Criminal Justice Certification in Louisiana

This degree option gives you targeted, relevant experience and helps you complete your training in a short timeframe. This means that you may begin to contribute to the field of criminal justice in a matter of months, rather than years.

As a Louisiana student, you may have a lot to gain from a career in criminal justice. Criminal justice reform is a pressing priority in this state, with business owners all over the state pushing for radical reform (Business Report, 2016).

Louisiana has the highest incarceration rates in the country, and advocates are looking for ways to get nonviolent offenders out of the correctional system and back into society.

Is a certificate in criminal justice the next move for you?

Find out what school fits your needs by contacting criminal justice schools in Louisiana today.

What Kind of Criminal Justice Certificates are Available in Louisiana?

With a technical certificate, you may be ready to explore careers in corrections, policing, and legal settings. Technical certificates vary in length, particularly between different areas of study, but many options can be completed in one year or less.

Some schools require that students complete an internship or externship prior to graduation, which can give you a significant advantage when you start applying for jobs.

Emergency Management Technical Certificate Requirements- 33 credits

• Hazards, Disasters and the Environment
  • This course explores common natural and man-made disasters, giving particular attention to their effect on the environment.
• Fundamentals of Emergency Management
  • Students in this class learn about the core tenets of emergency management and learn how to apply them to common emergency situations in Louisiana.
• Security Management
  • This class ties security and emergency management together by covering security methods and the prevention of emergency situations.
• Emergency Planning and Response
  • Instructors teach students how to create effective and practical emergency plans. From there, students learn how to effectively respond to an emergency to minimize fallout.

Correctional Officer Technical Certificate Requirements- 27 credits

• Correctional Administration
  • Discover management techniques used in correctional facilities. This class also covers ways to keep employees and prisoners safe.
• Correctional Institutions
  • In this course, students learn about different types of correctional institutions, how they run, and what role correctional professionals play in each type of facility.
• Correctional Sociology
  • Dig into the social beliefs and viewpoints that have impacted the field of corrections over the years. As you work through this class, you may learn how societal beliefs have helped and hurt the field of corrections.
• Corrections Law
  • This course explores the legal side of corrections. You may learn which laws impact your correctional career and which standards you are expected to follow as a correctional professional.

Court Reporting Technical Certificate Requirements- 36 credits

• Introduction to CART and Captioning
  • This introductory course looks at captioning programs and captioning standards for quick reporting in the courtroom.
• Legal Terminology
  • Students in this course explore vocabulary that is unique to the legal field, and from there, they learn how to use it while reporting on court cases.
• Reporting Practices and Procedures
  • Learn the professional standards of court reporting, including standard courtroom procedures, expectations of reporters in Louisiana courtrooms, and how to preserve journalistic ethics in every job.
• Reporting Software Applications
  • This course is fairly technical in nature, covering the programs and apps commonly used by court reporters to streamline their daily work.

Paralegal Studies Technical Certificate Requirements- 36 credits

• Legal Research
  • Learn techniques for conducting effective legal research, preparing for cases, and helping lawyers make the most of their time.
• Ethics and Paralegals
  • In this class, paralegal students learn about the ethics that bind them as legal professionals.
• Legal Writing
  • Explore the standards of technical writing and learn how to apply them to your work as a paralegal.
• Computers in the Law Office
  • Discover the growing role of computers in today’s law offices while learning how to protect client information and make efficient use of legal programs.

What Can I Do With a Criminal Justice Certificate in Louisiana?

With a correctional technical certificate, you may look into becoming a correctional officer. Demand for correctional officers should remain steady through 2030 (CareerOneStop, 2022). The average salary for a Louisiana correctional officer is $38,400 per year (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022). This is a mentally and physically demanding job, and it’s important to have the mental and physical strength needed to handle the daily challenges of correctional work.

You may look into becoming a court reporter after completing your court reporting certificate. The job outlook in this field is expected to grow 5% through 2030 (CareerOneStop, 2022). The average salary in Louisiana is $47,790 per year (BLS, 2022).

With legal assistant or paralegal training, look into paralegal openings at local law firms. The average salary for a Louisiana paralegal is $52,760 per year (BLS, 2022). A 12% boost in job openings is expected through the year 2030 (CareerOneStop, 2022).

2022 US Bureau of Labor Statistics salary and employment figures for Louisiana contained here reflect national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data accessed November 2023.

Are you ready to learn more about earning a criminal justice degree in Louisiana? Get in touch with local schools to take the next step.

Browse the list of programs below and reach out to those that interest you.

Online programs may not be available in all areas