Louisiana inmate search

Most of the state's local jails are operated by parish sheriffs. Some parishes instead have the local governing authority in charge of the jail. The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections also gives sheriffs money for holding state inmates in parish jails. As a result, many state prisoners who've been sentenced remain in local parish facilities.

East Baton Rouge Parish Prison is run by the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office. Over 30 agencies bring arrests to its Central Booking desk. About 25 people are booked and released there daily by staff. Within Orleans Parish, the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office runs the local detention system. The Temporary Detention Center is one of its facilities.

Make the jail itself or the parish's roster your first check. When someone is arrested in Baton Rouge, check the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison roster on the web. Over 30 agencies bring people to Central Booking there. Its bonding desk answers calls 24 hours a day at 225-358-4005.

The LA VINE lookup also lets you search across the whole state. The lookup covers local jails run by sheriffs and state facilities statewide. Every 24 hours, the system refreshes. If the arrest was in the last few hours, call the parish jail directly, since the booking process takes time.

State correctional facilities are managed by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, or DPS&C for short. The agency runs probation and parole offices as well. For state prisoners, DPS&C offers no separate web lookup. For state inmates, use the Louisiana Victim Information and Notification Everyday locator instead. Every 24 hours, the site refreshes.

In most cases, people stay in local jails after an arrest, then move to state prisons once sentenced. In Louisiana it works differently, since DPS&C pays parish sheriffs to keep state prisoners in the parish jails. So even after sentencing, a state prisoner may remain in a parish sheriff's jail rather than a state facility.

Through Louisiana VINELink, called LAVINE in the state, you can find an imprisoned person and receive everyday custody notifications. This online lookup refreshes every 24 hours. This free service comes from the LCLE LAVINE program, working together with 3 partners:

• Louisiana Sheriffs' Association
• Louisiana District Attorneys' Association
• Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections

If you prefer to use the phone, toll-free phone support is available at 1-866-528-6748, or 866-LAVNS-4-U. Calling that number lets you get help with the LAVINE service right from your phone.

Courts in Louisiana set bail, and La. lets them add release conditions. C.Cr.P. Art. 320. Release can take these forms, depending on the court's order:

• Getting out on bail
• A global positioning monitoring system used as a bail release condition
• Release into a pretrial drug testing program

Another option is hiring a commercial surety underwriter to put up a criminal bail bond. A bail bond works as a financial guarantee for the court, letting the arrested person out of jail. In exchange, you pay a premium: that's the fee for writing the bond. Per Louisiana R.S. section 22:1443, R.S. 22:855, plus R.S. 22:822, which sets the legal rate at 12% of the face amount of the bond, or $120 if that amount is greater. Extra fees charged under R.S. aren't included in that percentage. 13:718(I)(2).