St. James Parish Booking Reports
St. James Parish booking reports are held by the Sheriff's Office in Convent, a small parish along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Sheriff Willy J. Martin Jr. runs the office, which operates a 171-bed parish prison. When someone gets arrested in St. James Parish, they are processed at this facility. You can search for booking reports by calling the Sheriff's Office or visiting the office in person. These records include the charges, arrest dates, and personal details about each person booked into the jail.
St. James Parish Quick Facts
St. James Parish Sheriff's Office Booking Records
The St. James Parish Sheriff's Office is at 5800 Louisiana Highway 44 in Convent. Sheriff Willy J. Martin Jr. leads the agency. The office handles all law enforcement duties in the parish, including arrests, jail operations, and booking record management. Call (225) 562-2200 to ask about booking reports or to check if someone is in custody.
St. James Parish runs a 171-bed prison where all bookings take place. That makes it a mid-size facility for a parish of about 21,000 people. When someone is brought in after an arrest, the jail staff record their name, date of birth, charges, and the time they were booked. This creates the booking report. The prison also houses inmates from other parishes at times, which is common in Louisiana where smaller jails share resources with nearby areas.
Under Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 228, every officer who makes an arrest must book the person promptly. The booking data must stay open for public inspection. This law applies in St. James Parish just like it does in every other parish across the state.
You can check the DPS&C St. James Parish page to see state-level custody info. The screenshot below shows the state page for St. James Parish.
This page is part of the DPS&C system that tracks people in state custody from all 64 parishes.
| Sheriff's Office |
5800 Louisiana Highway 44 Convent, LA 70723 Phone: (225) 562-2200 |
|---|---|
| Parish Prison |
Convent, LA 70723 (171-bed facility) Phone: (225) 562-2200 |
| Clerk of Court |
Convent, LA 70723 Phone: (225) 562-2270 |
How to Search St. James Parish Booking Reports
The best way to search for booking reports in St. James Parish is to call the Sheriff's Office at (225) 562-2200. Provide the person's name and date of birth. Staff can check whether there is a booking record on file. You can also go in person to the office on Highway 44 in Convent.
Louisiana's Public Records Act under RS 44:1 makes booking records public. Anyone can ask for them. RS 44:3 has some limits for law enforcement files, but booking logs and jail records stay open. Submit a written request and the office must respond within three business days.
The state also has the LAVNS VineLink system. You can search for people in state custody by name or ID number. This tool updates daily and covers state prisons as well as people on probation or parole. It is free to use and available around the clock.
Note: St. James Parish does not have a public online booking roster, so calling the Sheriff's Office is the most direct way to get local booking data.
St. James Parish Arrest Record Details
Arrest records in St. James Parish are created when someone is processed into the parish prison. Each record holds the person's name, age, charges, the arresting agency, and bond info if a bond is set. This is different from a full criminal history. Louisiana is a closed record state for criminal histories under RS 15:587. Only authorized agencies can see those files. But basic arrest and booking data remains public.
A typical booking report from St. James Parish includes:
- Full name and known aliases
- Date of birth and physical description
- Arrest date, time, and location
- Charges filed at booking
- Arresting officer and agency
- Bond amount and type if set
Under Article 228, these booking records must be open for public inspection. That rule holds in every parish in Louisiana. People use booking reports to check on family members, to confirm charges, or to stay informed about arrests in their area. The 171-bed prison in St. James Parish processes all local arrests, so that is where all booking records originate.
Booking Reports and Louisiana Law in St. James Parish
Several state laws control how booking reports work in St. James Parish. RS 44:1, the Public Records Act, says all records kept by a public body are open. Booking logs are public records. RS 44:3 gives law enforcement some exceptions, but booking records stay in the open category.
Once someone transfers from the St. James Parish prison to a state facility, RS 15:574.12 kicks in. That law makes most prison records confidential. Only the person's age, offense, conviction date, sentence length, and misconduct while in custody stay public. You can request these limited records from the DPS&C public information office. Email docpublicrecords@la.gov or send mail to P.O. Box 94304 in Baton Rouge.
For background checks, the LSP BCII office handles those. The fee is $31. These checks are only for authorized agencies and specific uses, not for personal curiosity. The LSP FAQ explains all the rules about who can request a background check and what it covers.
Communities in St. James Parish
St. James Parish stretches along both sides of the Mississippi River. Convent is the parish seat. Other communities include Lutcher, Gramercy, Vacherie, and Welcome. All arrests in these areas go through the St. James Parish Sheriff's Office, and booking reports are kept at the parish prison in Convent.
Nearby Parishes
These parishes border St. James Parish. If you need booking records from a nearby area, contact the right parish sheriff's office. Where the arrest happened determines which office handles the booking.