Louisiana criminal court records, such as bills of information, minutes, and judgments, are kept by the clerk of court in the parish where the case was prosecuted, and the clerk's office is where you view or copy them. The statewide criminal history kept by the Louisiana State Police is a different record and is closed to the public: you can get a certified copy of your own Louisiana history from the State Police, but the State Police will not release someone else's to you. Neither office offers a single public search covering every parish, and the Louisiana courts overview explains which court hears which kind of case.
Two different kinds of criminal records
People often mean one of two things when they ask for a "criminal record," and in Louisiana they come from different offices.
The court file. District courts have exclusive original jurisdiction over felony cases (Louisiana Constitution art. V, §16), and the clerk of the district court in each parish keeps those case files. A court file shows what was charged, what happened in court, and how the case ended. It is held by the clerk where the case was filed, so a case from the 9th Judicial District Court is requested from the Rapides Parish Clerk of Court, not from the State Police.
The state criminal history. The State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information (BCII) maintains the Louisiana Computerized Criminal History system, which the State Police call "the repository for criminal history for the state of Louisiana." The State Police also say: "Louisiana is a closed record state; therefore, BCII-LCJIS records are not available for release to the public." Release is limited by statute to agencies the law allows. The Public Records Law likewise excepts records collected by BCII, other than the sex offender registry (R.S. 44:3(A)(7)).
That repository does not hold arrests or convictions from other states. When an arrest in it lacks a final disposition, the State Police say the outcome can be obtained from the clerk of court, the district attorney, or the city prosecutor in the parish of conviction. In other words, the parish court file is often the piece that completes the state record.
Police and sheriff records sit in a third place. The Public Records Law does not require law enforcement agencies to disclose some of their files, including records of pending or reasonably anticipated criminal litigation and, before conviction or a guilty plea, arrest records. It does make the initial report of the investigating officer, booking records, summons or citation records, and the filing of a bill of information public (R.S. 44:3(A)(1), (A)(4)(a)).
Finding a criminal case at the parish clerk
Start with the parish where the arrest or prosecution happened. The Louisiana Clerks of Court directory lists every clerk's office. Felonies are always in the district court. Misdemeanors can be elsewhere: the Grant Parish clerk's criminal department page says misdemeanors that occur within city limits there are handled in the municipal courts, and the Natchitoches clerk says Natchitoches City Court hears misdemeanors in Ward 1 while felonies anywhere in the parish go to the 10th Judicial District Court.
Online access varies widely from parish to parish. As described on the clerks' sites in October 2026:
- Rapides. RAPID E-Search, a paid subscription, carries a criminal index from January 1984 and images of bills of information from May 2003. The clerk's Criminal Department handles felony, juvenile, misdemeanor, and traffic filings for the 9th Judicial District Court.
- Natchitoches. Criminal records from January 1, 2007 are on Clerk Connect. The Natchitoches Parish Clerk of Court also takes written requests for criminal searches at $20.00 per name, paid in advance, with copies at $1.00 per page plus $5.00 for certification.
- Avoyelles. The clerk's online land records system says plainly that no criminal information is available on the site and that you must contact the office. See the Avoyelles Parish Clerk of Court page.
- Grant and East Baton Rouge. Both clerks link a Clerk Connect criminal records search from their websites.
eClerks LA, the clerks' statewide portal, does not describe a statewide criminal case search; its free Statewide Portal indexes land, marriage, and civil, family, and probate records. It does offer a free "eClerks Alert" service that it describes as monitoring for land and criminal records.
Expect the clerk to ask what you want rather than why. Under the Public Records Law, the custodian may ask only about your age and identification and may ask questions to clarify the request (R.S. 44:32(A)). Juvenile court records are a clear exception: records of juvenile proceedings, except traffic violations, are confidential (Children's Code art. 412).
Getting your own Louisiana criminal history
A person can request a certified copy of their own Louisiana criminal history, which the State Police call a "Right to Review," under R.S. 15:588. According to the State Police BCII page, you either schedule a fingerprint appointment through the Louisiana Applicant Processing System (LAPS) or mail fingerprint cards with the State Police forms. The same page posts: "Effective December 1, 2024, a $5 technology fee will be added to all background check request in accordance with LA RS 15:587 D(1)." Check the current State Police form for the full cost before you apply.
For expungement filings, the State Police note that "some agencies may require both the criminal history report and printed fingerprint cards." If your State Police report shows an arrest with no outcome, the clerk's office in the parish of the case can supply a certified copy of the minutes or judgment showing how it ended.
Expungement and records removed from public access
An expungement in Louisiana does not destroy a record. The Code of Criminal Procedure says expungement "allows for the removal of a record from public access but does not result in the destruction of the record," and the record stays available to law enforcement, criminal justice agencies, and others the law names (art. 971). "Expunge a record" covers records held by the clerk of court, criminal justice agencies, and local and state law enforcement, but not DNA records (art. 972). Once expunged, a record is confidential and no longer a public record, with listed exceptions (art. 973).
The process runs through the clerk of court's office:
- Who may file, and on what conditions, is set out separately for an arrest that did not lead to conviction (art. 976), a misdemeanor conviction (art. 977), and a felony conviction (art. 978). Each has conditions and exclusions that depend on the person's history.
- Only the statutory forms in articles 987 to 995 and 998 may be used, and a clerk may amend them to show the court's name (art. 986).
- The clerk serves notice of the motion on the district attorney, BCII, and the arresting agency (art. 979). Those agencies may object by affidavit within sixty days of service, a period that can be extended up to thirty days, and a timely objection leads to a contradictory hearing (art. 980).
- The clerk collects processing fees when the motion is filed. Except as provided in articles 894 and 984, the total cost to get an expungement order may not exceed five hundred fifty dollars, fees are not refunded if the motion is denied, and article 983(F) lists situations where no fee is charged (art. 983).
- A person in state custody serving a hard labor sentence may not file a motion to expunge (art. 975).
Local fee postings differ in how they break down that total. The Natchitoches clerk's Criminal Department listed $200.00 per name per docket number, plus an additional $250.00 payable to the Louisiana State Police and a $50.00 fee to the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Department and the district attorney's office, as the page words it (October 2026). The Rapides clerk's Criminal Department breaks its regular $550 total into $250 to the state bureau, $200 to the clerk, $50 to the district attorney, and $50 to the sheriff's office. The Orleans clerk's expungement page listed a cost of $550.00 (October 2026). The Catahoula clerk posts expungement instructions and forms with its criminal forms. Eligibility depends on the facts of each case, so the articles above are a starting point for reading the law, not a determination about anyone's record.
Orleans Parish criminal records
Orleans has a separate Criminal District Court, which still exists and handles state criminal cases. What changed in 2026 is who keeps its records. Act 15 of the 2026 Regular Session abolished the elected office of clerk of criminal district court for the parish of Orleans at the end of May 3, 2026 and transferred its records, duties, and property to the clerk of the civil district court, now called the clerk of court for the parish of Orleans. There is no longer a separately elected Orleans criminal court clerk.
In practice, according to the Criminal District Court's own document request page, requests for background checks, case dispositions, certified copies, and public records about a specific state criminal case go to the Clerk of Court's Office at 2700 Tulane Avenue, Room 114, New Orleans, phone (504) 658-9000. That page also says the court's judicial administrator does not keep case record information. The clerk's criminal-side website lists a Closed Records department that takes a request form by email and asks requesters to allow 72 hours, and an Expungements department with packets available in Rooms 104 and 210. Parts of that website still carry the former clerk's name and old notices, so it may lag the law.
Two other Orleans offices handle related records. Municipal and traffic cases belong to the Municipal and Traffic Court of New Orleans at 727 South Broad Street, which the Criminal District Court lists separately. Orleans also has a special juvenile court, whose records are confidential like juvenile records elsewhere. For how the Orleans courts are organized, see the Orleans Parish district courts page and the Orleans Parish Clerk of Court page. To locate someone in custody or check on a warrant through official channels, see Louisiana inmate search and Louisiana warrants. The broader rules for every case type are on the Louisiana court records page.