St. James Parish Jail Bookings and Inmate Records

St. James Parish recent booking records are posted through the Louisiana LA VINE system and display current inmate data from the St. James Parish Detention Center in Convent. The roster includes charge details, bond amounts, and identifying information for all persons currently in custody. All persons listed are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Accessing the St. James Parish LA VINE Roster

The Louisiana Victim Information and Notification Everyday program, known as LA VINE, runs a public-facing inmate roster for St. James Parish at stjames.lavns.org/roster.aspx. This page is updated approximately every 30 minutes throughout the day and night. It reflects the current inmate population at the St. James Parish Detention Center in Convent. You can view the complete list or filter entries by the first letter of the last name to locate a specific person faster.

Each row on the roster includes the inmate's full name, date of birth, race, gender, date of booking, the charges filed, and bond information once it has been set by a court. The roster is publicly accessible at no cost and with no login required. It represents the most current and reliable source for finding out whether someone is currently held at the St. James Parish jail. If a person does not appear on the roster, they may have been released on bond, had charges dropped, or been transferred to a Louisiana state corrections facility.

You can also use the LA VINE statewide roster directory to check other parish jails across Louisiana from a single starting page.

The screenshot below is from the St James Parish LAVINE roster, the official public-facing booking page for the parish jail.

The roster refreshes every 30 minutes and is the most current public source for recent bookings in this parish.

St. James Parish Sheriff's Office

The St. James Parish Sheriff's Office serves as the law enforcement authority for the entire parish and manages the St. James Parish Detention Center. Arrests made by parish deputies or by other law enforcement agencies operating within St. James Parish result in bookings that the sheriff's office records and maintains. The sheriff's records division is the right place to go if you need an official copy of an arrest report or a booking record for legal, employment, or personal purposes.

Contact details for the sheriff's office, including the address, main phone number, and hours, are available through the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association directory. This resource covers all 64 Louisiana parishes and is kept current. When submitting a public records request, be as specific as possible about the date of arrest, the name of the person, and the type of record you need. The sheriff's office is required under Louisiana law to respond to written records requests within a reasonable time frame.

St. James Parish Detention Center, Convent

The St. James Parish Detention Center is located in Convent, Louisiana, the parish seat. This facility is the primary holding location for individuals arrested in St. James Parish and awaiting arraignment, bond hearings, or trial. It also houses people serving short sentences imposed by local courts. The facility is managed by the St. James Parish Sheriff's Office and is subject to inspection and standards set by the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement.

Visitation at the St. James Parish Detention Center is governed by rules set by the sheriff's office. Call ahead to find out visiting hours, approved visitor requirements, and any current restrictions. If you want to send mail or put money in an inmate's commissary account, the jail staff can explain the accepted process. For inmates who have been convicted and transferred to a state facility, the DPS&C offender search is the appropriate tool to use, as the parish roster will no longer show them.

What St. James Booking Records Include

A booking record in St. James Parish captures the key details of an arrest as it happens. The record will include the person's full legal name, date of birth, sex, and race. A booking photograph may also be taken and stored. The record shows when and where the arrest took place, which agency made the arrest, and every charge the person was booked on. Charges are identified by Louisiana statute number and a description of the alleged offense. Bond figures are added once a judge or commissioner has set them.

A booking record is not a record of conviction. It documents what happened at the time of arrest, not how the case was resolved. Many people who are booked are never convicted. Charges may be reduced or dismissed. A jury or judge may find the person not guilty. The booking record does not update to reflect those outcomes. If you need to know how a criminal case ended in St. James Parish, you need to contact the St. James Parish Clerk of Court, which maintains the full docket record for all criminal cases from filing through final disposition.

Louisiana Open Records Statutes

Accessing jail records in St. James Parish is grounded in state law. R.S. 44:1 sets the foundation, defining public records as all writings, recordings, and documents created or kept by a public body in the exercise of its official duties. Booking records held by the St. James Parish Sheriff's Office are public records under this definition. R.S. 44:31 states that every person has the right to examine and copy public records, and that right may be denied only on specific legal grounds.

R.S. 15:587 is the statute that addresses criminal records in more detail. It draws a line between general booking data, which is publicly accessible, and compiled criminal history files, which are subject to more restrictions and typically require a formal request through the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information. The LA VINE roster data represents the open-access category. If you believe a records request has been improperly denied by the sheriff's office, Louisiana law gives you recourse through the district court.

VINELink and LA VINE Notification Service

Louisiana's LA VINE system does more than host public rosters. It also offers a custody notification service for people who need to be alerted when someone's status changes at the St. James Parish Detention Center. To sign up, visit VINELink.com and register with the inmate's name or ID number. You can choose to receive alerts by phone, text message, or email. When the inmate is released, transferred, or has a change in custody status, you receive a notification.

The LA VINE hotline at 866-528-6748 offers the same information by phone, 24 hours a day. You do not need to create an account to use the hotline. Just call and provide the inmate's name, and the system will confirm their current custody status. This service is especially valuable for crime victims and family members who need timely notice before someone leaves the facility. There is no charge for the service, and it is available in both English and Spanish.

Louisiana DPS&C: Finding State-Sentenced Inmates

When someone convicted in St. James Parish receives a sentence that exceeds what local facilities handle, they are transferred to a Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections institution. At that point, they drop off the parish LA VINE roster. To find a state inmate, use the DPS&C offender search tool on the department's website. Enter the person's name or their DPS&C offender number to get their current housing location, custody classification, and projected release date.

The DPS&C main phone line is 225-383-4580 for calls that require speaking with department staff. For people who were recently arrested and are awaiting trial or a bond hearing, the St. James Parish LA VINE roster at stjames.lavns.org/roster.aspx is where you should start. State transfers usually happen after conviction and sentencing, not during the pretrial phase.

Nearby Parishes

St. James Parish is bordered by Ascension, Iberville, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, and Lafourche parishes. Each has its own active LA VINE roster.