To the Voters, Taxpayers and Citizens of Natchitoches:

As a lifelong resident and active business owner in Natchitoches Parish, I feel obligated to bring
attention to an ongoing and serious lack of transparency in our local justice system — specifically
regarding public access to arrest and bail bond records.

Louisiana law, under R.S. 15:85 and R.S. 44:3(A)(4), clearly requires that all arrests and bail bonds be
maintained in a public record book or digital register that is open for inspection during regular business
hours. This is not a courtesy — it is the law.

Yet, in Natchitoches Parish, both the Sheriff’s Office inmate roster website and the Louisiana
Automated Victim Notification System (LAVNS) have been nonfunctional for several years,
preventing citizens and victims from knowing who has been arrested or released. This lack of
accessibility undermines both public safety and trust in the system.

In 2024, I took action to improve accountability by helping to change the bonding policy with the
Natchitoches City Police, which took effect November 1, 2024. That policy required all bondsmen to
pay the 2% bonding fee and provide a power of attorney for each bond, generating over $100,000 in
new annual revenue for the department — a change I pursued not for personal gain, but for the
betterment of our community.

Now, I am publicly calling on Sheriff Stewart Wright and the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office to
comply with the law and make the parish jail log and arrest book publicly accessible, as required. The
citizens of Natchitoches Parish deserve transparency, accountability, and access to accurate
information.

The people of this parish deserve the transparency they are owed.

Respectfully,

Ben Fallon

Natchitoches Parish Resident
Phone: 318-332-6865
Email: fallonbonds@gmail.com