Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. 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 September 30, 2026.
Ponchatoula, Louisiana, in Tangipahoa Parish, has about 7,700 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the parish jail, and, if the District Attorney files charges, a case in the District Court for Tangipahoa Parish. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Ponchatoula public records, Tangipahoa Parish arrest records, Louisiana arrest records and Louisiana inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Ponchatoula
The FBI lists Ponchatoula with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Ponchatoula Police Department. It reported 46 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,376 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Tangipahoa Parish: Southeastern Louisiana University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Ponchatoula Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Ponchatoula: 46 for 2025, 62 for 2024, 255 for 2023, 268 for 2022, 307 for 2021 and 1,787 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
Ponchatoula's 46 arrests in 2025 were down 26 percent from 62 in 2024.
Through August 2026, Ponchatoula reported 33 arrests, against 35 in the same months of 2025.
Across Tangipahoa Parish, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,303 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Ponchatoula Are Held
The parish jail is where a person arrested in Ponchatoula and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 560 people, down from about 570 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 572 beds, and it ran at 98 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office at tpso.org/resource/jail-guide (page title: Jail Guide | Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office), phone 866-232-1899, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections lists its inmates at doc.la.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Ponchatoula
For Ponchatoula the place to look is the case index of the District Court for Tangipahoa Parish, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at tangiclerk.org/E-Services/Civil-Record-eSearch).
Louisiana does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the Louisiana State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Ponchatoula
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the Louisiana Public Records Law the agency must answer within 3 business days when the record is not immediately available, and it may charge a reasonable fee for copies.
- An arrest by the Ponchatoula police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofponchatoula.com/public-records-request (page title: Public Records | City of Ponchatoula), 125 West Hickory Street, Ponchatoula, LA 70454, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 866-232-1899.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for Tangipahoa Parish, through the court records page at tangiclerk.org.
- Any parish record that is not posted: the parish records request page SearchSystems verified is at tpso.org/resource/public-records-request (page title: Public Records Request | Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Bureau of Criminal Identification.
The Tangipahoa Parish guide covers every agency in the parish: Tangipahoa Parish arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Ponchatoula each year?
Ponchatoula reported 46 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Ponchatoula?
Ask the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office at 866-232-1899; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at tpso.org/resource/jail-guide.
Where are people arrested in Ponchatoula booked?
Those kept in custody go to the parish jail, run by the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Ponchatoula?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Tangipahoa Parish are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the Louisiana State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Louisiana Public Records Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Ponchatoula?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Ponchatoula police for its own arrests, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Louisiana Public Records Law the answer is due within 3 business days when the record is not immediately available; the parish records request page SearchSystems verified is at tpso.org/resource/public-records-request.
Is this the official Ponchatoula 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.