Criminal Department

The Criminal Department is responsible for filing all formal charges from the 21st Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. This department handles all felony charges and any misdemeanor charges that occur outside the city limits of the municipal courts.

The Criminal Department issues criminal subpoenas, criminal and civil bench warrants; files extradition papers; sends notice of judgment to bondsman when judgments have been rendered in criminal cases; maintains the proper affidavits for judgments; expunges criminal records; and conducts criminal background searches, as well as files all criminal pleadings.

The Criminal Department is staffed by Minute Clerks whose responsibilities are to transcribe an outline of what occurs in court for both criminal and civil courts. There are ten Minute Clerks — one Minute Clerk for each Judge, for the Hearing Officer, and for the Traffic Division. Both criminal and civil minutes are transcribed on computer. The Minute Clerks administer the oath to all jurors and witnesses; keep evidence introduced by the State, plaintiff, or defense attorneys; send notice to attorneys or other parties for civil rules and trials; maintain the civil court docket; and maintain and process all appeals.

The Criminal Department files all Juvenile Delinquent and Child(ren) in Need of Care Charges. All juvenile proceedings are confidential and cannot be viewed by the public without a valid court order. Criminal non-support charges and files are also maintained by the Criminal Department. For further assistance or questions, please contact our department at (985) 284-2630.

Traffic

Traffic citations issued by the Louisiana State Police, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Wildlife and Fisheries Agency are filed in the Criminal Department. Information regarding traffic citations is shared and transferred from the District Attorney’s Office to the Criminal Department by computer disk. The individual tickets are given docket numbers in the criminal section by the Traffic Clerk. The Traffic Clerk records all minute entries and issues bench warrants.

Payments of traffic fines are not accepted at the Clerk’s Office. Fines should be paid at the 21st Judicial District Collections Department. The phone number is (985) 284-2108.

Helpful Criminal Department Links

Expungement Forms