How Do I Know If There Is A Warrant Out For My Arrest?

There may come a time where you believe there may be a warrant out for your arrest. A common example that comes across my office is when there is a domestic dispute, and someone involved calls police, but by the time the police arrive, someone involved has left or is otherwise unavailable. In this example, the police will take a statement from one party, and if they believe they have received enough information to establish probable cause for an arrest, they will pursue an arrest warrant or capias.

Other examples come to mind, for instance, you may have been called by an investigator for the Government regarding a various criminal incident. First and foremost, absolutely do not give a statement under these circumstances. If an investigator calls you, they are fishing for information that hopefully can trigger enough evidence that probable cause for an arrest is justified. Remember, statements are evidence. Testimony is evidence.

Unfortunately, it is rare that someone from the government will call and inform you that a warrant has been set for your arrest. There are exceptions, often for crimes when the investigator has been in regular communication with the suspect, however, if you are a suspect that has been in regular discussion with the police, you have made a mistake! Stop immediately!

Regardless of why you may suspect there is an active warrant for your arrest, let’s discuss how you can find out:

The first thing you should do when you suspect you have a warrant is contact an attorney, like us! We have the resources to find and confirm this quickly. In addition, you will want an attorney handy under any circumstance you believe you are a suspect of a crime. I cannot stress this enough. This is because having an attorney in the early stages of a crime can help prevent an unfair investigation against you, and further, can get involved with resolving this matter before it boils over into a courtroom.

Now, if you do not want to contact an attorney but want to figure out how to confirm if a warrant exists or not check your mail! That’s right, snail mail! This is because law firms troll the district clerk’s warrant database to send physical letters advertising legal services. So, if you start getting an unusual amount of mail from attorney’s offices, then it is likely you have a warrant and your suspicion is confirmed. Even still, the mail is not true confirmation. From here, you must still call a law firm, like us, or contact the court directly.

The most sure-fire absolute way to confirm the existence of a warrant is to do what we do! You must check with the court! All warrants are county-specific and registered and filed with the appropriate county’s district clerk or county clerk’s office, depending on size of county and nature of crime. Remember that court records are public records, subject to certain exceptions, which means you can check this out on your own, and often for free!

In Harris County, Houston, both misdemeanors and felony filings can be located on the district clerk’s database. In smaller counties, such as Liberty County just outside of Houston, misdemeanor and felony filings may be split between felonies registered in the district clerk’s database, and misdemeanors in the county clerk’s database. You may have to call the county to confirm.

Above all, you have to make sure you are checking the status of a warrant in the proper county. If the crime is being investigated or filed in Dallas, a Houston Clerk’s website will not find the warrant.

Let’s go through the process of locating the warrant using the district clerk’s database in Harris County. For this we will pretend that you suspect there is an active warrant in Harris County.

1. You must start by going to the district clerk’s website and creating a log-in. The website is: https://mingledorfflaw.com/wp-contentwww.hcdistrictclerk.com/.
   
2. After creating your log in, find the link “Search Records & Documents,” which can also be located under the “Online Services” tab.
   
   1. This will take you to https://mingledorfflaw.com/wp-contentwww.hcdistrictclerk.com/Edocs/Public/search.aspx
3. From here, select the “Criminal Tab”
   
4. Under the “Criminal” tab, locate the “Defendant:” input category
   1. Change the input data from “Starts with” to “Contains”
      
   2. Type your last name, comma, first name.
5. Search
   1. If you have any results, this may be the first indicator of a warrant, however, if you have an existing criminal record in that county that has not been expunged or otherwise sealed, your results will show.
6. If a warrant exists, your name will be listed under the “style of case” column.
   1. It will say, “The State of Texas vs. Doe, John (SPN:XXXXXXXX)(DOB MM/DD/YYYY).
      
7. The warrant itself will be listed under the “Status” column.
   1. It will say, “Defendant: Warrant/Citation Issued (N) Disposition: (this will be left blank because your case is not disposed.)

**Remember that each county has a slightly different system and may not be as easy to access as Harris County. AS mentioned above, this process is best facilitated through our Office. Don’t waste time just call us and we can get you an answer in minutes**

If the above instructions lead you to seeing Section 7(a) above, then you have a warrant out for your arrest. I have provided screen shots for an example inquiry.

From this moment, it is crucial you contact an attorney. Every action you take from the moment a warrant is set is compromised. You can be pulled over on the way to work and be taken straight to jail. In addition, beginning the defense process to any criminal matter is best as early as possible!

Call us for any questions at [nap_phone id=”LOCAL-CT-NUMBER-1″]. Most importantly, IF AFTER FOLLOWING THE ABOVE INSTRUCTIONS YOU HAVE CONFIRMED YOU HAVE A WARRANT, YOU NEED TO CALL US RIGHT AWAY. YOUR RIGHTS ARE IN JEOPARDY.

If you have questions about removing an active warrant, probable cause, the court system, or any other injury, please see some of our other blogs or

RING MING [nap_phone id=”LOCAL-CT-NUMBER-1″]