Criminal Cases in the St. Bernard Parish Courts
The 34th Judicial District Court has original jurisdiction over criminal matters arising across St. Bernard Parish. Its five elected divisions, A through E, hear Louisiana felonies and district misdemeanors. The communities of Chalmette, Meraux, and Arabi are unincorporated, so none has a city police court or municipal criminal docket. Justice-of-the-peace courts have limited jurisdiction and do not replace the 34th JDC felony docket.
Clerk of Court Randy Nunez is custodian of filed St. Bernard Parish criminal court cases. The Clerk records charging papers, minutes, motions, rulings, dispositions, judgments, and sentences. The District Attorney institutes and prosecutes charges, but the prosecutor's calendar is not the official case file. That difference matters when a calendar entry and a filed document seem to conflict.
The court's official homepage shows the building where those records converge. View the 34th JDC courthouse source before planning a counter visit.
The courthouse image connects the five-division court structure with the Clerk, DA, Drug Court, and language-access contacts housed at the same St. Bernard Parish site.
St. Bernard Criminal Docket Divisions
A division label is more than a calendar heading. It routes a St. Bernard Parish criminal case to the judge and setting that control its next event. The DA calendar groups entries by court date, division, and start time, and a special heading may identify a felony trial week. Record the division with the docket number because a name alone may match more than one entry.
The St. Bernard District Attorney homepage links readers to court dates, magistrate material, bond information, and office contacts.
Those links are useful route markers, but the Clerk remains the source for an authenticated St. Bernard Parish case document.
How to Search Case Records
Use the free DA docket first when the goal is to locate an upcoming setting. Then move to the Clerk's account-based eSearch or records counter for the full St. Bernard Parish criminal case record. The public calendar does not show a date of birth, charge, statute, counsel, filings, disposition, bond detail, or financial balance. Older or unimaged records may require staff retrieval.
- Open the DA's Docket and Court Dates page and use its text filter.
- Enter the surname, review similar names, and note the court date and division.
- Copy the docket number exactly, including any companion number or suffix.
- Sign in to Clerk eSearch for available digital material, or call the Clerk for the official file.
- Request named documents and specify whether plain or certified copies are needed.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type to Search | Text | No | Filters the calendar content already displayed. |
| Party name | Display row | N/A | Confirm carefully because the free view has no DOB. |
| Docket number | Display row | N/A | Shown on many entries, but missing on some. |
| Court date | Grouped heading | N/A | Appears with division and start time. |
| Clerk sign-in | Account access | Yes | Full eSearch controls require registration or subscription. |
The DA public docket interface shows the Type to Search box and its date-and-division layout.
This view is an operational calendar, not a complete index or proof of a case outcome.
Reading St. Bernard Case Numbers
Recent St. Bernard Parish docket numbers observed on the public calendar generally use a two-digit year, a hyphen, and five digits. Companion matters may add numbers separated by a slash or semicolon. Legacy entries can use a 999-NNNN pattern. Preserve every character when contacting the Clerk because a shortened number may point staff to the wrong criminal case record.
A blank docket field does not show that no court case exists. Some DA calendar entries omit the number, and the calendar was never designed as a full Clerk index. Use the displayed party name, date, division, and time when asking the Clerk to identify the file. For common names, seek another lawful identifier from the official custodian rather than assuming that the first listing is the right person.
Note: A DA calendar entry reports a setting; only the filed St. Bernard Parish record establishes the charge and result.
What the Case File Shows
The 34th JDC file is document-centered. It can connect a St. Bernard Parish docket to the State of Louisiana, the accused person, counsel, filed counts, hearings, rulings, and final result. Ask for the documents that answer the question at hand. A charging instrument identifies what the DA filed, minutes trace what occurred in court, and the judgment and sentence establish the adjudicated outcome.
| Case Number & Court | Docket number, filing date, assigned 34th JDC division, judge, and status where recorded. |
|---|---|
| Charging Document | Bill of information or indictment, counts, cited Louisiana law, and felony or misdemeanor character. |
| Docket Entries | Filed pleadings, motions, appearances, rulings, warrants or capias events, and minute entries in date order. |
| Hearing Dates | First appearance, arraignment, motion settings, plea, trial, sentencing, and later review dates. |
| Disposition & Judgment | Conviction, dismissal, acquittal, nolle prosequi, or another outcome for each filed count. |
| Sentence & Conditions | Custody, probation, fines, costs, restitution, and concurrent or consecutive terms when ordered. |
St. Bernard Clerk eSearch Access
The St. Bernard Clerk eSearch login presents account access rather than an anonymous field-by-field case search. Indexed information identified a Criminal Daily Subscription at $20, but price and terms should be checked before purchase. The advanced fields sit behind registration or subscription and should not be assumed from the public login screen.
The screenshot explains why the free DA calendar is a sensible first pass. Once a docket is known, the Clerk can retrieve available digital content or locate an older file at the counter.
34th JDC Clerk of Court
1101 W. St. Bernard Hwy.
Chalmette, LA 70043
P.O. Box 1746, Chalmette, LA 70044
504-271-3434
Fax: 504-278-4380. Ask about current copy, certification, subscription, and retrieval charges.
Request a bill of information or indictment, selected minutes, disposition, judgment, or sentence instead of asking for the whole record when fewer pages will do. Published court and DA business hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; verify Clerk and holiday hours before travel.
Stages of a Criminal Case
A St. Bernard Parish arrest and booking normally lead to a magistrate or first appearance and bond review. The DA then evaluates the report and may file a bill of information or seek an indictment where required or selected. Arraignment records the plea. Discovery and motions follow before a negotiated plea or trial, and a conviction leads to judgment and sentence. Appeal, probation, parole, or other post-conviction events may continue later.
Case flow: Charges Filed › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
Booking labels may change along this path. A charge can be refused, amended, split into a companion docket, or enhanced. For that reason, use the filed charging instrument to identify the prosecuted count and the disposition to determine how each count ended.
St. Bernard Magistrate Court Posts
The DA makes an early part of the St. Bernard Parish criminal process more visible through Magistrate Court “A” arrest and Gwen's Law hearing lists. A Gwen's Law hearing is a Louisiana bail proceeding used in specified domestic-violence circumstances. These posts can help connect a recent booking with its first court activity, but they remain working schedules rather than certified minutes.
The DA contact and division directory also identifies diversion and victim-assistance channels connected with the local court system.
Those office routes serve different needs. Contact the Clerk for filed court records, the DA office for its own calendar and program contacts, and the Sheriff for the underlying incident or arrest report.
Access & Restrictions
Louisiana R.S. 44:1 broadly defines public records, but access has exceptions. R.S. 44:3 protects specified active law-enforcement and prosecutive material, sources, and other sensitive information. A court or custodian may also redact Social Security numbers, full account data, victim and minor identifiers, medical details, and protected reports.
Nonconviction criminal-history data has tighter dissemination limits under R.S. 15:548. An expungement under Code of Criminal Procedure Article 971 removes qualifying records from ordinary public access without destroying them. Article 973 then makes the expunged material confidential while preserving the access allowed by law.
An online view can contain less than the paper or official electronic file. Absence from the DA list does not prove that a case never existed, and a court file does not show a person's complete statewide rap sheet. For review of one's own identity-based Louisiana history, the appropriate custodian is State Police BCII, not the 34th JDC Clerk.
St. Bernard DA Docket App
The St. Bernard District Attorney app supplies another route to docket calendars and court contacts.
The app is a useful schedule tool when a mobile view is more convenient. It does not replace a plain or certified copy issued by the Clerk, and it should not be treated as the final statement of charge, plea, disposition, or sentence.
Language help is available through the court's named coordinator at 504-278-4420. That direct channel can help a reader navigate St. Bernard Parish court access without guessing at a division or relying on an incomplete calendar entry.