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.
Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana, has about 31,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office and three city agencies. An arrest 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 Jefferson Davis Parish. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Jefferson Davis Parish public records, Louisiana arrest records, Louisiana inmate search and Louisiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Jefferson Davis Parish
The Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Jefferson Davis Parish. It reported 224 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Jefferson Davis Parish with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Jennings, 9,280 residents: 399 arrests reported for 2025.
- Welsh, 3,275 residents: 314 arrests reported for 2020.
- Lake Arthur, 2,564 residents: 15 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Jefferson Davis Parish
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them 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.
- Jennings: 399 for 2025, 496 for 2024, 563 for 2023, 535 for 2021 and 378 for 2020; 2022 is missing months.
- Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office: 224 for 2025, 187 for 2023, 227 for 2022 and 190 for 2021; 2024 is missing months.
- Lake Arthur: 15 for 2025, 20 for 2024, 30 for 2023, 107 for 2020 and 110 for 2019; 2021 and 2022 are missing months.
- Welsh: 314 for 2020 and 503 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 638 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 414 in 2025 against 516 in 2024, down 20 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Jefferson Davis Parish Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Jefferson Davis Parish is held at the parish jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2021 the jail held about 87 people, up from about 69 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 68 beds, and it ran at 101 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office at jdpso.org/inmate-roster/filters/current/booking_time=desc/1 (page title: Inmate Roster | Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office | Sort Booking Time | Descending | Page 1), phone 337.821.2100, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.la.gov.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Jefferson Davis Parish
Whether someone was arrested in Jefferson Davis Parish, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the parish jail; the case index of the District Court for Jefferson Davis Parish, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at jeffdavisclerk.org); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at jeffdavisda.org).
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 Jefferson Davis Parish
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 337.821.2100.
- An arrest in Jennings, Welsh or Lake Arthur: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for Jefferson Davis Parish, through the court records page at jeffdavisclerk.org.
- Any parish record that is not posted: the parish records request page SearchSystems verified is at jeffparish.gov/420/Public-Records-Request (page title: Public Records Request | Jefferson Parish, LA).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Bureau of Criminal Identification.
Cities in Jefferson Davis Parish: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the five cities in Jefferson Davis Parish: Jennings, Welsh and Lake Arthur. Elton and Fenton have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the parish the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the parish jail and the case goes to the District Court for Jefferson Davis Parish.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Jefferson Davis Parish each year?
Jennings reported 399 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the three agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 638 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Jefferson Davis Parish?
Look on the custody page of the Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office at jdpso.org, or call 337.821.2100. It covers people booked into the parish jail.
Where are people arrested in Jefferson Davis Parish booked?
Those kept in custody go to the parish jail, run by the Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Jefferson Davis Parish?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Jefferson Davis 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 Jefferson Davis Parish?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 jeffparish.gov/420/Public-Records-Request.
Is this the official Jefferson Davis Parish website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official parish, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.