Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
Opelousas, Louisiana, in St. Landry Parish, has about 15,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Opelousas is held at the parish jail, run by the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Opelousas public records, St. Landry Parish inmate search, Opelousas arrest records, Opelousas warrants, Opelousas criminal records, Opelousas court records, Louisiana arrest records and Louisiana inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Opelousas
The parish jail, run by the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Opelousas, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office at stlandry.lavns.org (page title: St. Landry Parish Jail), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster.
The St. Landry Parish Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 280 people, down from about 280 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 244 beds, and it ran at 113 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
St. Landry Parish has about 81,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 34 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the St. Landry Parish Jail
The St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Opelousas (filed by the FBI as Opelousas Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Opelousas.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in St. Landry Parish: Louisiana State University at Eunice (campus police).
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Opelousas's 1,339 for 2025, Melville's 1,152 for 2025 and Washington's 1,152 for 2025.
Together, the six agencies in St. Landry Parish with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,057 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the parish jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Opelousas arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections lists its inmates at doc.la.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Opelousas?
Ask the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at stlandry.lavns.org.
How many people are in the St. Landry Parish jail?
About 280 on an average day in 2023, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 244 beds.
Where do people sentenced to prison in St. Landry Parish go?
To a facility of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections; its inmate locator is at doc.la.gov.
Is this the official Opelousas website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, parish, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.