How to Look Up St. Tammany Parish Jail Population Data
Official population data starts with the Sheriff's corrections division, which publishes the jail's bed capacity, the facility address, and the ownership and staffing arrangement. For audited numbers, parish budget documents and Louisiana Legislative Auditor filings carry jail fund statements and notes about dedicated revenue.
National and state sources help with comparison only. The Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Vera Institute, and the Prison Policy Initiative track jail and prison trends, but they do not override a current local count from the Sheriff.
For broad incarceration context, the Prison Policy Initiative compiles state-level data.
The Prison Policy Initiative publishes Louisiana incarceration context useful for comparison.
Use those sources for the big picture, then anchor any local claim to the Sheriff's official figures.
St. Tammany Parish Jail Capacity Overview
The parish jail is the St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center in Covington. The Sheriff's corrections page lists a 1,180-bed capacity. The facility is owned by St. Tammany Parish Government, while the Sheriff's Office staffs daily operations.
| Facility | Address | Capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Tammany Parish Correctional Center | 1200 Champagne Street, Covington, LA 70434 | 1,180 beds | Parish-owned, Sheriff-staffed. |
Capacity is not the same as the current count. A bed number sets the upper bound, while the daily population rises and falls with arrests, releases, and transfers. A jail can also operate above or below its capacity for short periods, depending on bookings and court schedules in a given week.
Key St. Tammany Parish Population Terms
Population figures use precise terms, and mixing them up leads to wrong conclusions. A bed count, a daily average, and a yearly booking total all measure different things. The definitions below keep the numbers honest.
- Design capacity
- The planned physical bed count for the facility.
- Rated capacity
- The capacity recognized for operations or standards.
- Average daily population
- The average number held over a period.
- Snapshot population
- The number in custody at one moment.
- Bookings
- Admissions over a period; one person can have several.
A single person can appear in more than one booking in a year, so a booking total is always higher than the number of distinct people held. That is why bookings and snapshot counts should never be treated as the same figure.
Average Daily Population
Average daily population, or ADP, is the average number of people held over a period. It smooths out the daily swings that a single snapshot misses. ADP is the most useful single figure for understanding how full a jail runs.
No official St. Tammany ADP was located in the public Sheriff pages reviewed for this resource. To find a current figure, check the Sheriff's annual reports, parish budget documents, and Louisiana Legislative Auditor filings, which carry audited jail data.
Pretrial vs Sentenced Population
A jail population is a mix of legal statuses, and the split matters for policy and cost. Pretrial detainees have not been convicted of the pending charge. Parish-sentenced inmates serve local sentences. The jail may also hold state prisoners awaiting transfer and people held for other agencies.
| Category | Who It Includes |
|---|---|
| Pretrial detainees | People awaiting trial on a pending charge. |
| Parish-sentenced | People serving a local sentence. |
| State prisoners held locally | Sentenced state inmates awaiting transfer. |
| Other-agency holds | People held for federal or out-of-parish agencies. |
If the Sheriff publishes a status breakdown, those holds should be shown separately, since they affect both crowding and reimbursement.
Demographic Breakdown
A full demographic picture covers sex, age, and race, along with charge level and custody status. The reviewed Sheriff pages did not publish a current demographic breakdown for the parish jail, so any figures should come from official reports rather than estimates.
When officials do report jail data, they usually track a standard set of metrics. The list shows what a complete St. Tammany Parish jail population report would include.
- Total current population and average daily population.
- Design and rated capacity.
- Male and female split.
- Pretrial versus sentenced split.
- Felony versus misdemeanor charge split.
- Federal and state holds.
- Bookings and releases per year.
Misdemeanor vs Felony Population
The charge level shapes who stays and for how long. Felony detainees often face longer pretrial holds and route through the 22nd JDC. Misdemeanor and local-charge detainees may cycle through more quickly, especially when bond is posted early.
No official misdemeanor-to-felony split for the parish jail was published in the reviewed sources. A current breakdown, if available, would come from Sheriff or auditor reports rather than national datasets.
Mental Health and Medical Population
Jails carry a mental-health and medical caseload that affects staffing and cost. The 22nd JDC runs specialty courts, including a co-occurring track for severe mental illness, that try to divert some people toward treatment rather than custody.
The Sheriff's budget materials note medical and professional fees as part of jail operations, but a specific mental-health census for the parish jail was not located in the public pages reviewed.
National and State Context
Parish jail counts are local. Sentenced state prisoners are tracked by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, and federal prisoners are tracked by the Bureau of Prisons. Mixing these systems leads to double counting, so the comparison below keeps them separate.
| System | Who It Holds | Tracked By |
|---|---|---|
| Parish jail | Pretrial, local-sentenced, holds | St. Tammany Parish Sheriff |
| State prison | Sentenced state inmates | Louisiana DOC |
| Federal custody | Federal inmates | Bureau of Prisons |
For national rates and trends, the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Vera Institute are the standard references, and they should be cited as state or national context, not as a parish count. Louisiana has long ranked among the highest-incarceration states, so a parish jail count sits inside a state context that runs well above the national average. That context explains pressure on the local jail without standing in for an official local figure.
Jail Funding and St. Tammany Parish Population Pressure
Population and funding are linked. The Sheriff's fiscal year 2025 budget materials identify Randy Smith as Sheriff and Ex-Officio Tax Collector and describe a continuing jail-funding issue. The Jail Fund balance was depleted after a dedicated jail sales tax expired.
To keep operations going, the Sheriff has supplemented the Jail Fund with General Fund and Commissary Fund balances while working with parish government on state-mandated costs. These pressures shape staffing and capacity decisions even when the bed count stays the same.
Housing state prisoners can offset some cost through reimbursement, which is one reason a parish jail count often includes people who are technically state inmates. Budget documents may break out salaries, insurance, medical fees, and capital outlays, and they are the cleanest way to see how custody numbers translate into local spending.
Population Trends Over Time
A reliable trend needs consistent official figures across years. No published five-year St. Tammany jail population table was located in the reviewed Sheriff pages. The right sources for a trend are the Sheriff's annual reports, parish budget documents, and Louisiana Legislative Auditor filings.
Vera county trend data can supplement those records for comparison. Any trend claim should rest on audited numbers rather than estimates.
Searching for St. Tammany Parish Inmate Records by Name
This page covers population data, not individual lookups. To find one person in custody, use the Sheriff's roster on the St. Tammany Parish inmate records page, which searches by name and booking.
Where the Data Comes From
Population data should be traced to its source. The Sheriff's corrections page is the source for capacity and operations. Parish budget documents and Louisiana Legislative Auditor filings carry audited fund and operational figures. The Bureau of Justice Statistics, Vera, and Prison Policy provide state and national context.
Note: Official daily and demographic counts were not published in the reviewed Sheriff pages, so verify current figures with the Sheriff or auditor reports before citing them.