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.
Rapides Parish, Louisiana, has about 126,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office and four 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 Rapides 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: Rapides Parish public records, Louisiana arrest records, Louisiana inmate search and Louisiana criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Rapides Parish
The Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Rapides Parish. It reported 1,491 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Rapides Parish with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Alexandria, 43,133 residents: 1,538 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pineville, 13,966 residents: 1,368 arrests reported for 2020.
- Ball, 3,801 residents: 1,152 arrests reported for 2025.
- Woodworth, 1,749 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.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Rapides 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.
- Alexandria: 1,538 for 2025, 1,598 for 2024, 1,507 for 2023, 1,629 for 2022, 1,660 for 2021 and 4,534 for 2020.
- Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office: 1,491 for 2025, 1,321 for 2024, 1,108 for 2023, 1,258 for 2022, 1,415 for 2021 and 1,215 for 2020.
- Woodworth: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Ball: 1,152 for 2025, 1,152 for 2024, 1,146 for 2023, 1,132 for 2022, 919 for 2021 and 1,146 for 2020.
- Pineville: 1,368 for 2020 and 2,306 for 2019.
Together, the four agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,333 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 5,333 in 2025 against 5,223 in 2024, up 2.1 percent.
Through June 2026, the three agencies with every month so far on file reported 1,755 arrests, against 1,912 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Rapides Parish Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Rapides 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 990 people, down from about 1,040 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 1,225 beds, and it ran at 80 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 Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office at t4c.nicic.gov/rapides-parish-sheriffs-office (page title: Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office | Thinking for a Change), phone 318-473-6700, 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 Rapides Parish
Whether someone was arrested in Rapides Parish, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the District Court for Rapides Parish, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at rapidesclerk.org/rapid-e-search-online-access); the District Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at rapidesda.org, phone 318.473.6650).
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 Rapides 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 Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 318-473-6700.
- An arrest in Alexandria, Pineville, Ball or Woodworth: 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, 318.473.6650, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the District Court for Rapides Parish, through the court records page at rapidesclerk.org/rapid-e-search-online-access.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Bureau of Criminal Identification.
Cities in Rapides Parish: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the ten cities in Rapides Parish: Alexandria, Pineville, Ball and Woodworth. Glenmora, Boyce, Lecompte, Forest Hill, Cheneyville and McNary 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 Rapides Parish.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Rapides Parish, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Alexandria (43,133)
- Pineville (13,966)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Rapides Parish each year?
Alexandria reported 1,538 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the four agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,333 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Rapides Parish?
Ask the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office at 318-473-6700; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at t4c.nicic.gov/rapides-parish-sheriffs-office.
Where are people arrested in Rapides Parish booked?
Those kept in custody go to the parish jail, run by the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Rapides Parish?
The court files of criminal cases in the District Court for Rapides 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 Rapides Parish?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Rapides 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.
Is this the official Rapides 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.