By JIM BUTLER

More than a half-million people have been listed in the Louisiana Protective Order Registry since its creation in 1997.

Such orders are issued when a court finds a man or woman guilty of harassing, threatening or violent acts against a spouse, intimate cohabitant, dating partner, family or household member.

The 575,000 listed are overwhelmingly male in number.

About 60 percent of the orders were issued through civil action, 40 percent in criminal proceedings.

The register allows local, state and federal law enforcement to track offenders.

Information is provided to the National Crime Information Center in instances determined to be watchworthy.

The state registry through 2023 had provided data on about 416,000 men and women to NCIC.

Among the issues is the federal prohibition against firearm sales to persons with active protective orders.

Alleged protective order violation is a regular entry on the Rapides arrest records. Forty-nine were entered in the registry from Rapides in January, the most-recent data available.

Judges in the parish’s Ninth Judicial District Court, according to a Louisiana Supreme Court report, issued 1,109 protective orders in 2023. The report does not enumerate how many were violated.

Comparative numbers for the year: Caddo, 1,473; Ouachita, 1,773; Calcasieu, 575.

Numbers for parishes adjoining Rapides: Grant, 162; Natchitoches, 231; Vernon, 76; Allen, 39; Evangeline, 50; Ayoyelles, 256; Catahoula, 20; LaSalle, 34.

Penalties for conviction of violating an order are relatively minor, if no battery is involved.

First conviction: Not more than a $500 fine or six months in jail, or both; Second conviction: Not more than $1,000 and not less than 48 hours (no probation, parole, suspension) nor more than six months; Third conviction or subsequent: Not more than $1,000, minimum 14 days, maximum six months.

If battery is involved, the stakes go up, in dollars and cell time.