A judge can issue a warrant for arrest for several reasons. These include failure to appear in court, a law enforcement investigation resulted in enough evidence to accuse you of a crime, an outstanding Motor Vehicle violation or failure to comply with work release conditions.If you suspect that there is a warrant out for your arrest the first thing that is needed is to confirm the warrant. There are a couple of resources available to you that can provide some important information regarding any outstanding warrants. The first place to contact would be your local Sheriff’s Department. A call placed to the main line may or may not provide the information you need. If they refuse to provide this information over the phone, you can visit the Sheriff’s department in person and speak with the Clerk. Please note that if you do have an outstanding warrant and you visit the law enforcement agency in person, they will most likely place you under arrest.An alternative to the Sheriff’s department would be to call your local courthouse and speak with the county clerk. If they too refuse to provide information over the phone, you can go down to the courthouse and speak with the clerk directly. This option it is less likely that you will be arrested on the spot.An alternative to the ‘Do it Yourself’ approach would be to contact a Criminal Defense Attorney. They will be able to find out if there is an outstanding warrant or if you are being investigated by law enforcement.Once you determine that you do have a warrant for your arrest, the next step would be to arrange your surrender into custody. Keep in mind that if you get pulled over for a traffic ticket, the Police can arrest you on the spot for having a Warrant out. You can control the process better if you are proactive and work with a Criminal Defense Attorney who can schedule your surrender with the courts. If the charges will require Bail, it is recommended that you contact a Bail Agent or Bail Agency prior to surrendering. This will allow the agent to explain the process and all fees, collect information about you and complete the paperwork prior to being taken into custody. It is always better to have everything completed and ready for surrender than to try and complete this after you are in custody.
