St. Bernard Parish Criminal Court Records
A criminal court record in St. Bernard Parish is the court case file maintained after a prosecution reaches the Thirty-Fourth Judicial District Court. The Clerk of Court is the record custodian for criminal filings and minutes. The District Attorney screens and prosecutes cases, but the court record is the file that shows what was filed, what hearings were set, what orders were entered, and how the matter ended. A sheriff booking record may start with an arrest. The criminal court record starts when charges are accepted or filed in the court process.
The 34th Judicial District Court has original jurisdiction over criminal matters in St. Bernard Parish. Its five divisions, A through E, hear district-court cases at the courthouse in Chalmette. Justice of the Peace courts can also matter for lower-level local proceedings and bench-warrant issues, but felony prosecutions and many misdemeanor criminal case records route through the 34th JDC and the Clerk. For a closer look at the charges as they move from arrest to prosecution, use the St. Bernard Parish arrest records and court charges page.
The local court site also points criminal defendants to defense resources. The District Attorney's indigent defender page identifies the local indigent defender office for eligible defendants.
That source is useful because appointed-counsel activity may appear in St. Bernard Parish criminal minutes through appearances, continuances, plea settings, and sentencing entries.
Search St. Bernard Parish Criminal Cases
The main official online route is the St. Bernard Parish Clerk of Court Public Records Search. The portal is not an open public index. It requires a user account, login credentials, and a subscription selection. The visible pricing table lists a criminal daily subscription, criminal monthly subscription, and criminal annual subscription, plus per-item charges for criminal images and criminal minutes. Before searching, the portal advises users to review Certified Dates so they know what indexed material is available.
Use the criminal record category when the goal is to read a filed criminal case, not a civil suit, succession, land record, marriage record, or jail custody entry. The Clerk portal is the best route for court minutes and case images where available. If the case is not found, the practical fallback is to contact the Clerk with the defendant name, filing year, case number if known, and whether a plain or certified copy is needed.
- Open the Clerk public-records portal and sign in or create an account.
- Choose the criminal subscription or criminal record category that matches the search need.
- Check Certified Dates before relying on the index for older St. Bernard Parish criminal court records.
- Search by the strongest identifier available, such as case number, defendant name, and filing period.
- Open the criminal minute or image entries to read charges, hearings, plea activity, disposition, and sentence where available.
- Contact the Clerk of Court for a certified copy or for a case that appears to be older, sealed, expunged, or not yet indexed.
For custody status after an arrest, the Sheriff and LAVNS channels are separate from the court file. A jail roster can show that a person is in custody, while the Clerk's criminal case record shows the court path: charges, arraignment, motions, plea or trial, disposition, and sentencing.
St. Bernard Criminal Case Flow
Criminal court records are easier to read when the entries are tied to the stage of the case. In St. Bernard Parish, an arrest may lead to booking by the Sheriff's Office, review by the District Attorney, a bond or magistrate setting, and then a filed case in the 34th JDC. Once the case is opened, the Clerk's criminal minutes and docket entries become the official route for court events.
Case flow: Charges Filed › Arraignment › Pretrial and Motions › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
- Charges filed: The record may show a bill of information, indictment, complaint reference, charge list, statute reference, case number, filing date, and assigned division.
- Arraignment: The defendant is advised of charges and enters an initial plea, such as guilty or not guilty.
- Pretrial and motions: Minute entries can show settings, continuances, bond orders, discovery issues, subpoenas, suppression motions, and other orders.
- Plea or trial: The case may show a plea agreement, verdict, trial setting, jury or bench trial event, dismissal, or amended charge activity.
- Disposition: Each count should have an outcome, such as guilty plea, not guilty verdict, dismissal, nolle prosequi, or other closure.
- Sentencing: The sentencing entry can show jail or prison time, probation, fines, costs, restitution, court conditions, and post-sentence orders.
What St. Bernard Criminal Records Show
A St. Bernard Parish criminal court record can contain both docket-style entries and images or minutes, depending on what the Clerk portal makes available under the user's subscription. The research did not locate a public sample case because the Clerk portal requires a login and subscription. The visible portal information confirms criminal subscriptions and separate criminal image and criminal minute charges, so the page should be treated as a gated official court-record channel rather than a free public case database.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case number | The local 34th JDC criminal case identifier, if visible or supplied by the Clerk. |
| Court and division | The 34th Judicial District Court and the assigned division, A through E. |
| Defendant | The person charged in the criminal case, usually listed as State of Louisiana versus the defendant. |
| Charges | The counts filed by complaint, bill of information, indictment, or later amendment. |
| Attorneys | District Attorney, retained defense counsel, or public defender appearance when entered in the case. |
| Docket and minutes | Arraignment, motion settings, continuances, plea dates, trial settings, orders, warrants, bond activity, and sentencing. |
| Status or disposition | Open, closed, dismissed, disposed, appealed, sealed, expunged, or another portal or Clerk status if used. |
| Financial entries | Fines, costs, restitution, bond, image fees, or minute fees where those items are part of the file. |
The Louisiana Office of the State Public Defender District 34 page identifies the local defender district and District Defender Tom Gernhauser.
That public-defender context matters because attorney appointments and defense appearances may be reflected in St. Bernard Parish criminal court minutes.
St. Bernard Charges vs Convictions
A charge is an accusation filed or accepted in the criminal court process. It is not the same thing as a conviction. One St. Bernard Parish criminal court record may show several charges from the same arrest, and each charge can end differently. Some may be reduced, amended, dismissed, or marked nolle prosequi, while another count may result in a guilty plea or verdict. Read the disposition for each count before treating the case as a conviction record.
| Point of Comparison | Charge | Conviction |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | An accusation that a law was violated. | A guilty plea, guilty verdict, or other final finding of guilt. |
| Where it appears | Charging document, docket, minutes, bond setting, and case summary. | Disposition, judgment, sentencing minute, and post-plea or post-trial entries. |
| Can it change | Yes. It may be amended, reduced, dismissed, or dropped. | It may be appealed, set aside, expunged from public access, or otherwise affected by later orders. |
| How to verify | Review the current charge list and later minutes. | Read the final disposition and sentence for each count. |
Do not use a booking charge, arrest note, or early docket entry as proof of guilt. The St. Bernard Parish criminal case file must be read through disposition and sentencing to understand the final outcome.
Public Access to Criminal Records
Louisiana public-records law starts with a broad right to inspect and copy public records, but criminal court records sit at the point where open access, court orders, law-enforcement exceptions, and privacy rules meet. The Clerk is the custodian for district-court criminal filings and minutes. The Sheriff's Office is the custodian for arrest reports, incarceration letters, accident reports, incident reports, background checks, and body-camera footage. Parish government has its own public-records form, but its records page warns that it does not maintain criminal certificates or police reports.
Key access rules:
La. R.S. 44:31 gives adults the right to inspect, copy, or reproduce public records unless an exception applies.
La. R.S. 44:32 requires custodians to provide copies or reproductions through lawful procedures and fees.
La. R.S. 44:3 restricts certain law-enforcement and investigatory records, including some arrest records before final plea or conviction.
The difference between custodians matters. A criminal minute entry, plea, or sentence should be requested from the Clerk. A police report or booking-related copy should be routed to the Sheriff's Office records channel. A prosecution news item or court-date tool may appear through the District Attorney, but the DA site is not the same as the Clerk's certified case file.
Sealed vs Expunged Criminal Records
Restricted criminal records require careful terms. A sealed record is hidden from ordinary public access by court order. An expunged Louisiana record is not simply destroyed. Louisiana law defines expungement as removal of arrest or conviction information from public access, while preserving listed access exceptions. In St. Bernard Parish, expungement paperwork belongs in the district-court and Clerk system, not the parish government's general public-records request form.
| Point of Comparison | Sealed Record | Expunged Record |
|---|---|---|
| Public visibility | Hidden from ordinary public search because a court order limits access. | Removed from public access after a qualifying expungement order. |
| Record existence | The file remains with the court but is not open to general inspection. | The record is not treated as public, but Louisiana law says expungement does not mean physical destruction. |
| Possible access | Parties, attorneys, agencies, or others may need a court order or legal authority. | Access may still exist for listed statutory exceptions, depending on the law and requesting agency. |
| Local route | Ask the Clerk about access procedure if a sealed file is involved. | File through the 34th JDC and Clerk system if the charge and disposition qualify. |
The Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure article 972 source defines expungement for arrest and conviction information.
That definition is the reason expunged St. Bernard Parish criminal court records should be described as removed from public access, not erased from every agency system.
The article 973 source states the public-record effect of an expungement order.
That rule supports the public-access warning that an expunged St. Bernard Parish arrest or conviction record is confidential except for listed exceptions.
Restricted St. Bernard Criminal Records
Not every criminal or quasi-criminal file is public. Juvenile-court records are a core restriction in Louisiana. Sealed matters, expunged cases, adoption records, mental-health proceedings, protected victim data, minor identifiers, Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, and active investigative records can also be withheld, redacted, or unavailable through the portal. A missing case in the Clerk portal may mean the record is older, indexed under a different name or number, not yet digitized, restricted, sealed, or expunged.
Louisiana Children's Code article 412 is especially important for St. Bernard Parish criminal-record users because it makes juvenile-court records and reports confidential, except traffic violations and express statutory exceptions. Do not expect public online access to juvenile delinquency, custody, or child-protection files. When a case involves a minor, the public record may show little or nothing, even if the event was real.
The Louisiana Children's Code article 412 source is the statutory basis for juvenile confidentiality.
That rule is why St. Bernard Parish juvenile matters should not be described as ordinary public criminal court records.
Important: Public case lookup is not a consumer background check and should not be used for FCRA-regulated decisions.
St. Bernard Criminal Record Offices
Use the office that holds the specific record. The Clerk handles the criminal case file, court minutes, images, filings, and certified court copies. The District Attorney handles prosecution information that is public and provides court-date, victim information, news, recent decisions, and court-contact tools through its website and app. The Sheriff's Office handles police reports, arrest materials, incarceration letters, body-camera footage, incident reports, and jail records in its custody. Fees for sheriff records follow the Sheriff's public-records fee schedule, including listed charges for incarceration letters, accident reports, incident reports, background checks, body-camera footage, copies, and media discs.
St. Bernard Parish Clerk of Court
1101 W. St. Bernard Highway
Chalmette, LA 70043
504-271-3434
St. Bernard Parish District Attorney
1101 W. St. Bernard Highway
Chalmette, LA 70043
504-271-1658
Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST
Sheriff Criminal Records and Reports
2 Courthouse Square
Chalmette, LA 70043
504-278-7726
Federal criminal cases from St. Bernard Parish are separate from parish criminal court records. Federal matters route through the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and federal PACER systems, not the St. Bernard Clerk's criminal subscription portal.