Louisiana Jail Data

An automated scraper that collects inmate roster data from Louisiana parish jails and police departments using GitHub Actions.

Updates

• April 24th, 2026: Updated to fix the encryption, to instead make it a cypher. This allows us to compare encrypted names / encrypted dates of birth across time. We also condensed the past 30+ days of downloads with the previous rosters. This gives us 7,000,000+ records.

What it does

Every day at 6:00 PM CST, the GitHub Actions workflow scrapes inmate roster tables from 72 Louisiana parish jails and police departments listed in links.csv. This includes 61 out of 64 parishes and 11 municipal jails. Scraped data is saved as a timestamped CSV in the downloads/ folder and committed to the repo. Sensitive fields (Name and DOB) are encrypted using RSA public-key encryption before being committed. If you need this information, please contact me at eappelson@laaclu.org.

Note

This data includes both those held pretrial and post-conviction. Additionally, historical rosters were scraped from here, and the resulting dataframe is saved in downloads as rosters.rds. Sensitive data is hashed.

Files

• script.py: Scrapes all jails and encrypts sensitive columns before saving
• encrypt.py: Encryption utility
• decrypt.py: Decrypts CSVs locally using the private key
• jail_scraper.r: Scrapes data from the past year saved here.
• links.csv: List of 80 jail roster URLs with associated jail names
• .github/workflows/main.yml: GitHub Actions workflow that runs the scraper

Warning

This code should NEVER be replicated or repurposed to scrape and track individuals held in jail. This project exists solely for research and accountability purposes. Do not misuse this code or data to monitor, target, or surveil incarcerated individuals.

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Parish Breakdown

Last updated: 2026-08-14 01:32 UTC

Total inmates (latest scrape): 27,154 across 72 parishes/jails

Acadia Parish

Total: 161

Race	Count	%
White	88	54.7%
Black	71	44.1%
Unknown	1	0.6%
American Indian/Alaska Native	1	0.6%

Allen Parish

Total: 119

Race	Count	%
White	73	61.3%
Black	42	35.3%
Unknown	2	1.7%
American Indian/Alaska Native	2	1.7%

Ascension Parish

Total: 519

Race	Count	%
Black	271	52.2%
White	211	40.7%
Unknown	32	6.2%
Asian/PacificIslander	5	1.0%

Assumption Parish

Total: 168

Race	Count	%
Unknown	98	58.3%
White	70	41.7%

Avoyelles Parish

Total: 360

Race	Count	%
Black	202	56.1%
White	155	43.1%
Unknown	3	0.8%

Beauregard Parish

Total: 182

Race	Count	%
White	115	63.2%
Black	67	36.8%

Bienville Parish

Total: 43

Race	Count	%
White	22	51.2%
Unknown	21	48.8%

Bogalusa Police Department

Total: 27

Race	Count	%
White	19	70.4%
Black	8	29.6%

Bossier City Police Department

Total: 47

Race	Count	%
Black	33	70.2%
White	14	29.8%

Bossier Parish

Total: 1,137

Race	Count	%
Black	635	55.8%
White	500	44.0%
American Indian/Alaska Native	1	0.1%
Asian/PacificIslander	1	0.1%

Caddo Parish

Total: 1,737

Race	Count	%
Black	1,316	75.8%
White	390	22.5%
Unknown	30	1.7%
Asian/PacificIslander	1	0.1%

Calcasieu Parish

Total: 1,106

Race	Count	%
Black	596	53.9%
White	466	42.1%
Unknown	43	3.9%
Asian/PacificIslander	1	0.1%

Caldwell Parish

Total: 610

Race	Count	%
Black	393	64.4%
White	200	32.8%
American Indian/Alaska Native	15	2.5%
Unknown	2	0.3%

Cameron Parish

Total: 22

Race	Count	%
White	21	95.5%
Black	1	4.5%

Catahoula Parish

Total: 131

Race	Count	%
Black	90	68.7%
White	39	29.8%
Unknown	2	1.5%

Claiborne Parish

Total: 662

Race	Count	%
Black	411	62.1%
White	251	37.9%

Concordia Parish

Total: 826

Race	Count	%
White	471	57.0%
Black	355	43.0%

DeSoto Parish

Total: 129

Race	Count	%
Black	74	57.4%
White	55	42.6%

East Baton Rouge Parish

Total: 1,296

Race	Count	%
Black	1,011	78.0%
White	225	17.4%
Unknown	56	4.3%
Asian/PacificIslander	3	0.2%
American Indian/Alaska Native	1	0.1%

East Feliciana Parish

Total: 270

Race	Count	%
Black	174	64.4%
White	94	34.8%
Asian/PacificIslander	2	0.7%

Evangeline Parish

Total: 168

Race	Count	%
Black	98	58.3%
White	69	41.1%
Unknown	1	0.6%

Franklin Parish

Total: 853

Race	Count	%
Black	567	66.5%
White	280	32.8%
Unknown	4	0.5%
Asian/PacificIslander	2	0.2%

Hammond Police Department

Total: 18

Race	Count	%
Black	11	61.1%
White	7	38.9%

Iberia Parish

Total: 464

Race	Count	%
Black	278	59.9%
White	174	37.5%
Unknown	6	1.3%
Asian/PacificIslander	5	1.1%
American Indian/Alaska Native	1	0.2%

Iberville Parish

Total: 91

Race	Count	%
Black	66	72.5%
White	24	26.4%
Unknown	1	1.1%

Jackson Parish

Total: 1

Race	Count	%
Unknown	1	100.0%

Jefferson Davis Parish

Total: 165

Race	Count	%
White	85	51.5%
Black	78	47.3%
Unknown	1	0.6%
American Indian/Alaska Native	1	0.6%

Jefferson Parish

Total: 1,236

Race	Count	%
Black	806	65.2%
White	424	34.3%
Unknown	6	0.5%

Kinder Police Department

Total: 1

Race	Count	%
White	1	100.0%

LaSalle Parish

Total: 80

Race	Count	%
White	49	61.3%
Black	30	37.5%
Unknown	1	1.2%

Lafayette Parish

Total: 840

Race	Count	%
Black	549	65.4%
White	280	33.3%
Unknown	11	1.3%

Lafourche Parish

Total: 776

Race	Count	%
Black	389	50.1%
White	383	49.4%
American Indian/Alaska Native	3	0.4%
Asian/PacificIslander	1	0.1%

Leesville Police Department

Total: 3

Race	Count	%
White	2	66.7%
Black	1	33.3%

Lincoln Parish

Total: 372

Race	Count	%
Black	280	75.3%
White	88	23.7%
Unknown	4	1.1%

Livingston Parish

Total: 829

Race	Count	%
White	588	70.9%
Black	233	28.1%
Unknown	5	0.6%
Asian/PacificIslander	2	0.2%
American Indian/Alaska Native	1	0.1%

Madison Parish

Total: 148

Race	Count	%
Black	120	81.1%
White	27	18.2%
Unknown	1	0.7%

Morehouse Parish

Total: 200

Race	Count	%
Black	145	72.5%
White	55	27.5%

Natchitoches Parish

Total: 182

Race	Count	%
Black	140	76.9%
White	38	20.9%
Unknown	4	2.2%

Oakdale Police Department

Total: 1

Race	Count	%
Black	1	100.0%

Opelousas Police Department

Total: 1

Race	Count	%
African American	1	100.0%

Orleans Parish

Total: 1,457

Race	Count	%
Black	1,257	86.3%
White	181	12.4%
Unknown	14	1.0%
Asian/PacificIslander	5	0.3%

Ouachita Parish

Total: 1,317

Race	Count	%
Black	887	67.4%
White	420	31.9%
Unknown	10	0.8%

Plaquemines Parish

Total: 671

Race	Count	%
Black	436	65.0%
White	210	31.3%
Unknown	13	1.9%
Asian/PacificIslander	10	1.5%
American Indian/Alaska Native	2	0.3%

Pointe Coupee Parish

Total: 129

Race	Count	%
Black	84	65.1%
White	42	32.6%
Unknown	2	1.6%
American Indian/Alaska Native	1	0.8%

Rapides Parish

Total: 1,048

Race	Count	%
Black	666	63.5%
White	363	34.6%
Unknown	17	1.6%
Asian/PacificIslander	2	0.2%

Red River Parish

Total: 43

Race	Count	%
Black	23	53.5%
White	19	44.2%
Asian/PacificIslander	1	2.3%

Richland Parish

Total: 695

Race	Count	%
Black	479	68.9%
White	208	29.9%
Unknown	5	0.7%
Asian/PacificIslander	3	0.4%

Sabine Parish

Total: 181

Race	Count	%
White	105	58.0%
Black	74	40.9%
Unknown	1	0.6%
American Indian/Alaska Native	1	0.6%

Shreveport Police Department

Total: 32

Race	Count	%
Black	23	71.9%
White	8	25.0%
Unknown	1	3.1%

St. Bernard Parish

Total: 235

Race	Count	%
Black	143	60.9%
White	89	37.9%
Asian/PacificIslander	2	0.9%
Unknown	1	0.4%

St. Charles Parish

Total: 173

Race	Count	%
Unknown	99	57.2%
White	74	42.8%

St. Helena Parish

Total: 46

Race	Count	%
Black	36	78.3%
White	10	21.7%

St. James Parish

Total: 75

Race	Count	%
Black	63	84.0%
White	12	16.0%

St. John the Baptist Parish

Total: 221

Race	Count	%
Unknown	148	67.0%
White	73	33.0%

St. Landry Parish

Total: 138

Race	Count	%
Black	91	65.9%
White	45	32.6%
Unknown	2	1.4%

St. Martin Parish

Total: 229

Race	Count	%
Black	113	49.3%
White	108	47.2%
Unknown	8	3.5%

St. Mary Parish

Total: 283

Race	Count	%
Black	145	51.2%
White	136	48.1%
Unknown	1	0.4%
Asian/PacificIslander	1	0.4%

St. Tammany Parish

Total: 866

Race	Count	%
White	442	51.0%
Black	380	43.9%
Unknown	42	4.8%
American Indian/Alaska Native	1	0.1%
Asian/PacificIslander	1	0.1%

Sulphur Police Department

Total: 14

Race	Count	%
White	12	85.7%
Black	2	14.3%

Tangipahoa Parish

Total: 716

Race	Count	%
Black	470	65.6%
White	242	33.8%
Unknown	4	0.6%

Tensas Parish

Total: 565

Race	Count	%
Black	381	67.4%
White	170	30.1%
Unknown	14	2.5%

Terrebonne Parish

Total: 585

Race	Count	%
Black	332	56.8%
White	239	40.9%
American Indian/Alaska Native	13	2.2%
Asian/PacificIslander	1	0.2%

Vermillion Parish

Total: 117

Race	Count	%
Black	58	49.6%
White	56	47.9%
Unknown	2	1.7%
Asian/PacificIslander	1	0.9%

Vernon Parish

Total: 171

Race	Count	%
White	121	70.8%
Black	48	28.1%
Asian/PacificIslander	1	0.6%
Unknown	1	0.6%

Ville Platte Police Department

Total: 31

Race	Count	%
Black	18	58.1%
White	12	38.7%
Unknown	1	3.2%

Washington Parish

Total: 183

Race	Count	%
Black	94	51.4%
White	88	48.1%
Unknown	1	0.5%

Webster Parish

Total: 442

Race	Count	%
Black	229	51.8%
White	207	46.8%
Unknown	4	0.9%
Asian/PacificIslander	2	0.5%

West Baton Rouge Parish

Total: 134

Race	Count	%
Black	88	65.7%
White	42	31.3%
Unknown	3	2.2%
Asian/PacificIslander	1	0.7%

West Carroll Parish

Total: 27

Race	Count	%
White	21	77.8%
Black	6	22.2%

West Felician Parish

Total: 199

Race	Count	%
Black	127	63.8%
White	72	36.2%

Winn Parish

Total: 148

Race	Count	%
Black	76	51.4%
White	72	48.6%

Winnfield Police Department

Total: 2

Race	Count	%
Black	2	100.0%