The records are manuscript volumes, in French, consisting of daily reports, 1838-1840. They include names of enslaved people admitted each day, along with the names of their enslaver and a statement of how they were brought to the jail (by their enslaver, by the Guard, as runaways, etc.). Also included are statistical reports giving the number entering and being discharged each day, along with the total number in jail each morning; the number of males and females employed in the public works; the number sick; and the number being detained without being kept in chains.

Many of the enslaved people brought to the jail apparently claimed to be free persons of color; these individuals are generally referred to as "s.d.L.," signifying "so-called free" in the space in the reports where the enslaver's name is usually recorded. Most of these free persons are listed by both given names and surnames.