All warrants are judicial orders issued by local tribunals that authorize police to conduct certain proceedings. For instance, a search warrant authorizes law enforcement agents to enter a private property and search it for controversial things and substances and confiscate such items. On the other hand, an order for arrest allows police officers to physically restrain a person’s movement by incarcerating him in a state or municipal holding facility.
An outstanding warrant from Louisiana is an order from the court which is an express directive for the arrest of an individual. Its release is based on the establishment of probable cause which has to be brought in front of the court through the means of a written affidavit that details all case findings.
The judiciary is directly involved in the process of warrant issue; in fact, the magistrate has the final say when it comes to gauging the merits of the evidence and testimony presented by the cops. So, when a warrant bearing the signature of the sitting judge is released to the police, it simply means that the judiciary concurs with law enforcement on the apparent culpability of the accused.
Louisiana outstanding warrant details
Because an outstanding order for arrest is pending in the police database for a while, law enforcement agencies are bound to share information on these arrest orders with other justice agencies across the country, so that the offender can be brought to books at the earliest. The National Crime Center Repository contains information on all outstanding warrants from across the nation.
This database, although not accessible to civilians, can be tapped into by peace officers when dealing with an offender. For instance, even a routine traffic stop and a violation of any municipal ordinance will make the officer in charge run your name through this central repository. If a criminal warrant is found in your name, you will be held in custody till you can be deported to the county in which the warrant was issued.
As far as state authorities are concerned, the office of the sheriff that places the request for the warrant and the magistrate’s court that grants the order will also have information on all arrest orders issued in the area. Apart from this, the office of the county clerk will also keep details pertaining to warrants since they maintain the court dockets.
Conducting a search for Louisiana outstanding warrants
Although you can get a background report from the Louisiana State Police, the records will only include details on cases that resulted in conviction. This means that it would be near impossible to find details on outstanding warrants that have yet to be executed through this source. The local police department will have to be contacted in person for such an inquiry as only three sheriffs’ offices in the state offer details on outstanding warrants through their website; these are:
Baton Rouge: http://www.ebrclerkofcourt.org/
Lafayette: http://www.lafayettesheriff.com/site306.php
Caddo: http://www.caddosheriff.org/warrants/
In other parishes, you will have to get in touch with the sheriff’s department by writing to them online or by driving down to the agency office. At this time, online inquiries are being allowed in Gramercy Parish at https://www.gramercypd.com/. For an online search, you can also enlist the help of an internet based information vendor. To find a database of arrest records and warrants from all over the state of Louisiana and outside, you can fill the form on this website.
For organizations that are authorized to receive criminal history information in Louisiana, a background check can be conducted through the LSP at http://www.lsp.org/technical.html#criminal. The state law enforcement agency accepts both internet and mail order inquiries and name based as well as fingerprint based searches are possible through the LSP.