Louisiana Inmate Search

The Louisiana prison system comprises 8 correctional facilities, 65 local jails, and offices, and two federal correctional complexes. The Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women located in Baker is the state's only correctional institution for women.

Louisiana recorded an incarceration rate of 596 inmates per 100,000 population in 2022. In December of that year, 27,296 prisoners were under the jurisdiction of Louisiana correctional authorities. The parish jail population was also put at 30,576 in 2022.

Louisiana Inmate SearchPrison in Louisiana
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According to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the state's correctional system includes 8 state facilities, 65 local jails, and 2 federal complexes. As of December 2022, the state had 27,296 state prisoners and 30,576 parish jail inmates. Louisiana has an incarceration rate of 596 per 100,000 residents and operates 1 women-only facility.

Louisiana Department Corrections Inmate Search

The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPS&C) administers the operations of Louisiana prisons. The Department provides safe and secure incarceration, effective probation and parole supervision, and rehabilitative programs to inmates and persons released from state prisons.

The DPS&C provides access to public inmate information via an authorized third party - Vinelink. Vinelink provides a searchable database via a portal that the public may access.

User

Find Inmate by Name

Anyone may find an inmate incarcerated in Louisiana prisons using the Vinelink offender search portal. To start, visit the Vinelink website and follow these steps:

  • Select "An offender/defendant" in the "I am searching for" field
  • select "Name" in the "whose is" field
  • Provide the first name and the last name in the "first name" and "last name" fields. However, if the exact name of the inmate is not known, check the "Partial Name" box and enter at least the first two characters of the inmate's last name, to include more potential matches in the search result

The search result will return matching inmate information if the exact name of the inmate is known. Otherwise, you may have to sift through a list of potential results if a partial name was provided.

User

Find Inmate by Number

The Vinelink offender search portal allows users to find an inmate by the identification number issued to the individual by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections. If you have this ID number, visit the Vinelink portal and follow these steps:

  • Select "An offender/defendant" in the "I am searching for" field
  • Select "ID Number" in the "whose is" field
  • Provide the inmate's DPS&C number in the ID number field. For best search results, you should enter the full ID number. However, if the exact ID number of the inmate is unknown or does not return results, you may select 'Partial ID Number' and enter at least the first four characters, not including any 0s at the beginning, to see more potential matches.

What Information is Contained in a Louisiana Inmate Record?

A Vinelink Louisiana inmate information search will provide the following record details:

  • The name of the inmate
  • The age, gender, race, ethnicity, date of birth, and ID number of the inmate
  • The custody status of the inmate
  • The name of the prison or jail holding the inmate
  • The address of the prison or jail where the inmate is held
  • The address and phone number of the reporting agency

Louisiana Inmate Records by Counties

The Vinelink offender search portal provides public access to inmates held in local parish jails in addition to information for inmates incarcerated in state prisons. You may find inmate records by name or ID number using the portal. In addition, parish sheriff's offices provide public access to inmate lists or rosters for inmates held in parish jails. For instance, you may find records of inmates held in St. Tammany, St. Mary, Washington, Beauregard, Allen, East Baton Rouge, Jefferson Davis, and Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Offices.

Are Incarceration Records Public Information in Louisiana?

The Louisiana Public Records Law ensures that custodians of incarceration records in the state do not restrict access to such records without authorization. Except in limited circumstances where some information in an incarceration record or whole incarceration records may be redacted, members of the public may petition the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to inspect or copy incarceration records.

Louisiana's Public Records Law was enacted to allow the public access to records of the Louisiana government. However, the law allows expunged incarceration records and sensitive information such as juvenile records and mental health records to be sealed from public view.

Federal Prisons in Louisiana

Besides the eight correctional facilities and tens of other local jails and offices in Louisiana, there are two federal prisons managed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. These facilities are the Oakdale Federal Correctional Complex and the Pollock Federal Correctional Complex. The Oakdale FCC comprises multiple facilities - FCI Oakdale I with 982 inmates and FCI Oakdale II with 1,181 inmates. Both facilities are low-security federal correctional institutions.

The federal correctional complex in Pollock comprises a medium-security federal correctional institution in the City of Pollock and a high-security United States Penitentiary also in Pollock. FCI Pollock has a population of 1,703 inmates, while USP Pollock houses 1,054 inmates.

Frequently Asked Questions about Inmate Records

You may request a Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections public record by submitting a public record request in writing to:

La. Department of Public Safety and Corrections
Attn: Deputy Secretary's Office
P.O. Box 94304
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
Phone: (225) 342-6744
Fax: (225) 342-3095

Alternatively, you may email your request to the Deputy Secretary at docpublicrecords@la.gov .

To look up an inmate online in Louisiana, you may use the Vinelink offender search portal approved by the Louisiana DPS&C or Parish Sheriff's Office online jail rosters. Note that the jail rosters only apply if the inmate is held in a local jail and not a state prison. However, the Vinelink search portal allows you to look up inmates from both state prisons and local parish jails.

If you cannot find an old prison record using the Vinelink offender search portal, you may contact the Department of Public Safety and Corrections to perform a search of their archives. Alternatively, you may contact the Louisiana State Archives to search their records.

The Office of Vital Records in the Department of Health issues death certificates in Louisiana. Therefore, if you cannot obtain an inmate's death record from the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, you may be able to obtain a death certificate from the Office of Vital Records, if you are eligible. Note that Louisiana is a "closed record" state. Hence, death certificates may only be obtained by a relative of the deceased or an authorized person under Louisiana laws.

Typically, inmate information is published in the Louisiana inmate located within 24 hours of the incarceration of an individual. However, in some instances, it may take up to 48 hours.

You may send funds to inmates in Louisiana prisons in the following ways:

  • Mail: You may send funds to an inmate by mail using a money order via JPay services. JPay requires users to use a deposit slip to accompany the money order when completing a transaction. Your deposit will be mailed to JPay's Miami, Florida address. In addition to the mail time to Florida, there is a two-day processing time for JPay to transfer the funds into the DPS&C account. After, there is another two-day processing time allowance for getting funds into the inmate's account. The maximum amount that may be sent via mail is $999.99; however, deposits of $500 or more are subject to investigation.
  • Walk-Up Locations for MoneyGram: MoneyGram offers a service for sending funds to inmates in Louisiana prisons. This service is available at locations displaying the MoneyGram logo and at Walmart and CVS Pharmacy locations. The individual sending the funds may provide the MoneyGram office with cash and the inmate information and MoneyGram will electronically submit the payment to the destination for a fee. There is a two-day turnaround in funds placed into an inmate's account using this method. Also, the maximum amount that may be sent via MoneyGram is pegged at $4,999.99 with deposits of $500 or more subject to investigation
  • Internet: You may visit the JPay website to use their service to transfer funds to an inmate's account online. Funds may only be sent using VISA and MasterCard debit and credit cards. There is a two-day turnaround on transferred funds using this method. Also, the maximum amount that may be transferred is $300 and there is a daily cut-off time of 10:00 p.m. CST to submit a payment. Note that the following charges apply for using this method:
    • $ 0.00 – $ 20.00: $ 3.50
    • $ 20.01 – $100.00: $ 6.50
    • $100.01 – $200.00: $ 8.50
    • $200.01 – $300.00: $10.50
  • Telephone: To use this method, call 1-800-574-5729 and follow the prompts. Only VISA and MasterCard debit or credit cards may be used. There is a two-day turnaround on funds transferred via this method. Also, the daily cut-off time to submit a payment is 10:00 p.m., while the maximum amount that may be sent via telephone is $300. The following fees apply to sending funds by telephone:
    • $ 0.00 – $ 20.00: $ 4.50
    • $ 20.01 – $100.00: $ 7.50
    • $100.01 – $200.00: $ 9.50
    • $200.01 – $300.00: $11.50
  • Lobby Kiosks: You may use a kiosk located in the visiting area of a state prison to send funds to inmates by debit card, credit card, or cash. There is a two-day turnaround for sending funds in this manner and deposits of $500 or more will be subject to investigation. Cash deposits of up to $499 have a transaction fee of $4.