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 on September 24, 2026.
Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, has about 36,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office, one city agency and one campus agency. 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 Natchitoches 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: Natchitoches Parish public records, Louisiana arrest records, Louisiana inmate search and Louisiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Natchitoches Parish
The Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Natchitoches Parish. It reported 663 arrests for 2025.
One city in Natchitoches Parish reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Natchitoches, 17,165 residents: 612 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 one more agency in Natchitoches Parish: Northwestern State University (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Natchitoches 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.
- Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office: 663 for 2025, 746 for 2024, 1,696 for 2020 and 1,966 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Natchitoches: 612 for 2025, 542 for 2024, 1,902 for 2020 and 1,802 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,275 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 1,275 in 2025 against 1,288 in 2024, down 1 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Natchitoches Parish Are Held
The parish jail is where a person arrested in Natchitoches 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 2023 the jail held about 240 people, down from about 400 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 520 beds, and it ran at 45 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 Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office at npsheriff.org/jailpage/InmateDetails?id=14 (page title: Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office, LA), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 Natchitoches Parish
For Natchitoches Parish the place to look is the case index of the District Court for Natchitoches Parish, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at clerkconnect.com/suitDetails/88908/natchitoches).
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 Natchitoches Parish
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 Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Natchitoches: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by Northwestern State University: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for Natchitoches Parish, through the court records page at clerkconnect.com.
- Any parish record that is not posted: the parish records request page SearchSystems verified is at natchitochesla.gov (page title: Public Records Request | City of Natchitoches, Louisiana).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Bureau of Criminal Identification.
Cities in Natchitoches Parish: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the nine cities in Natchitoches Parish: Natchitoches. Campti, Provencal, Natchez, Goldonna, Clarence, Ashland, Robeline and Powhatan 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 Natchitoches Parish.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Natchitoches Parish each year?
The Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office reported 663 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 1,275 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Natchitoches Parish?
Ask the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at npsheriff.org/jailpage/InmateDetails?id=14.
Where are people arrested in Natchitoches Parish booked?
Those kept in custody go to the parish jail, run by the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Natchitoches Parish?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Natchitoches 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 Natchitoches Parish?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Natchitoches 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 natchitochesla.gov.
Is this the official Natchitoches 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.