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 Parish, Louisiana, has about 427,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and five 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 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 Parish public records, Louisiana arrest records, Louisiana inmate search and Louisiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Jefferson Parish
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Jefferson Parish. It reported 4,503 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside five of the parish's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Kenner, 64,650 residents: 1,834 arrests reported for 2025.
- Gretna, 17,185 residents: 697 arrests reported for 2025.
- Harahan, 8,819 residents: 113 arrests reported for 2025.
- Westwego, 8,231 residents: 206 arrests reported for 2025.
- Jean Lafitte, 1,815 residents: 1 arrests reported for 2023.
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 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.
- Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office: 4,503 for 2025, 5,284 for 2024, 5,096 for 2023, 4,997 for 2022, 3,760 for 2021 and 8,785 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Kenner: 1,834 for 2025, 1,718 for 2024, 1,837 for 2023, 1,539 for 2022, 1,364 for 2021 and 2,869 for 2020.
- Gretna: 697 for 2025, 777 for 2024, 735 for 2023, 671 for 2022, 714 for 2021 and 2,925 for 2020.
- Westwego: 206 for 2025, 379 for 2024, 315 for 2023, 304 for 2022, 322 for 2021 and 2,068 for 2020.
- Harahan: 113 for 2025, 163 for 2024, 258 for 2023, 173 for 2022, 177 for 2021 and 587 for 2020.
- Jean Lafitte: 1 for 2023.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 7,353 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 7,353 in 2025 against 8,321 in 2024, down 12 percent.
Through July 2026, the four agencies with every month so far on file reported 4,755 arrests, against 4,093 in the same months of 2025.
Jean Lafitte reported only part of 2025 (10 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Jefferson Parish Are Held
The parish jail is where a person arrested in Jefferson Parish 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 2021 the jail held about 1,090 people, up from about 920 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2020, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,085 beds, and it ran at 92 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 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 30, 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 Parish
Whether someone was arrested in Jefferson Parish, and what came of it, shows up in three places: the custody page of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the parish jail; the case index of the District Court for Jefferson Parish, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at jeffparishclerk.gov, phone (504) 364-2900); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at jeffparish.gov/m/directory/department?did=59, phone 504-736-6300).
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 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 Parish Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 337.821.2100.
- An arrest in Kenner, Gretna, Harahan, Westwego or Jean Lafitte: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, 504-736-6300, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for Jefferson Parish, through the court records page at jeffparishclerk.gov, phone (504) 364-2900.
- 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 Parish: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for five of the six cities in Jefferson Parish: Kenner, Gretna, Harahan, Westwego and Jean Lafitte. Grand Isle has 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 Parish.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Jefferson Parish, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Jefferson Parish each year?
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office reported 4,503 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 7,353 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Jefferson Parish?
Look on the custody page of the Jefferson 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 Parish booked?
Those kept in custody go to the parish jail, run by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Jefferson Parish?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Jefferson 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 Parish?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Jefferson 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 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.