Ascension Parish Inmate Population
The Ascension Parish inmate population has one main local jail count and several related custody tracks. The Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office Corrections Division operates Ascension Parish Jail in Donaldsonville and describes it as a full-service jail rated at over 500 beds. The official New World inmate inquiry, linked by the sheriff, is the public roster for local jail records. That roster can include people awaiting arraignment, parish-sentenced people, court holds, and records marked for off-site housing. It is not the same as a state prison locator.
Ascension Parish also has two Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections prisons in St. Gabriel, the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women and Elayn Hunt Correctional Center. Those facilities are part of the state prison system, so they are searched through Louisiana VINE and DPS&C resources rather than the parish jail roster. Gonzales Police handles municipal arrest and court-payment matters, but no separate city jail roster or city jail capacity was found in official sources. Longer custody from a Gonzales arrest normally points back to the Ascension Parish Jail roster, court records, or state custody.
The APSO Corrections Division page is the local source for jail capacity, roster cautions, visitation, deposits, and release procedure.
That corrections source anchors the local jail side of the Ascension Parish inmate population before state or federal locators are used.
Ascension Parish Inmate Statistics
The strongest local population figure in the research is a roster snapshot, not an audited average daily population. The Ascension Parish current in-custody search returned "Showing 1 to 20 of 542" on June 16, 2026, when the In Custody option was selected and the date fields were blank. That number is useful for current lookup context. It should not be treated as an annual jail census because the roster can change quickly and may include off-site housing records.
The Ascension Parish inmate population also sits within broader Louisiana and national custody patterns. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported 664,800 people in local jails nationwide during the 12 months ending June 30, 2023, and 7.6 million jail admissions over that same period. Prison Policy Initiative cited Ascension Parish with a state-prison incarceration rate of 195 per 100,000, the lowest parish rate noted in its July 13, 2023 Louisiana analysis. DPS&C also reports the Donaldsonville probation and parole district carries 2,200 cases and more than 50 sex-offender cases across its covered parishes.
| Measure | Figure | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Rated capacity | Over 500 beds | APSO Corrections page, inspected June 16, 2026 |
| Current public in-custody roster count | 542 records | APSO New World Inmate Inquiry, inspected June 16, 2026 |
| Housing facility filters | Ascension Parish Jail; Off Site Housing | APSO New World Inmate Inquiry, June 16, 2026 |
| BJS national jail average daily population | 664,800 | BJS Jail Inmates in 2023 |
| BJS national jail admissions | 7.6 million | BJS Jail Inmates in 2023 |
| Ascension Parish state-prison origin rate | 195 per 100,000 | Prison Policy Initiative, July 13, 2023 |
| Donaldsonville probation and parole caseload | 2,200 cases; more than 50 sex-offender cases | DPS&C Donaldsonville office, inspected 2026 |
The current in-custody roster view shows the count and result grid used for the June 16, 2026 snapshot.
Because the roster count changes, that image supports a dated snapshot rather than a permanent population total.
Ascension Parish Inmate Trends
Ascension Parish does not publish a clean multi-year jail average daily population table in the official sources reviewed. The available trend view is therefore narrow: a 2026 live roster count, a 2023 national BJS comparison, a 2023 state-prison origin comparison, and state supervision data from DPS&C. That mix still helps place the Ascension Parish inmate population in context without inventing local annual averages.
Capacity context requires care. A current roster snapshot of 542 records sits near or above the sheriff's broad "over 500 beds" capacity statement, but the roster count may include off-site housing. The capacity figure is also imprecise. For that reason, the data supports saying the public roster count was close to the published bed range on June 16, 2026. It does not support a formal overcrowding finding without an audited bed count, jail census, or parish report.
| Year or date | Population measure | Context |
|---|---|---|
| June 16, 2026 | 542 current in-custody roster records | Live APSO public roster snapshot, not an audited average |
| 2026 | 2,200 probation and parole cases in the Donaldsonville district | DPS&C district page covering Ascension, Assumption, St. James, and St. John the Baptist |
| 2023 | 664,800 national jail ADP | BJS national comparison, not Ascension-specific |
| 2023 | 195 per 100,000 state-prison origin rate | PPI Louisiana county comparison for Ascension Parish |
Who Counts in Ascension Parish
The Ascension Parish inmate population is not one single legal category. Local jail records can include people newly booked after arrest, people awaiting arraignment, people held for court, parish-sentenced prisoners, and people whose public record shows off-site housing. Roster profiles also show the booking origin, so a person arrested by Gonzales Police may still appear in the Ascension Parish Jail roster once the parish jail booking is created.
The public roster has record-level demographics, not a summary demographic report. Search results and profile pages show race, gender, date of birth, height, weight, scheduled release date when entered, multiple-bookings status, and housing facility. Race values observed in the research included Black, White, Hispanic or Latino, and Unknown. Gender values observed included Male and Female. Because the roster does not publish totals by race, gender, charge type, or age, percentages should not be inferred from sample searches.
- Awaiting Arraignment
- A booked person whose early court stage or arraignment is still pending.
- Sentenced Parish
- A local sentence status shown in APSO profiles for parish jail custody.
- Detainer
- A hold or request from another agency that can affect release even if local bond is posted.
- Classification
- A jail custody or security assessment. The field exists on profiles, but it may be blank in public view.
Ascension Parish Inmate Laws
Louisiana law and local sheriff rules shape what can be seen about the Ascension Parish inmate population. The live roster is public-facing, but APSO warns that it may change quickly and may not reflect final charges, court dates, or case status. Public-record access also has limits. APSO says formal public-records requests must be sent in writing by USPS to the custodian of records at sheriff headquarters, and the request is not deemed received if sent by another method.
Key statutes and rules:
La. R.S. 44:1 defines public bodies and public records broadly, subject to exemptions for protected law-enforcement material.
La. R.S. 15:824 covers commitment to DPS&C and state payments when state prisoners are housed in parish jails.
La. R.S. 15:704 requires jailkeepers to provide sufficient food and season-appropriate clothing and addresses reimbursement.
La. R.S. 15:705 allows prisoner transfers when a parish jail is unsafe, unfit, or presents security or health risks.
La. Admin. Code tit. 22, Part III, Section 2503 introduces minimum jail standards for parish jail planning, administration, and construction.
Ascension Parish Jail Context
The Ascension Parish inmate population is also shaped by programs, conditions, and court events. The APSO 2023 Special Report described corrections programming that includes parenting and GED classes. That report is a sheriff-published local source, so it supports the fact that the jail advertises rehabilitation programming. It does not prove a specific recidivism result.
Louisiana State Police reported that detectives were requested by APSO to investigate an in-custody death at Ascension Parish Jail on December 1, 2024. State custody deaths are also tracked through DPS&C death dashboards. Those records are separate from the daily roster, but they matter when evaluating jail conditions and population oversight.
The APSO Special Report source shows local corrections programming used for rehabilitation context.
Programming details should be read as facility operations information, not as a substitute for the live jail roster or formal records.
Search Ascension Parish Inmates
The official local custody search is the Ascension Parish New World Inmate Inquiry. It is free and no login was observed during research. The roster has a search form, result grid, mugshot thumbnails, and linked profile pages. It covers Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office roster results. It does not replace Louisiana VINE for sentenced state prisoners, the BOP locator for federal prisoners, or ICE ODLS for immigration detainees.
The current roster screen is useful for a broad Ascension Parish inmate population check because the date fields can be cleared and the In Custody box can be selected. The research found that the default search page may load with the current date in the booking date fields. If those fields are left in place, the results may look like only the day's bookings. Clear the date range for a broader current-custody search.
The official roster source shows the search form and public result columns used for Ascension Parish inmate lookup.
The same roster is the best starting point for local bookings before moving to court, state, federal, or immigration systems.
- Open the official APSO inmate inquiry and read the roster disclaimer before relying on a result.
- For a current jail population search, check In Custody and clear Booking From Date and Booking To Date.
- Search by name, subject number, or booking number if that number is known from a prior record.
- Use Housing Facility to separate Ascension Parish Jail from Off Site Housing when that distinction matters.
- Click the linked name to open the profile for charges, bond, booking origin, photo, and court fields.
- If the person was sentenced to state custody, use Louisiana VINE or DPS&C instead of the parish roster.
Ascension Parish Roster Fields
The roster search fields are specific enough to support both broad and narrow searches. Name is useful when only the person is known. Subject Number and Booking Number are better when a family member, attorney, bondsman, or prior court record already has an identifier. Housing Facility is important in Ascension Parish because the dropdown includes both Ascension Parish Jail and Off Site Housing.
| Field label | Type | Required | Options or format notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Text | Unspecified | Accepts name text. The public page does not state wildcard or minimum rules. |
| Subject Number | Text | Unspecified | Numeric subject identifier shown in the result grid and profile. |
| Booking Number | Text | Unspecified | Observed format is YYYY-########, such as 2026-00001958. |
| In Custody | Checkbox | Optional | Value True. The title says Currently jailed only. |
| Booking From Date | Text/date picker | Optional | Default on first load was the current date during research. |
| Booking To Date | Text/date picker | Optional | Clear it with the From Date for a broader current-custody search. |
| Housing Facility | Dropdown | Optional | Blank, Ascension Parish Jail, or Off Site Housing. |
Ascension Parish Inmate Records
An Ascension Parish inmate record can be more detailed than a simple jail list. The sample profile inspected in the research showed demographics, a photo area, booking history, bonds, court fields, and a charge grid. APSO's disclaimer matters here. The profile can identify a booking and show arrest or intake information, but the district attorney and court may later file, amend, reduce, dismiss, or resolve charges in a different way.
The sample inmate detail page was captured from the official New World profile view for field inventory.
Profile fields should be used as booking data first, then checked against court and clerk records for final case status.
| Field | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Name and subject number | Person display name and numeric identifier. |
| Booking number and booking date | The booking event and time entered into the jail system. |
| Photo | Thumbnail in results and a larger photo area on detail profiles. |
| Prisoner type | Examples observed include Awaiting Arraignment and Sentenced Parish. |
| Housing facility | Ascension Parish Jail, blank, or off-site related housing information when entered. |
| Bond and bail totals | Total amounts plus per-bond lines when available. |
| Charge grid | Charge description, counts, offense date, docket number, disposition, crime class, arresting agency, and bond. |
Past Ascension Parish Bookings
Past and released inmate records require a wider search path. The live roster may show released bookings or multiple booking history when a profile remains available, but the research did not locate an official retention rule that guarantees how long released profiles stay public. For routine booking sheets, APSO says they can be obtained in person at the Donaldsonville Courthouse, Sheriff Headquarters, District 2, or District 3. For formal public records, APSO requires written USPS mail to Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office Headquarters, 828 S. Irma Blvd., Gonzales, LA 70737, Attn: Deputy Kyle Gautreau, Legal Affairs.
The APSO public records request page is the key source for the USPS-only request rule, exemptions, and fee schedule.
That local rule is important because APSO says a request sent by another method is not deemed received for public-records response purposes.
APSO lists document copies at $1.00 per page, photographs at $5.00 per page, and audio or video recordings at $1.00 per minute plus $10.00 per disc. After APSO decides a record can be released, it provides an invoice and requires costs to be paid before release. Cash, credit card, or money order can be paid in person at the Gonzales headquarters, or a money order can be mailed by USPS. Checks are allowed only for law firms and insurance companies.
Ascension Parish Jail or Prison
The most common lookup mistake is searching the wrong custody system. The Ascension Parish Jail roster covers local APSO jail records. Louisiana VINE and DPS&C cover state custody. BOP covers sentenced federal prisoners from 1982 to the present. ICE ODLS covers immigration detention. A person can move between systems after bond, sentencing, transfer, or a new hold.
| Question | Parish jail roster | State prison locator | Federal or ICE locator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who is covered? | Local jail bookings, pretrial detainees, parish-sentenced people, and court holds. | People sentenced to Louisiana DPS&C custody, including LCIW and EHCC prisoners. | Sentenced federal prisoners in BOP or people currently held by ICE. |
| Primary search tool | APSO New World Inmate Inquiry. | Louisiana VINE and DPS&C offender information. | BOP Inmate Locator or ICE ODLS. |
| What identifiers help? | Name, subject number, booking number, booking date, and housing facility. | Name, ID or case number, and location. | BOP register number or ICE A-number, name, country of birth, and date of birth. |
| Photo expectations | Roster photos appear for many public profiles. | State locator is not the Ascension jail mugshot roster. | Federal and ICE locators are not public mugshot galleries. |
State and Federal Search
The DPS&C offender information page points users to Louisiana VINE and says its locate-person resource is updated every 24 hours. VINE supports lookup by location, name, and ID or case number, and it also allows notification registration for custody changes. Use this path for sentenced prisoners at Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, Elayn Hunt Correctional Center, or another Louisiana state facility.
The BOP locator is for federal prisoners, including people incarcerated from 1982 to the present. BOP by-name fields include first name, middle name, last name, race, sex, and age, while the main locator also supports number searches. ICE ODLS can locate a person currently held by ICE by A-number or by biographical details. No BOP or ICE detention facility was identified inside Ascension Parish, so federal or immigration searches should not be treated as local jail roster searches.
The Louisiana VINE screenshot is tied to the state custody route used after a person leaves parish jail for DPS&C custody.
VINE can supplement the sheriff roster when a local booking becomes a state custody matter.
Ascension Parish Access Channels
The full Ascension Parish inmate population search has more than one access channel. The online roster is the fastest local path when it works. Phone and in-person options help when the roster is down, a booking is too new, the person may be under another housing status, or a booking sheet is needed. The sheriff app is also relevant because the official app listing advertises Inmate Search, Jail Information, Sex Offenders, tips, crime reporting, and public safety news.
APSO publishes a jail operations number of (225) 473-8674, a jail phone card number of (225) 264-6709, and a corrections contact number of (225) 264-6704 for Warden Tony Nethken. The sheriff's main Gonzales headquarters is listed at 828 South Irma Blvd., Gonzales, LA 70737, with phone (225) 621-8300. Public locations also include Donaldsonville at 300 Houmas St. The Ascension Parish Sheriff app for iPhone and Android may package roster and jail information for mobile users. The APSO Tip app and text APSO to 847411 route are tip channels, not custody confirmation channels.
The APSO contact and locations page documents the Gonzales and Donaldsonville public office split.
That office split matters because the jail is in Donaldsonville while the sheriff headquarters and records mailing route are in Gonzales.
Ascension Parish Detention Facilities
Facility names matter because Ascension Parish includes one main parish jail, a municipal police holding and court-routing agency, and two state prisons in St. Gabriel. A person in the parish jail should be searched through APSO. A sentenced state prisoner at LCIW or EHCC should be searched through Louisiana VINE and DPS&C. A Gonzales municipal arrest may begin with Gonzales Police records but longer custody points to the parish jail roster or the court system.
The DPS&C Ascension Parish jail and offices page confirms the local jail address and related justice-office contacts.
DPS&C directory information is useful for address confirmation, but it does not replace the APSO roster for local jail lookup.
- Ascension Parish Jail - APSO's primary local jail for pretrial detainees, parish-sentenced prisoners, court holds, and some off-site housing records.
- Gonzales City Police Jail - Municipal police arrest and holding function for Gonzales matters, with longer custody routed to parish jail or court records.
- Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women - Louisiana DPS&C state prison for adult women in state custody.
- Elayn Hunt Correctional Center - Louisiana DPS&C state prison with reception, diagnostic, medical, mental-health, work, education, and reentry functions.
Ascension Parish Inmate FAQ
How large is the Ascension Parish inmate population? The best local snapshot found was 542 current in-custody roster records on June 16, 2026. APSO separately describes the jail as rated at over 500 beds. Treat the 542 figure as a public roster snapshot, not a formal annual average.
Where is the official Ascension Parish inmate search? The local jail search is the APSO New World Inmate Inquiry. Use it for parish jail bookings, then use Louisiana VINE for state custody, BOP for sentenced federal prisoners, and ICE ODLS for immigration detention.
Can released Ascension Parish inmates be looked up? Some profiles may show prior or released booking data, but the research did not find a guaranteed public retention period. For routine booking sheets, APSO lists in-person locations. For formal records, APSO requires a written USPS public-records request.
Does the roster show mugshots? Yes. The official roster shows photo thumbnails in search results and a photo section on profile pages. Booking photos should still be read with APSO's disclaimer because a booking record does not prove guilt or final court status.
Are LCIW and Elayn Hunt part of the parish jail? No. They are Louisiana DPS&C state prisons in St. Gabriel. People held there are searched through state custody tools, not the Ascension Parish Jail roster.
What if the roster does not find a person? Clear the booking date fields, try name and identifier searches, call the jail or records line, check in-person booking sheet options, and search VINE, BOP, or ICE if the person may be outside parish jail custody.