Acadia Parish Criminal Records

Acadia Parish criminal records are filed with the Acadia Parish Clerk of Court in Crowley and cover all criminal cases, felony charges, misdemeanor offenses, arrests, and convictions processed through the 15th Judicial District Court serving Acadia Parish.

Acadia Parish Clerk of Court

The Acadia Parish Clerk of Court is the official custodian of all criminal records in Acadia Parish. Every criminal case filed in Acadia Parish, from felony indictments to misdemeanor charges, gets stored at this office in Crowley. The mailing address is P.O. Box 922, Crowley, LA 70527. The main phone number is (337) 788-8881. Office hours run Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. If you need to look up a criminal case in Acadia Parish, search for a charge, or get a copy of a court judgment, the clerk's office is where you start.

Louisiana law, specifically RS 44:31, gives the public the right to inspect criminal records and other court records at no cost during regular office hours in Acadia Parish. You do not pay to look at a criminal case file. Fees apply only when you want copies. Standard plain copies cost $1.00 per page. Certified copies of criminal records run $5.00 each. A name-based criminal record search costs $5.00. Bring the full legal name of the person, their date of birth, and the year the charge was filed if you know it. That information helps Acadia Parish clerk staff find the right criminal case faster.

The Acadia Parish clerk handles all filings for the 15th Judicial District Court, which covers Acadia, Lafayette, and Vermilion parishes. For criminal cases in Acadia Parish specifically, all records are kept at the Acadia Parish Crowley office. Felony indictments, misdemeanor charges, arrest warrants, conviction records, and sentencing documents are all part of the Acadia Parish criminal court record system. The docket for each Acadia Parish criminal case is a public record, and the clerk can pull it by case number or defendant name.

How to Search Acadia Parish Criminal Records

The most direct way to search criminal records in Acadia Parish is to visit the Acadia Parish Clerk of Court in Crowley during business hours. Bring the full name of the defendant you are searching, their date of birth, and the approximate year the criminal charge was filed. Staff can search the index by name and pull the criminal case file. Inspection of Acadia Parish criminal records is free. If you need a copy of a criminal case file, fees apply at the rates listed above.

For online searches of Acadia Parish criminal records, ClerkConnect at clerkconnect.com is a statewide multi-parish portal used by many Louisiana clerks. It lets you search civil and criminal indices for participating parishes remotely. Check the ClerkConnect site to see if Acadia Parish criminal records are currently available through the portal. Even if full document images are not online, the case index can confirm a criminal case exists before you drive to Crowley. Defendants, charges, and dockets for Acadia Parish cases may be searchable through this system.

The Louisiana State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information, known as the BCII, maintains the statewide criminal history database. You can request a background check through the LSP background checks page at lsp.org. Statewide criminal history records in Louisiana are closed under RS 15:587, meaning the public cannot pull a full criminal history on another person. The BCII check is used by authorized agencies. Private citizens can review their own criminal record through the Internet Background Check at ibc.dps.louisiana.gov under RS 15:588.

The Louisiana State Police homepage shows the full range of services including the background check division.

From the LSP site you can find links to the BCII unit, the Internet Background Check tool, and contact information for the background check division covering Acadia Parish and all other parishes in Louisiana.

Note: When searching Acadia Parish criminal records by name, be aware that common surnames in Acadiana can return multiple results. Always use date of birth to narrow the Acadia Parish criminal search to the right defendant.

Acadia Parish Court System

Acadia Parish falls under the 15th Judicial District Court. This district covers three parishes: Acadia, Lafayette, and Vermilion. The 15th JDC handles all felony criminal cases for Acadia Parish. Felony charges, serious criminal offenses, and criminal indictments originating in Acadia Parish are prosecuted in this court. Misdemeanor cases and traffic offenses may be handled at the local level depending on where the crime occurred in Acadia Parish. The court of appeal for Acadia Parish criminal cases is the Third Circuit Court of Appeal, which sits in Lake Charles.

For felony matters in Acadia Parish, the district attorney for the 15th JDC handles prosecution of all criminal charges. The district court is the trial-level court for serious criminal offenses filed in Acadia Parish. Defendants appear in Crowley for hearings and trials. If a criminal conviction from Acadia Parish is appealed, it goes to the Third Circuit. From there, further appeals go to the Louisiana Supreme Court in New Orleans. Guilty pleas, convictions, sentences, and court orders from Acadia Parish are all part of the public criminal record kept by the Acadia Parish clerk.

Justice of the peace courts and city courts in Acadia Parish handle smaller criminal matters including minor offenses and local ordinance violations. Those Acadia Parish criminal records are kept separately from the district court. If you are looking for a minor traffic matter or a small local criminal case, check with the specific city court rather than the Acadia Parish Clerk of Court for district court records.

Louisiana State Criminal Records Resources

Several state-level agencies maintain criminal records relevant to Acadia Parish cases. The Louisiana State Police BCII is the primary statewide repository for criminal history. For background checks by authorized agencies covering Acadia Parish and all other Louisiana parishes, the process runs through the LSP. The LSP background checks page outlines the types of checks available, the forms needed, and the fee structure. Arrest records, felony convictions, and misdemeanor convictions from Acadia Parish may all appear in this statewide criminal database. Acadia Parish cases submitted to the BCII show up alongside records from all other Louisiana parishes.

The LSP background check page details the submission process for fingerprint-based criminal history checks.

Fingerprint-based criminal history checks through the LSP give a more complete picture than a name-only search because they match across aliases and name variations. This matters for Acadia Parish cases where a defendant may have used different names at different times during Acadia Parish prosecution.

The Louisiana Department of Corrections maintains a separate database for people under DOC supervision. If you need to find out if someone is currently incarcerated in a state facility after an Acadia Parish conviction, or if they are on parole or probation following an Acadia Parish criminal case, the DOC offender lookup at doc.la.gov is the right tool. The DOC database covers state prisons and does not include local parish jails. For jail information on criminal defendants in Acadia Parish, contact the Acadia Parish Sheriff's Office directly.

Note: The DOC lookup only covers offenders under state supervision. People held in Acadia Parish jail on local criminal charges or awaiting trial will not appear in the DOC system.

Expunging Criminal Records in Acadia Parish

Louisiana's expungement statute is RS 44:9. That law sets out who can apply to have a criminal record expunged in Acadia Parish, what types of criminal charges and convictions qualify, and how the expungement process works. Not every offense is eligible. Violent crimes, sex offenses, and a number of other specific criminal categories are excluded. If you are unsure whether your Acadia Parish criminal charge qualifies for expungement, consult an attorney before paying any fees, because all expungement fees are non-refundable.

The total cost for most standard felony or misdemeanor expungements in Louisiana, including Acadia Parish, comes to around $550. That breaks down into three payments made to three different agencies. The Acadia Parish Clerk of Court receives the filing fee. The Louisiana State Police receives $250, which must be paid by USPS money order only. The Acadia Parish sheriff's office and district attorney's office also receive portions of the expungement fee. Each payment is separate. You cannot send one check to cover all of them.

After you file the expungement petition with the Acadia Parish clerk, the court sends notice to the agencies that have the right to object to the expungement. Those agencies have a set period to respond. If no one objects and the court finds you eligible, the judge signs the expungement order. Once the order is signed and served on the relevant agencies, those agencies must seal or destroy the criminal records within 60 days. The LSP updates the statewide criminal history accordingly after an Acadia Parish expungement is granted.

Getting an expungement in Acadia Parish means those Acadia Parish criminal records are no longer publicly available. They do not disappear from all law enforcement systems, but they are removed from public access under RS 44:9. If you later apply for certain licenses or positions, disclosure rules vary, so review the specific requirements for whatever you are applying for after an Acadia Parish expungement is granted by the court.

Note: Expungement fees are non-refundable even if the petition is denied, so verify your eligibility before filing with the Acadia Parish Clerk of Court.

Copy Fees and Record Access in Acadia Parish

Inspecting public criminal records at the Acadia Parish Clerk of Court is free under RS 44:31. You have the right to look at any public criminal case file during office hours without paying a fee. What you pay for is copies and certified documents of Acadia Parish criminal records.

Standard copy fees for Acadia Parish criminal records are $1.00 per page for plain copies. Certified copies of Acadia Parish criminal records cost $5.00 each. A name-based criminal record search runs $5.00 per name. These are the standard rates used by most Louisiana clerks. If you need a large number of criminal case documents from Acadia Parish, contact the clerk's office before your visit to discuss the process and make sure staff can accommodate your request in one trip.

Mail requests are also accepted for some Acadia Parish criminal records. If you cannot travel to Crowley in person, call the Acadia Parish clerk at (337) 788-8881 to ask about the process for submitting a written Acadia Parish criminal records request. You will need to provide the case number or the full name and date of birth of the defendant whose criminal record you want, along with payment for any applicable fees. Response times for mail requests for Acadia Parish criminal records vary based on office workload.

Some Acadia Parish criminal records are not available to the public at all. Juvenile criminal records are sealed. Criminal records expunged under RS 44:9 are not available for public inspection. Certain records sealed by court order are also off limits. If the Acadia Parish clerk tells you a criminal record is not available, ask for the specific legal basis so you understand why access is restricted for that Acadia Parish case.

Nearby Parishes

These parishes border or sit near Acadia Parish. Each maintains its own clerk of court and criminal court records.