The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office (OPSO) is a coterminous law enforcement agency in New Orleans. The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office shares legal jurisdiction with the New Orleans Police Department. The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office is responsible for corrections, serving warrants, and providing courtroom security in the City of New Orleans.
The new Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office combining the following two offices into one office in accordance with Louisiana Revised Statute 33:1500,. This statute required the Orleans Parish criminal and civil sheriffs' offices to be merged into one office by 2010 as a result of legislation passed to merge the Criminal and Civil Courts into one consolidated district court, as in all other Louisiana parishes.
The Criminal Sheriff, operates Orleans Justice Center (Corrections Enforcement); and performs security, serves process, and performs enforcement functions for the Criminal District Court,New Orleans Municipal Court, and serves Warrants (Court Capias)issued by courts. Deputies are state-commissioned peace officers and are empowered to enforce all the laws of the state and ordinances of the parish. In addition, the Criminal Sheriff operates a Search & Rescue unit for maritime operations, a Mounted Horse Patrol, Canine(K9)drug enforcement team, and Investigative Services Bureau as part of the Special Operations Division.
The Civil Sheriff, under Louisiana Revised Statute 13:1311, "...and the constables of the First and Second City Courts of New Orleans and their deputies, are hereby granted the powers of peace officers when carrying out the duties of the court, and are authorized to require incarceration of the subject involved in any of the city, parish or state prisons, precinct stations, or houses of detention in the parish of Orleans. They shall be exempt from liability for their actions in the exercise of this power in the same manner and fashion as liability is excluded generally for peace officers of this state and political subdivisions."
The sheriff of Orleans Parish is Marlin N. Gusman.
The Sheriff's Office operates the following facilities:
The Eastbank Office is located at 2800 Perdido Street.
The Westbank Office is located at 3630 MacArthur Blvd., Suite E.
The Civil Division Office is located at 421 Loyola Avenue, 403 Civil Courts Building.
The Court Services & Capias & Subpoenas (Warrants) Division is located at 2700 Tulane Avenue, Criminal Courts Building.
