Louisiana has no official statewide public warrant search. An arrest warrant is issued by a magistrate (a judge, a justice of the peace, or the mayor of a mayor's court) and carried out by peace officers, so the official places to ask about one are the sheriff's office in the parish involved and the court that issued it. This page explains how warrants work under the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure and which offices to contact; it does not search for warrants and cannot tell you whether one exists.
Who issues arrest warrants in Louisiana
Article 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure says "A warrant of arrest may be issued by any magistrate." Article 931 defines a magistrate as "any judge, a justice of the peace, or a mayor of a mayor's court." In practice that means a warrant can come from a district judge, a city court judge, a justice of the peace in a rural ward, or a mayor's court in a town.
The process starts with a sworn complaint. Under article 202, the person making the complaint executes an affidavit giving the nature, date, and place of the offense and the name of the offender if known, and the magistrate must have probable cause to believe that an offense was committed and that the named person committed it. The article also allows the oath to be taken over the telephone with the paperwork sent by fax, under conditions it spells out.
A few limits are written into the same article:
- A justice of the peace may not issue a warrant for a peace officer's arrest for acts performed in the course and scope of official duties.
- Since the end of 2010, a justice of the peace may issue arrest warrants only after receiving a certificate of completion from the Attorney General's arrest warrants course. The Attorney General's directory of justices of the peace and constables includes an "Arrest Warrant Certified" field for each listing.
- When a complaint concerns an offense in another parish, the magistrate must immediately notify the district attorney of that parish.
What a warrant says and how long it lasts
Article 203 lists what the warrant must contain. It must be in writing and in the name of the State of Louisiana, state the date and the municipality or parish where it was issued, name the person to be arrested (or describe the person well enough to identify them with reasonable certainty), state the offense charged, command that the person be arrested and booked, and be signed by the magistrate with the title of the office. The warrant may also set the amount of bail in noncapital cases when the magistrate has authority to fix bail.
A Louisiana warrant is not limited to the parish where it was signed. Article 204 says the warrant "shall be directed to all peace officers in the state" and may be executed in any parish by a peace officer with authority where the person is found.
Warrants do not simply lapse. Article 205, as amended and reenacted by Act 114 of the 2026 Regular Session (House Bill 64, effective August 1, 2026), says "A warrant of arrest remains in effect until executed or recalled." The same act added Paragraph H to article 202, which lets a magistrate recall a warrant that he or she issued, with written notice to the district attorney and to the law enforcement agency responsible for executing it. A defect or informality in a warrant does not by itself void it; article 206 says it may be amended instead.
A summons is different
For a misdemeanor, article 209 lets the magistrate issue a summons instead of a warrant when there is reason to believe the person will appear. A summons, as article 208 defines it, is a written order commanding the person to appear before a named court at a stated time and place. Article 209 adds that "a warrant of arrest may be issued later in its place," so a summons should be taken as seriously as any other court date.
How to check whether a warrant exists
No official statewide public warrant database was found for Louisiana. The State Police describes its criminal history repository as closed to the public, and wanted-person records travel on law enforcement networks rather than public websites. Third-party sites that claim to run a "Louisiana warrant search" are not official sources.
The official routes are local:
- The sheriff's office of the parish. The sheriff "shall execute all writs, orders, and process of the court" directed to him (R.S. 13:5539(B)), so the sheriff's office is the usual place to ask about a warrant from that parish. Some sheriffs publish warrant information or a division page on their own sites; the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office, for example, has a Warrants and Transportation Division page. Find any parish's sheriff through the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association directory or the Louisiana sheriff's offices page.
- The court that issued it. For a case in district court, the clerk of court keeps the criminal case file. Once a bill of information is filed, the Public Records Law says that filing "shall be a public record" (R.S. 44:3). The Louisiana court records page explains how to ask a clerk for a case file, and the Louisiana Clerks of Court directory lists each parish clerk. For a case in a city court or a mayor's court, ask that court directly.
- A public records request. Booking records and the initial report of the investigating officer are public under R.S. 44:3, while certain other law enforcement records, including records of pending criminal litigation, are exempt from disclosure. The custodian must respond within the time limits of the Public Records Law.
If the question is about your own history rather than an open warrant, the State Police offers a "Right to Review" of your own Louisiana criminal history by fingerprint appointment; the Louisiana criminal records page covers it.
Warrant scams
Callers who claim to be from a court or sheriff's office and demand payment to clear a warrant are a recurring problem. The Rapides Parish Clerk of Court posted an alert in March 2026 about an email that told recipients they had a "Notice to Appear" in a court case. The clerk said that official court notifications requiring appearance "are not sent via email for Rapides Parish," and that people should not click any attachment or link. The same alert described a phone scam that showed the clerk's number on caller ID and used threats of arrest, and it said the clerk's office "never call[s] people about arrest warrants, collection of fines or penalties," and does not accept payment for outstanding warrants.
Practices vary by parish, but the safe habit is the same everywhere: hang up, look up the office's number yourself from its official website or the clerk and sheriff directories, and call back. Do not pay with gift cards or a payment app because a caller says a warrant is pending.
Arrested on a warrant from another parish
Because warrants are good statewide, people are sometimes arrested far from the parish that issued them. Article 207 says a person arrested in another parish is booked and held in the parish of arrest until bail is posted or the person is transferred to the parish where the offense is alleged, and that a person awaiting transfer "shall not be detained in custody in the parish of his arrest for a longer period than ten days." The Louisiana inmate search page lists the official tools for locating someone in a parish jail.
Orleans Parish
Orleans has one sheriff, who succeeded to the duties of the former civil and criminal sheriffs (R.S. 13:5581). Felony and other state criminal cases in New Orleans are heard in the Criminal District Court, and the city also has the Municipal and Traffic Court of New Orleans. Act 748 of 2026 is reducing the number of divisions in both courts as terms end, so check each court's own site for current information.
Since May 4, 2026, criminal court records in New Orleans are held by the clerk of court for the parish of Orleans. Act 15 of the 2026 Regular Session abolished the separate clerk of criminal district court at the end of May 3, 2026 and transferred its records and duties to that office. Some older websites may still describe two clerks. See the Orleans Parish clerk of court page for that office.
Turning yourself in: general safety information
Some people who learn of a warrant choose to surrender rather than wait to be stopped at home, at work, or in traffic. As general information only, the sheriff's office of the parish that issued the warrant can explain how voluntary surrender works there: where to report, what hours, and what identification to bring. Some people go to the sheriff's office or parish jail on their own, and some go with a lawyer. Bail may already be set on the warrant itself under article 203, which the sheriff's office can confirm. This page does not give legal advice for any person's situation, and a Louisiana lawyer can advise on a specific case. Parish details, including the sheriff's office, appear on pages such as the Rapides Parish Clerk of Court, the Natchitoches Parish Clerk of Court, and the Grant Parish Clerk of Court.