Tensas Parish Booking Reports
Tensas Parish booking reports are kept by Sheriff Rickey A. Jones and the Sheriff's Office in St. Joseph. This is one of the smallest parishes in Louisiana by population, located in the northeast part of the state. The Tensas Parish Detention Center in Waterproof handles all jail bookings. When someone is arrested here, a booking report gets created that logs the charges and personal info. You can look up booking records by calling the jail or the Sheriff's Office. The Clerk of Court also offers criminal background searches for a fee.
Tensas Parish Quick Facts
Tensas Parish Sheriff's Office Arrest Records
Sheriff Rickey A. Jones runs the Tensas Parish Sheriff's Office. You can reach the office at (318) 766-3499. The fax number is (318) 766-3498. The sheriff handles law enforcement across the entire parish, which covers a rural stretch of land along the Mississippi River in northeastern Louisiana.
The Tensas Parish Detention Center is the jail where all bookings take place. It sits at 8606 Highway 65 in Waterproof. You can call the jail directly at (318) 749-5810 or send a fax to (318) 749-5811. When someone gets arrested in Tensas Parish, they are brought to this facility for processing. Jail staff take their photo, record the charges, and create a booking report. Under Article 228 of the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure, every arrest must lead to a prompt booking, and that booking data must stay open for public inspection.
The Louisiana Department of Corrections also keeps a page with information about Tensas Parish facilities. You can view it at the DOC Tensas Parish page. The screenshot below shows that page.
The DOC page lists the jail address, phone number, and the sheriff's contact details. It serves as a quick reference for anyone trying to reach the detention center.
| Sheriff's Office |
P.O. Box 138 St. Joseph, LA 71366 Phone: (318) 766-3499 |
|---|---|
| Detention Center |
8606 Highway 65 Waterproof, LA 71375 Phone: (318) 749-5810 |
| Clerk of Court |
P.O. Box 78 St. Joseph, LA 71366 Phone: (318) 766-3921 |
Tensas Parish Criminal Background Searches
The Tensas Parish Clerk of Court runs a criminal department that does background searches. The fee is $20 per name. You can request a search in person at the clerk's office in St. Joseph or check their website at tensasclerk.org/criminal.php for details on how to submit a request. This is a local option that covers arrests and cases filed in Tensas Parish.
The screenshot below shows the Tensas Parish Clerk of Court criminal department page where background search info is posted.
This search is different from a booking report lookup. A criminal background search through the clerk covers case filings and court outcomes, while a booking report shows the arrest and jail intake data. Both types of records are useful, but they come from different offices. For booking reports, call the jail. For court case history, contact the clerk.
Tensas Parish Booking Report Expungement
If you want to clear a booking report or arrest record from your file in Tensas Parish, you need to go through the expungement process. This is not cheap or fast. You must file a separate request for each arrest you want removed. The costs add up quickly because you pay several offices at once.
The fees at the time of filing are:
- Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information: $250
- Tensas Parish Clerk of Court: $200
- Tensas Parish Sheriff's Office: $50
- Tensas Parish District Attorney's Office: $50
- If the charge was DWI, add $50 for the Department of Public Safety
All payments must be separate money orders. The clerk will not accept a single payment for the full amount. Each office gets its own money order. These fees are not refundable, even if the court denies the request. You should expect the whole process to take about six months from start to finish. That timeline assumes no delays or problems with your paperwork.
Note: You must file a separate expungement petition for each arrest on your record.
Louisiana Law and Tensas Parish Records
Tensas Parish booking reports fall under the same state laws that govern all 64 parishes. The Louisiana Public Records Act under RS 44:1 makes booking records open to the public. You have a right to ask for this data, and the sheriff's office must respond. RS 44:3 has some limits for law enforcement files, but booking logs and police log books stay public.
Full criminal histories are restricted. Under RS 15:587, Louisiana is a closed record state. Only authorized agencies can access the state criminal history database run by the Louisiana State Police. If you need a state-level background check, the fee is $31 through the LSP Internet Background Check portal. The local $20 search through the Tensas Parish Clerk only covers local cases.
For people in state custody, the DPS&C offender information page lets you search through LAVNS. Under RS 15:574.12, most prison records are private, but basic info like age, offense, and sentence length is public. You can also use VINELink or call (225) 383-4580 to check on a person's custody status.
Communities in Tensas Parish
Tensas Parish has a few small towns. St. Joseph is the parish seat and where the sheriff and clerk offices are based. Waterproof is home to the detention center. Newellton is another community in the parish. There are no large cities here. All arrests in these areas result in booking reports held at the Tensas Parish Detention Center.
Nearby Parishes
These parishes are near Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana. If an arrest happened near a parish border, you should check with the correct sheriff's office for the booking report.