St. Mary Parish Arrest Records

St. Mary Parish arrest records are official documents prepared by law enforcement agencies whenever they make arrests. These legal documents describe the process of arresting and booking people suspected of committing crimes. Local law enforcement agencies in St. Mary Parish, such as the Sheriff’s Office, are responsible for conducting most of the arrests in the parish. However, the Louisiana State Police and federal law enforcement agencies may make arrests there.

Individuals arrested by the Sheriff’s Office are detained at the St. Mary Law Enforcement Center. Similarly, other agencies capable of conducting arrests in the parish have their own detention centers. When arrestees are transferred to court, their arrest records are used to prepare the St. Mary Parish court records generated during their trials.

Are Arrest Records Public in St. Mary Parish?

Yes. Anyone can access St. Mary Parish’s arrest records. The Louisiana Public Records Law instructs record custodians to provide public access to their records, except for records made confidential by court order or state/federal statutes. Therefore, St. Mary Parish arrest records are public records except for:

• Sealed and expunged records
• Juvenile arrest records
• Arrest records, whose release may interfere with ongoing investigations or court cases

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

An arrest record provides helpful information about the apprehension, booking, and detention of an individual. This official document provides the following details:

• Arrestee’s name, age, gender, race, and other identifying information
• Arresting officer’s name and law enforcement agency
• Arrestee’s mugshot
• Arrest charge
• Date, time, and location of arrest
• Detention facility where the arrestee is held

St. Mary Parish Arrest Statistics

Local law enforcement does not provide arrest statistics for St. Mary Parish. The Statistical Analysis Center of the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice (LCLESAC), however, publishes annual crime reports for all parishes in the state. Its 2022 report shows that 1,193 offenses were recorded in St. Mary Parish that year. This figure is likely to correlate with the number of arrests recorded in the parish in the same year.

The LCLESAC also publishes an annual status report on state and local corrections facilities. However, this report does not break down inmate populations by parishes. The St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office, however, mentions the capacity of its jail as 320.

Find St. Mary Parish Arrest Records

St. Mary Parish arrest records can provide the locations of individuals detained in the parish. Persons arrested by local law enforcement can be found by contacting the agencies directly. The St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office publishes an inmate roster that it updates regularly. You can search through this list of arrestees in the Sheriff’s custody. The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections provides a similar tool for locating inmates in state prisons. You can use its Imprisoned Person Locator to search through the populations of prisons all over the state. For those arrested by federal agencies, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) provides its inmate locator tool to anyone searching for inmates of federal prisons.

Free Arrest Record Search in St. Mary Parish

Law enforcement and detention facilities at all levels offer free arrest record search tools for locating detainees in their custody. These tools, mentioned above, are useful for locating and contacting St. Mary Parish arrestees in jail and inmates in prisons. Some third-party websites offering arrest record finder services also provide inmate locator tools. These arrest record search tools can save you time if you are not certain where a St. Mary Parish arrestee is held.

St. Mary Parish Arrest Records Vs. Criminal Records

In St. Mary Parish, an arrest record is a single-purpose law enforcement document serving as an official record of an arrest event in the parish. In contrast, a criminal record is a legal record of an individual’s entire criminal history. A St. Mary Parish criminal record documents the subject’s criminal arrests, charges, trials, sentencing, acquittal, and incarceration. This is the record produced by a background check.

While local law enforcement may be able to provide a St. Mary Parish criminal record, it will be a limited criminal history and only include criminal offenses in which the officers of the local law enforcement interacted with the subject. For a complete criminal record, you should request a background check from the Louisiana State Police (LSP). This agency offers both fingerprint-based background checks and name-based internet criminal history searches. The former will produce a more detailed criminal history but is reserved for approved organizations vetting prospective hires.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

In Louisiana, an arrest will stay on your record forever unless expunged. This conclusion applies to all arrests irrespective of whether they resulted in convictions or dismissal of charges.

Expunge St. Mary Parish Arrest Records

To expunge an arrest record in St. Mary Parish, you must file a petition with the appropriate court in the parish. This requires obtaining the right forms from the court, filing it out, and submitting it along with required documents and filing fees. However, before file this petition, you must confirm that the prescribed waiting period has elapsed.

If the arrest led to a conviction, you must wait 5 years after the completion of your sentence, parole/probation, or deferred adjudication. The waiting period for a felony conviction is 10 years. During these periods, the offender must not be convicted of any crime. However, if you were never prosecuted following the arrest then you must wait:

• 6 months, if the offense is a misdemeanor punishable by only a fine
• 2 years, for a misdemeanor punishable with a fine or incarceration
• 4 years, for a felony not usually punishable with a prison sentence requiring hard labor
• 6 years, for a felony typically punishable by imprisonment with hard labor
• Indefinitely, for a crime punishable by life imprisonment or death penalty

If a St. Mary Parish court grants your expungement petition, you must then send the court order along with the required forms and fees to the parish’s Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney as well as the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information of the LSP.

St. Mary Parish Arrest Warrants

In St. Mary Parish, arrest warrants are official documents signed by judges authorizing officers of the law to apprehend and detain individuals named on the warrants. Law enforcement agencies may prepare affidavits, requesting the arrests of certain individuals, to bring before judges when they are seeking warrants for their arrests. These testimonies must provide probable causes for the proposed arrests before judges could approve them.

A typical St. Mary Parish arrest warrant will include the following details:

• Name of the individual to be arrested
• Reason for the arrest or probable cause
• Authorizing judge’s name and signature
• Court of record where the individual must appear after arrest
• Date and time when the warrant was issued

Do St. Mary Parish Arrest Warrants Expire?

No. A St. Mary Parish arrest warrant does not expire until the subject of the document is apprehended by officers of the law or appears in the court of record. In Louisiana, an arrest warrant is not voided because it is defective. While unfulfilled arrest warrants do not expire, Louisiana does have statute of limitations on offenses. For misdemeanor, this period is up to 2 years while most non-capital felonies may have statute of limitations of up to 4 years. Therefore, while an active warrant may get the subject arrested, they cannot be prosecuted if arrested outside of the time limits specified for the offense stated on their warrant.