Evangeline Parish DUI Records Search
Evangeline Parish DUI records are held by the Clerk of Court and the Sheriff's Office in Ville Platte, with all criminal cases processed through the 13th Judicial District Court in south-central Louisiana.
Evangeline Parish Quick Facts
Evangeline Parish DUI Records and the 13th JDC
Evangeline Parish sits in south-central Louisiana between the Cajun prairie and the pine hills to the north. DUI cases in the parish go through the 13th Judicial District Court, which serves Evangeline Parish exclusively. The 13th JDC handles all felony and misdemeanor criminal matters in the parish, including operating while intoxicated charges that result in formal prosecution. The court is located in Ville Platte, the parish seat, at 200 Court Street.
Louisiana's DUI law, La. R.S. 14:98, governs all operating while intoxicated offenses in Evangeline Parish and throughout the state. A first arrest with a BAC at or above 0.08% is charged as a misdemeanor. If the person has a prior DUI, the charge escalates. Second offenses carry mandatory fines and jail time under La. R.S. 14:98.1. Third-offense DUI becomes a felony under La. R.S. 14:98.2, and a fourth or later conviction under La. R.S. 14:98.3 carries some of the most severe penalties in the state's criminal code.
Clerk of Court: DUI Case File Access in Ville Platte
The Evangeline Parish Clerk of Court is located at 200 Court Street, Suite 104, Ville Platte, LA 70586, with a mailing address of PO Drawer 347. The phone number is (337) 363-5671. The Clerk maintains all court records for the parish, including criminal case files from DUI prosecutions. When a DUI arrest leads to charges being filed by the District Attorney, the case file is created by the Clerk and maintained as a public record under La. R.S. 44:1.
To request a DUI case record, you can visit the Clerk's office in person at 200 Court Street during normal business hours. You'll need to provide the name of the person you're searching for. A case number helps speed things up, but the Clerk can search by name. Fees for copies apply, and the Clerk can provide the current rate schedule. Mail requests can be sent to PO Drawer 347, Ville Platte, LA 70586. The Clerk's office processes records requests for both civil and criminal matters, so be clear about the type of record you need when you contact them.
If a DUI case was resolved through a plea agreement or went to trial, all related documents — charging papers, motions, plea forms, and judgment orders — are in the Clerk's file. These are public records and can be inspected free of charge, with fees only for copies made.
Sheriff Guillory and DUI Arrests in Evangeline Parish
Sheriff Charles Guillory leads the Evangeline Parish Sheriff's Office at 200 Court Street, Suite 100, Ville Platte, LA 70586. The phone number is (337) 363-2161. The Sheriff's Office is the main law enforcement agency for unincorporated areas of the parish and handles the majority of DUI arrests outside the incorporated towns. When a deputy makes a DUI arrest, the arrest is documented in a report, the driver is processed, and the case is referred to the District Attorney for charging decisions.
Members of the public seeking to access warrant records in Evangeline Parish may do so through the Sheriff's Office at 200 Court Street, Ville Platte, LA 70586. The same office can provide information about recent DUI arrests and help the public locate someone who has been taken into custody following a DUI stop. Having a name and approximate date of arrest will help the Sheriff's staff search their records efficiently.
Louisiana's implied consent law, La. R.S. 32:661, means that anyone driving on Louisiana roads has already agreed to submit to chemical testing if lawfully arrested for DUI. Refusing to test triggers an administrative license suspension under La. R.S. 32:667, handled separately from the criminal case by the OMV.
Detention Facilities and DUI Booking
Evangeline Parish has three jail facilities that may hold individuals arrested on DUI charges. The Evangeline Parish Jail is located at 200 Court Street in Ville Platte, adjacent to the Sheriff's Office and the courthouse. For those arrested in the southern part of the parish, Pine Prairie Correctional Center at 1133 Hampton Dupre Road may be used. The South Louisiana Detention Center at 3843 Stagg Avenue in Basile is a larger facility that can also hold parish inmates. If you need to find out where someone is being held after a DUI arrest, call the Sheriff's Office at (337) 363-2161 first and they can direct you to the right facility.
District Attorney and Local Police Agencies
The Evangeline Parish District Attorney is Trent Brignac. The DA's office is at PO Drawer 780, Ville Platte, and can be reached by phone at (337) 363-3438. The DA decides whether to formally charge a person arrested for DUI and handles prosecution through the 13th JDC. Not all DUI arrests lead to charges; the DA reviews the evidence and makes a filing decision. If charges are filed, the court record begins with the Clerk of Court.
Several local police departments also make DUI arrests in Evangeline Parish. The Ville Platte Police Department can be reached at (337) 363-1316. The Basile Police Department is at (337) 432-5493. Mamou Police can be reached at (337) 468-5221. Each of these agencies has its own arrest records. If a DUI occurred in one of these cities, contact the relevant police department to find the initial arrest report, and the Clerk of Court for any subsequent court records.
Statewide DUI Record Search Resources
The Louisiana eClerks platform at eclerksla.com provides free statewide court case searches, including access to case index data from parishes across Louisiana. This is a good starting point if you want to check whether a DUI case exists without calling the Clerk's office directly. The system shows basic case information and can confirm whether charges were filed. For full case documents, contact the Clerk of Court.
The Louisiana Secretary of State also maintains a clerk lookup portal at voterportal.sos.la.gov/clerk, which can help you identify the right clerk office for each parish. The Louisiana State Police crash reports portal at crashreports.dps.la.gov is the place to go for crash report data tied to DUI incidents that involved collisions. These reports are separate from court records but provide documentation of the circumstances of the stop and arrest.
The Louisiana Secretary of State's clerk lookup tool helps you find the right clerk office and contact information for each parish, including Evangeline.
eClerks Louisiana provides free access to court case indexes from multiple parishes, which may include Evangeline Parish DUI case data.
Nearby Parishes
Evangeline Parish is surrounded by several other south-central Louisiana parishes. DUI records in each are managed by their own clerk and court system.