Is There an Arrest Warrant Out on Me?
An average–though slightly absent-minded–law-abiding citizen might one day experience this scenario: You’re having an excellent day: the weather is great; you just closed a deal at the office that means a substantial bonus and a pretty lady (or cute guy) just gave you a big, saucy and inviting smile. You’ve never felt better. But then, as you walk up to your car, you see a thing which places a damper on your whole day: a parking ticket tucked under your wiper blade. You drag it out, with annoyance. Then, once you’re in the car, you toss the ticket into the glove box and go back to pondering your earlier, entirely more pleasant thoughts.
A couple of months later–having entirely forgotten about the parking ticket–you are pulled over by the police for a minor traffic infraction. The police officer runs a routine check on his onboard computer and, seeing an outstanding warrant for your arrest, promptly arrests you.
If you have any reason to believe that you might have an outstanding warrant, you can verify your status by checking with the proper authorities. Nonetheless, different cities and counties have established varying procedures and systems concerning how facts on outstanding warrants is given out. In the case of New York City, the FAQ page of the NYPD site has the relevant info concerning who to contact. Below the question,”I think I have a warrant for my arrest. How do I find out?” they inform us that, “You may contact the Warrant Section’s Telephone Inquiry Unit at (718) 217-8484. You will be asked a series of questions and an investigator will search the records for you.”
On the other hand, The Los Angeles Police Department internet site’s FAQs relate the following sobering news below the heading “Wants or Warrants”: “If you want to know whether an outstanding want or warrant exists for you, you must appear in person at an LAPD Community Police Station. No specific want or warrant information is provided telephonically.”
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department offers an online warrant checking system, the database of that is updated each twenty-four hours. You basically input a name and birthdate into the proper fields to learn whether or not there’s an outstanding warrant on that particular person. If there is, the system gives in depth details concerning it, including the warrant type, number, date of issue, court of issue, primary charge, degree of criminal offense (misdemeanor or felony), how much bail and whether a courtroom appearance is mandatory.
A lot of cities, such as Austin Texas, provide you the choice of either calling or checking for warrant particulars online. The Austin Municipal Court’s website relates that, “You may call our Interactive Voice Response system at 512-974-4800. Choose the Warrants option from the voice menu. You can also search for your warrant online…” If you by chance live in San Francisco County, you can get in touch with the Central Warrants Bureau by telephone, at (415) 553-1871.
The Santa Maria California website’s FAQs advise that, “To find out if you have a warrant for your arrest you need to contact the Outstanding Court at (805) 614-6590.” So when it comes to getting information about outstanding warrants, who you ask and how you can get in contact with them ranges from from city to city.
In many cases, you can get facts concerning warrants online. For example, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has a Wanted Persons web page on their Public Access System web page which delivers statewide information on warrants. But they do include this disclaimer: “FDLE cannot represent that this information is current, active, or complete. You should verify that a warrant is active with your local law enforcement agency or with the reporting agency.”
Naturally if you do learn that there’s a current warrant hanging over your head, you’ll have to contact either the local law enforcement agency or the court that issued the warrant to learn which steps you’ll have to take to resolve the problem. One course of action that I don’t advise is utilizing one of the many internet websites which charge a nominal fee for providing info on arrest warrants. I advise against that for two reasons:
1. That is info that you can uncover on your own for free.
2. There’s no good reason to believe that these for-profit web sites have access to or provide accurate data.
An individual might unexpectedly find themselves at odds with the legal authorities. If you or a loved one in the Santa Barbara area is past the warrant stage and have actually been arrested, then visit Bail Bonds Santa Barbara to find a reputable and reliable bail bondsman in Santa Barbara.