs at the Parish Sheriff's office to find recently arrested persons. The logs are especially useful for obtaining information about the incident that led to an arrest. Inquiries about inmates held at the Parish jail can be made online through a third-party portal on the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office website. Inmate information can be searched using the name of a person who has been detained. Arrests can also be made by state and federal law enforcement agencies located in Ouachita Parish. Persons who are looking for inmates and records held by such agencies have the following options:

• Information on arrests made by an agency can be obtained by making a public records request to the arresting agency. For example, if the Louisiana State Police arrests an individual in Ouachita Parish, information about the arrest can be obtained online by making a public records request to the state police office.
• Inmate information statewide can also be found online by contacting the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
• When the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) makes an arrest, the subject is usually detained in federal custody until their arraignment. The FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS) keeps a nationwide database of information based on the fingerprints of those arrested up to date. Persons who contact the division may obtain information about persons who have been arrested. If someone is looking for an inmate's holding facility, they can also search the Federal Inmate Locator by name or number.

Free Arrest Record Search in Ouachita Parish

Arrest records can be obtained at minimal cost from the Ouachita Parish sheriff's office. In some instances, the police department can waive photocopy costs if the requester can prove that they cannot pay.

Inquirers may also obtain free arrest records through third-party sites. These are privately owned websites that provide access to public records. They offer access to incident reports, crash reports, and arrest reports from many counties in Louisiana, including Ouachita Parish. However, free-to-use third-party sites might offer limited arrest information.

Get Ouachita Parish Criminal Records

According to the Louisiana Legislature §133.7, a "Criminal history record" or "criminal history record information" is information gathered individually by criminal justice agencies. It includes identifiable descriptions and notes of arrests, detentions, indictments, bills of information, formal criminal charges, and any subsequent dispositions such as release, sentencing, or correctional supervision.

Inquirers may obtain Ouachita Parish criminal records and information from the Bureau of Criminal Identification of the Louisiana state police. The department's electronic systems are used to request criminal records. The Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information – Louisiana Criminal Justice Information Services (BCII-LCJIS), which houses the state of Louisiana's criminal history, is responsible for maintaining the Louisiana Computerized Criminal History (LACCH) system. Arrests, arrest dispositions, bookings for probation and parole, and information on incarcerations for people arrested in Louisiana are all contained in LACCH.

In compliance with the Louisiana Revised Statute (LRS) 15:587, Louisiana is a closed record state, and BCII-LCJIS records cannot be made public. This means that only legally permitted agencies within the criminal justice and non-criminal justice sectors, as specified by LRS 15:587, have access to criminal history information. Law enforcement, the courts, prisons, employers, and permitting bodies are some of these agencies. However, under Louisiana Revised Statute 15:588, inquirers have the "Right to Review," which allows them to acquire a certified copy of their criminal history information record.

Inquirers can obtain their criminal records by visiting any Ouaticha Parish law enforcement agency to utilize fingerprint technology. Applicants for the Right to Review Process may use online fingerprinting, in-person appointment scheduling, and payment. Utilize the fingerprint card received from the department to send a letter requesting criminal records from the bureau. The cost of a criminal record search in Louisiana is $26

Ouachita Parish Arrest Records Vs. Criminal Records

An Ouachita parish arrest record is a document that describes an individual's arrest and detention. An arrest means there is reasonable cause to assume a person was involved in a criminal action; it does not imply guilt. Most arrest records merely state that the subject was taken into custody and did not provide details on the case's result. On the other hand, if the defendant is found not guilty, their criminal record will not reflect a conviction. Instead, all that will be on file for them is an arrest record. Most of the time, an arrest record used in a trial will state that the subject was found not guilty of the charges that led to the arrest.

On the other hand, a criminal record is a comprehensive compilation of data regarding an individual's interactions with the legal system and law enforcement. It may contain interactions with courts and law enforcement, arrests, detentions, convictions, and dispositions. The main distinction is that arrest records do not include information regarding convictions and dispositions, whereas criminal records do.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

Forever, arrest records in Ouachita parish remain on a person's records permanently if steps are not taken to have them erased or settled. There is currently no automatic expungement statute in Louisiana; thus, when a person is arrested, the records remain on record until the subject of the records gets approval to have the records expunged. However, arrest records are disposed of 10 years after the death of an individual per the Ouachita Parish criminal records retention schedule.

Ouachita Parish Arrest Warrants

An Ouachita Parish arrest warrant is a legal instrument that grants law enforcement the authority to locate, detain, and compel a suspect to appear before a court. A judge issues an arrest warrant after hearing testimony from police officers indicating that they believe a person has broken the law.

Per Art. 202 of the Louisiana legislature, a warrant is issued when a person files a complaint in an affidavit stating that a criminal act has occurred. The complaint must also include the incident's nature, date, location, and the offender's name and surname, if known. Before a warrant is issued, the petitioner must sign the affidavit and ensure it satisfies all constitutional requirements. The testimony and other evidence are presented to a magistrate who will, in turn, determine that there is probable cause.

According to Louisiana State Legislature Article 203, an Ouachita arrest warrant needs to have the following details:

• It needs to be in writing and issued in the state's name.
• Indicate the date of issuance.
• The warrant must show that it was issued in Ouachita Parish
• The warrant must provide the name of the person to be arrested, identify the person by any name or description that will allow law enforcement to identify them with reasonable certainty;
• Indicate the offense for which the subject of the arrest is accused;
• Order the arrest and booking of the individual who is the subject of the complaint and
• Bear the magistrate's signature together with their official title.

Ouachita Parish Arrest Warrant Search

An Ouachita Parish arrest warrant search can be performed in person or online at the local Parish sheriff's office. Requesters will need to provide a valid ID to prove their identity at the office. They can also request a list of wanted persons online from the Parish sheriff's website. Alternatively, inquirers may look through the Parish courts' dockets for warrants issued by the court system. Typically, an online docket search only needs a name or case number.

Do Ouachita Parish Arrest Warrants Expire?

In Ouachita Parish, arrest warrants typically do not expire. Arrest warrants, particularly felony ones, remain active until they are executed (by arresting the individual) or recalled by the court. This is the case unless specific statutory limitations or legal actions are taken to dismiss or quash the warrant. However, depending on the nature of the offense, some misdemeanor warrants may be subject to statutes of limitations.