Find DUI Records in St. Mary Parish

St. Mary Parish Sheriff and Court Contacts

The St. Mary Parish Sheriff's Office is located at 117 Jane Street in Franklin, LA. The phone number is (337) 828-1960. The sheriff's office handles arrests and initial booking for DUI offenses in St. Mary Parish. Arrest records and booking information are kept at the sheriff's level, while court filings and case documents are held by the clerk of court once charges are formally filed in the 16th JDC.

If you are looking for an arrest record before a case is filed in court, start with the sheriff's office. Once a case has been filed, the clerk of court holds the official record. These are two different offices and two different sets of records, so knowing which stage a case is in will help you contact the right office.

For cases that were resolved years ago, the clerk's archive is likely your best source. The clerk keeps permanent records of disposed cases, including those that were dismissed, pled down, or resulted in conviction.

St. Mary Parish and the 16th Judicial District

The 16th Judicial District Court handles felony and serious misdemeanor cases for St. Mary, Iberia, and St. Martin parishes. DUI charges that rise to the level of felony, or that involve aggravating factors, are heard in the district court. The court's website provides information about judges, filing procedures, and court schedules.

The image below shows the 16th JDC website, which is the district court serving St. Mary Parish for DUI criminal cases and other court matters.

Appeals from 16th JDC decisions in St. Mary Parish go to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal, which sits in Baton Rouge. This is different from neighboring St. Martin Parish, which appeals to the 3rd Circuit despite sharing the same trial court district.

Online DUI Record Search for St. Mary Parish

The eClerks LA platform is one of the main ways to search St. Mary Parish DUI records online. This statewide system connects to court docket data from participating Louisiana parishes and lets you search by name or case number. Case details, charge descriptions, and court date information are typically available. Some document-level access may require a fee.

The image below is from eClerks LA, which provides online access to docket data from St. Mary Parish and other Louisiana courts for DUI and other criminal case searches.

You can also try Clerk Connect as a secondary platform. It works similarly to eClerks LA and may have different coverage depending on which parishes are participating at a given time.

Note: Online tools are useful for initial searches, but certified copies of court records must be obtained directly from the clerk of court in Franklin.

DUI Statutes in St. Mary Parish

Louisiana's operating while intoxicated (OWI) law is found at La. Rev. Stat. § 14:98. A first DUI offense in St. Mary Parish is usually a misdemeanor. Second convictions are treated under La. Rev. Stat. § 14:98.1 with mandatory jail time and increased fines. Third offenses fall under La. Rev. Stat. § 14:98.2, which carries potential felony consequences.

A fourth or later DUI is prosecuted as a felony under La. Rev. Stat. § 14:98.4. Felony DUI records are public court records in St. Mary Parish and can be accessed through the 16th JDC clerk. These cases also appear in statewide criminal background check systems.

Louisiana's chemical test law, La. Rev. Stat. § 32:661, requires drivers to consent to testing when lawfully stopped on suspicion of DUI. Refusal triggers an automatic license suspension proceeding under La. Rev. Stat. § 32:667. That suspension action is separate from the criminal case and is handled by the Office of Motor Vehicles.

Crash Reports and Motor Vehicle Records

DUI crash reports from St. Mary Parish are available through the Louisiana State Police crash report system at crashreports.dps.la.gov. Each report costs $11.50. A crash report gives you the officer's account of what happened at the scene, including any field sobriety observations, but it does not replace the court file as a record of conviction.

If you want to see DUI convictions as they appear on a driver's license history, the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles sells three-year driving records through OMV ExpressLane for $20. This is a useful record if the question is about license status rather than the specifics of the court case.

A statewide criminal background check through the Louisiana Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information (BCII) costs $26 online and will return DUI conviction history from St. Mary Parish and all other Louisiana parishes. This is often the fastest way to get a broad view of someone's criminal record without searching parish by parish.

Public Access to St. Mary Parish DUI Records

Under Louisiana's public records law, La. R.S. 44:1, court records including DUI case files are open to public inspection. You do not need a special reason or permission to look up a DUI record in St. Mary Parish. Records are sealed only when a judge orders it, which is uncommon in typical DUI cases. If a case was expunged, the court file is restricted, and the clerk's office will not disclose those records to the general public.

Copy fees vary by office. Call the clerk at (337) 828-1960 or visit the Franklin courthouse to ask about current fees for standard copies and certified copies. Mail requests are often accepted with payment enclosed, though processing times may be longer than walk-in visits.

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