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Your Covington Criminal Defense Attorney
Facing a criminal charge in Covington, Louisiana means navigating a legal system that doesn’t work like the other 49 states: Louisiana’s civil-law foundation shapes its criminal statutes, its court structure, and the vocabulary used to describe both, starting with parishes instead of counties. The real bail standard, the counsel-appointment deadline, and how Louisiana actually grades and sentences an offense are covered further down this page. None of this is unique to Covington; the same statutes apply across Louisiana, though which parish court hears a specific case still depends on where the charge arose.
How Bail Actually Gets Set in Louisiana
Under La. C.Cr.P. art. 316, the amount of bail in Louisiana is fixed by weighing several real factors together, not read off a chart: how serious the charge is, how strong the evidence against the defendant appears, the defendant’s own criminal record, and the danger release could pose to the community. A defendant’s presence or absence of any controlled dangerous substance, checked through voluntary pretrial drug testing, is also part of that analysis.
The 72-Hour Rule for Appointed Counsel
Under La. C.Cr.P. art. 230.1, every parish in Louisiana runs on the same 72-hour clock for appointing counsel after an arrest, weekends and legal holidays excluded from the calculation. A defendant who isn’t brought before a judge within that window is entitled to release on their own recognizance, a real consequence for missing the deadline, not just a formality.
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Sentencing in Louisiana Works Differently Than You'd Expect
A real structural difference worth understanding early: Louisiana has no felony-class system at all. La. R.S. 14:2 draws the felony/misdemeanor line at whether death or hard labor imprisonment is possible, and beyond that binary, every offense in Title 14 is sentenced according to its own specifically written penalty, not a shared class range the way a Class B felony might work elsewhere.
Theft, Battery, Drug Charges, and OWI in Louisiana
A theft charge in Louisiana is graded entirely by value under La. R.S. 14:67: below $1,000 is a misdemeanor, but the felony tiers above that escalate fast, up to 5 years for $1,000 to under $5,000, up to 10 years for $5,000 to under $25,000, and up to 20 years at hard labor for $25,000 or more, with fines climbing alongside each tier. Battery charges in Louisiana vary sharply by statute: simple battery (La. R.S. 14:35) caps out at 6 months and a $1,000 fine, aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon (La. R.S. 14:34) can reach 10 years and $5,000, and domestic abuse battery (La. R.S. 14:35.3) carries mandatory jail time starting with the first offense, with penalties escalating to 10 to 30 years by a fourth conviction, plus a separate, harsher enhancement if strangulation was involved. Drug possession penalties in Louisiana depend heavily on the substance and amount, and marijuana specifically works differently than most people assume: 14 grams or less is a fine-only offense, up to $100, with no jail time, for any offense number, since Louisiana decriminalized small-amount possession in 2021. Other Schedule I substances carry real prison exposure under La. R.S. 40:966, up to 10 years at hard labor and a $5,000 fine, a genuinely different penalty structure than marijuana’s own decriminalized tier. Louisiana calls it OWI rather than DUI or DWI, and the penalties under La. R.S. 14:98 climb fast with each offense inside a 10-year lookback window: a first offense is a misdemeanor (10 days to 6 months), a second still a misdemeanor but with real mandatory jail exposure, and a third jumps straight to a felony, 1 to 5 years and a $2,000 fine. By a fourth offense, the exposure reaches 10 to 30 years and a $5,000 fine, with a BAC of 0.15% or higher triggering additional mandatory penalties regardless of offense count. Illegal carrying of weapons under La. R.S. 14:95 doesn’t mean what it used to before Louisiana’s 2024 permitless-carry law: most adults 18 or older who can legally own a firearm no longer need a permit to carry one concealed, so this charge now typically comes down to age, a firearm disqualification, carrying somewhere restricted, or not telling an officer about the weapon during a stop. The base penalty is up to 6 months and a $500 fine, climbing to up to 5 years on a second conviction and up to 10 years on a third, with an additional 5-to-10-year mandatory sentence if a firearm was used during a separate violent or drug offense. Louisiana treats burglary and armed robbery as two of its most serious property and violent offenses. Simple burglary under La. R.S. 14:62, unauthorized entry with intent to commit a felony or theft, carries up to 12 years at hard labor and a $2,000 fine on its own, with a 3-year mandatory minimum if the person was armed with a firearm while inside. Armed robbery under La. R.S. 14:64 is in a different category entirely: a mandatory minimum of 10 years at hard labor and a maximum of 99 years, with parole, probation, and suspended sentences all statutorily unavailable.
Louisiana's Expungement Waiting Periods
Louisiana’s expungement framework (La. C.Cr.P. arts. 971-999) runs on real waiting periods, not a flat rule: a misdemeanor conviction needs 5 years since the sentence, probation, or parole was completed, and only one misdemeanor can be expunged within any 5-year period. A felony conviction needs a 10-year wait, and a DWI/OWI conviction specifically can only be expunged once every 10 years. Starting in 2025, Louisiana also created an expedited expungement process for people who were 17 years old at the time of arrest, plus a new automated-request option through the state’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information. Filing the petition itself doesn’t end the case immediately either: under arts. 976-978, the clerk of court has to notify the district attorney and any arresting law enforcement agency, who then have 60 days to object, and only if someone actually objects does the court hold a hearing before ruling; if no one objects within that window, a judge can grant the expungement without one.
St. Tammany Parish's Own Courthouse and Jail
A Covington criminal case is heard at the St. Tammany Justice Center on North Columbia Street, home to the 22nd Judicial District Court, a district that also covers Washington Parish under the same judges. An arrest is booked at the St. Tammany Parish Jail on Champagne Street, run by the Corrections Division of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office.
You may also be near: our Kenner page, our Bogalusa page, the Slidell criminal defense resource, criminal defense representation from Hammond.
Our Louisiana criminal defense resource collects the state-level rules and links to each city page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a bail bondsman keep the fee even if I’m found not guilty?
Yes. A commercial bail bondsman’s premium, fixed by law at 12% of the bond amount or $120 under La. R.S. 22:1443, is earned once the bond is posted and isn’t refunded regardless of how the case ends.
What happens if I’m not brought before a judge within 72 hours?
You’re entitled to release on your own recognizance under La. C.Cr.P. art. 230.1, a real consequence, not just a missed formality.
Does Louisiana grade felonies into classes like Class A or B?
No. Louisiana has no felony-class system at all under La. R.S. 14:2; each of its roughly 600 criminal offenses carries its own individually-written penalty in Title 14.
How many OWI offenses before it becomes a felony?
The third offense within a 10-year lookback becomes a felony under La. R.S. 14:98, carrying 1 to 5 years and a $2,000 fine.
How long do I have to wait to expunge a Louisiana conviction?
5 years for a misdemeanor, 10 years for a felony, both counted from completing the sentence, probation, or parole, under La. C.Cr.P. arts. 971-999.
Do Louisiana’s judicial districts follow parish lines exactly?
Not always: most of the state’s 42 judicial districts cover exactly one parish, but several cover two or more, with each parish in a shared district still keeping its own separate courthouse, clerk, and jail.
The Clock Is Already Running
Whether it’s a misdemeanor or a felony under Louisiana’s own definition, a Covington case starts moving immediately, and decisions made in the first few days can shape everything that follows.
