Find Criminal Court Records in Bienville Parish

Bienville Parish criminal court records are managed through the 2nd Judicial District Court, which serves Arcadia and the surrounding region. If you want to search for a criminal case, verify a charge, or get certified copies of court documents in Bienville Parish, this page explains your options online and in person.

The 2nd Judicial District Court

The 2nd Judicial District Court serves three parishes: Bienville, Claiborne, and Jackson. Criminal cases filed in Bienville Parish go through this district, with the parish courthouse located in Arcadia. The Clerk of Court for Bienville Parish is William "Eddie" Holmes. The clerk's office is located at 100 Courthouse Drive Suite 1100, Arcadia, LA 71001. You can reach the clerk by phone at (318) 263-2123. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

The 2nd JDC's District Attorney's office handles prosecution for cases in Bienville, Claiborne, and Jackson Parishes. Their website at 2jdda.org has information about the DA's office and local criminal justice resources. Cases decided in the 2nd JDC can be appealed to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal, which covers north Louisiana parishes. If a case went through appeals, those records are held by the 2nd Circuit separately from the district court file in Arcadia.

La. R.S. 44:1 gives the public the right to access government records including criminal court records. La. R.S. 44:32(A) requires the clerk to make records available to any adult who makes a proper request. You do not need to be a party to the case to request access. The Bienville Parish Clerk's office has historical records dating back to 1848, making it one of the older courthouse archives in north Louisiana.

How to Search Bienville Parish Criminal Court Records Online

Two online portals give you access to Bienville Parish criminal court records. The first is Clerk Connect, and the second is the eClerks LA statewide portal. Both provide name and case number search access to adult criminal records in Bienville Parish.

Clerk Connect is a statewide online portal that many Louisiana parish clerks use to provide public access to court records. The portal for Bienville Parish is shown below.

Clerk Connect gives you index-level access to case records, useful for checking whether a case exists and getting basic case details before requesting full documents from the clerk's office.

The eClerks LA portal is also available for Bienville Parish. eClerks LA provides free access to adult criminal records across all 64 parishes. Both tools are index-based and show charges, filing dates, and dispositions. Neither delivers certified copies or full case documents. For those, you must contact the Bienville Parish Clerk of Court directly. The eClerks portal is shown below.

eClerks LA is free for basic searches and does not require an account for a name lookup. It is a good starting point if you are not sure which portal covers Bienville Parish records best.

Note that Bienville Parish's courthouse records date back to 1848, but older records may not be digitized. If you are searching for a case from many decades ago, call the clerk's office at (318) 263-2123 to confirm what is available online versus what exists only in paper form. Juvenile records are sealed by state law and are not accessible through any public portal.

In-Person and Mail Requests

To get criminal court records in person, go to the Bienville Parish Courthouse at 100 Courthouse Drive Suite 1100 in Arcadia. The Clerk of Court's office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Bring the full name of the person you are searching for, and a case number if you have one. If you lack a case number, name and approximate date range will help staff locate the file.

Copy fees follow standard Louisiana clerk rates. Uncertified copies typically cost $1 per page. Certified copies carry an additional fee and include the clerk's seal, required for some legal uses. To request records by mail, write to the Bienville Parish Clerk of Court at 100 Courthouse Drive Suite 1100, Arcadia, LA 71001, include a check or money order for the estimated copy fees, and clearly note the name and case details. Call (318) 263-2123 in advance to get a fee estimate. The Bienville Parish Sheriff's Office can be reached at (318) 263-2215 if you need arrest records that did not proceed to court.

Types of Criminal Court Records Available

The 2nd JDC clerk's office in Bienville Parish holds criminal court records going back to 1848. Current records include charging documents such as bills of information and grand jury indictments, arraignment records, plea agreements, trial transcripts, verdicts, and sentencing orders. Bond records, probation conditions, and motion filings are also part of most case files.

Under La. R.S. 44:36, felony conviction records are kept permanently. Misdemeanor records must be retained for at least 10 years. Traffic violation records are held for a minimum of 3 years. Very old records may exist only in paper form and may not be accessible through the online portals. For historical cases, it is worth calling the clerk's office to confirm availability before making the trip. Arrest records where no court case was filed are typically held by the Bienville Parish Sheriff rather than the clerk of court.

State-Level Criminal Record Resources

Several state-level tools supplement what you can find at the Bienville Parish courthouse level.

The Louisiana State Police holds the state's central criminal record repository under La. R.S. 15:578. Their background check service at LSP's background check portal costs $31 and covers conviction records from all 64 parishes. Louisiana is a closed record state under La. R.S. 15:587, meaning arrests not resulting in conviction are excluded from this official check. It is the most reliable source for a statewide conviction overview.

The Louisiana Department of Corrections runs a free DOC Offender Search tool covering current and former state-supervised offenders, including those from Bienville Parish who received a state sentence. The Louisiana Sex Offender Registry is also free and searchable by name or location. For federal criminal cases, use PACER. Bienville Parish falls under the Western District of Louisiana for federal court purposes.

Expungement of Criminal Records in Bienville Parish

Louisiana expungement is governed by La. C.Cr.P. Art. 971 and related statutes. An expungement removes a record from public view but does not permanently destroy it. Law enforcement can still access expunged records under certain conditions defined by state law.

To start, you file a motion with the 2nd Judicial District Court in Arcadia. Required fees are: Clerk of Court $200, Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information $250, District Attorney $50, and Sheriff $50. Not all records are eligible. First-time non-violent offenders who have completed their sentence generally have the best chance of qualifying. Arrests that did not lead to conviction are often eligible for expungement faster and with less complexity than conviction-based records.

Once an expungement is granted, the record is removed from public tools like Clerk Connect and eClerks LA. It will no longer appear in standard background checks. If you are unsure whether your case qualifies, consult a local attorney before filing. Errors in the petition can delay the process and result in additional fees you will need to pay again.

Cities in Bienville Parish

Arcadia is the parish seat and largest community in Bienville Parish. Other towns include Gibsland, Ringgold, and Saline. None of the cities in Bienville Parish meet the population threshold for a dedicated city page on this site. All criminal court records for the parish, regardless of which community a case originated from, are filed with the Bienville Parish Clerk of Court in Arcadia through the 2nd Judicial District Court.

Nearby Parishes

Bienville Parish is surrounded by several north Louisiana parishes. Records from neighboring parishes are handled by their own clerks of court and may fall under different judicial districts.