A warrant is a judge or magistrate-issued order instructing a law enforcement officer to arrest the person who is the subject of the warrant if the officer comes into contact with him or her. A warrant can be issued in a criminal or a civil case. Warrants are typically issued because the person is believed to have committed a crime or because the person did not appear for a scheduled court appearance. If a person suspects that he or she may have an outstanding warrant, a warrant check may be able to be done online, by telephone, or in person to verify whether or not an active warrant exists.
An arrest warrant is generally issued when enough evidence has been gathered to convince a judge that probable cause exists to believe that someone committed a crime. A bench warrant, on the other hand, may be issued in either a criminal or civil case when someone fails to appear for court. While warrants issued in criminal cases are almost always input into all available computer databases, civil bench warrants may or may not be entered.
The easiest way to complete a warrant check is to locate the website for the court where the warrant was issued and check the chronological case summary, if possible. If the subject of the warrant believes that the warrant was issued as a result of failing to appear for court, then the docket entry, or case summary for the case, will include the order for the warrant. Many court systems have very detailed online search options, which can make conducting a warrant check for a bench warrant very simple.
If the subject of the warrant does not have the case information, if the court does not have a website, or if the individual needs to conduct a warrant check for active arrest warrants, then a general online warrant search may be appropriate. The local law enforcement website often has an option to check for warrants directly from the website. If the local law enforcement website does not offer the option to conduct a warrant check, then many companies online will conduct the check for a fee.
Contacting the local law enforcement agency by telephone or in person may also produce an active warrant. Jurisdictions differ with regard to how much help you will receive over the telephone. Of course, conducting a warrant check in person may result in being arrested if there is, indeed, an active warrant.
