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 September 30, 2026.
Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, has about 48,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Office, two city agencies and two campus 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 Lincoln 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: Lincoln Parish public records, Louisiana arrest records, Louisiana inmate search and Louisiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lincoln Parish
The Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lincoln Parish. It reported 409 arrests for 2024, its latest complete year.
The FBI lists two cities in Lincoln Parish with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Ruston, 22,330 residents: 889 arrests reported for 2025.
- Grambling, 5,278 residents: 1,152 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.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Lincoln Parish: Grambling State University and Louisiana Tech University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Lincoln Parish
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.
- Grambling: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Ruston: 889 for 2025, 670 for 2024, 1,025 for 2023, 925 for 2022, 792 for 2021 and 803 for 2020.
- Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Office: 409 for 2024, 405 for 2023, 390 for 2022, 465 for 2021, 781 for 2020 and 1,497 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,041 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 2,041 in 2025 against 1,822 in 2024, up 12 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,255 arrests, against 1,370 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lincoln Parish Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Lincoln 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 2023 the jail held about 330 people, up from about 240 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 268 beds, and it ran at 91 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 Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Office at lincoln.lavns.org (page title: Lincoln Parish Jail), phone 318.251.5111, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
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 Lincoln Parish
An arrest in Lincoln Parish can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the District Court for Lincoln Parish, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at lincolnparish.gov/clerk-court/page/links-clerk-court, phone 318-251-5130); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at thirdda.org/staff, phone (318) 251.5100).
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 Lincoln 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 Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 318.251.5111.
- An arrest in Ruston or Grambling: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Grambling State University or Louisiana Tech University: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the District Attorney, (318) 251.5100, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for Lincoln Parish, through the court records page at lincolnparish.gov, phone 318-251-5130.
- Any parish record that is not posted: the parish records request page SearchSystems verified is at lincolnparish.gov (page title: Public Records Request | Lincoln Parish Louisiana).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Bureau of Criminal Identification.
Cities in Lincoln Parish: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for two of the six cities in Lincoln Parish: Ruston and Grambling. Choudrant, Dubach, Simsboro and Vienna 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 Lincoln Parish.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lincoln Parish each year?
Grambling reported 1,152 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 2,041 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Lincoln Parish?
Ask the Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Office at 318.251.5111; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at lincoln.lavns.org.
Where are people arrested in Lincoln Parish booked?
Those kept in custody go to the parish jail, run by the Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lincoln Parish?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Lincoln 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 Lincoln Parish?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lincoln 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 lincolnparish.gov.
Is this the official Lincoln 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.