How long do warrants stay active

They are not automatically deleted after, for example, five years if the police fail to find the subject of the warrant. Indeed, the warrant will remain outstanding until the subject dies, unless the judge otherwise recalls or quashes it for some other reason. We have had clients from outside California call us to resolve bench warrants they did not even know existed for cases in Torrance, Long Beach, Inglewood, Compton and other courts in Los Angeles and Orange County.

The client then calls us and explains what his employer told him. We then go to the courthouse and try to get the docket for the case or the last minute order in it that shows a warrant was issued and when. The reason warrants do not expire is because if they did, such a consequence would encourage anyone who is wanted by a judge to evade the warrant until it expired.

Warrants, by the way, are not always bench warrants, although bench warrants are the most common. There are also arrest warrants, search warrants, complaint warrants, execution warrants also called death warrants and Ramey warrants, each of which are issued for distinctly different reasons and at different stages of a case. An arrest warrant, search warrant, complaint warrant and a Ramey warrant could become moot, however, due to the passage of time making the filing of a complaint based thereupon barred by a statute of limitations.

A Ramey warrant usually expires after 90 days from the date it was issued. What we recommend in dealing with any warrant is to first clarify exactly what type of warrant it is. If the client is not aware what type of warrant it is, but knew that they faced a case in court at one time and may have gone to court , the highest likelihood is that the warrant is a bench warrant.

Depending upon the amount of time that has passed since the warrant was issued and the type of case involved felony or misdemeanor , an attorney may be able to appear in court without the client being present to have the warrant lifted, recalled or quashed.

This is generally not possible when the case is a felony matter. To find out more about how to handle a warrant, we invite you to call us at or send us an e-mail at greg greghillassociates. Although the arrest warrant associated with the case may still be active, the judge is highly likely to dismiss a warrant when a prosecutor cannot bring the case to trial.

For example, in California, a party convicted of trespass can be punished by imprisonment in county jail for less than a year. The statute of limitations for the offense is one year after the date of the offense. If there was an active arrest warrant for a trespass that occurred three years earlier, the judge would probably dismiss the warrant. A party can find out if he has an active arrest warrant by calling the clerk of court in which his case was brought or the office of the law enforcement agency likely to execute the arrest warrant.

A party can do an online search in the database for the court that issued the warrant. It is risky to rely on the accuracy of an online search, though, because some databases are updated less frequently than others. A party can clear, or get rid of, an arrest warrant by contacting the law enforcement agency or the court that issued the warrant.

She may be able to clear an arrest warrant for a minor offense with payment of a fine. A party should appear before a judge to clear an arrest warrant for a felony offense.

We have tools to help you gather evidence, deal with your warrant, and focus on getting your charges reduced or dismissed.

When you have an arrest warrant to answer for, you may think about waiting for time to pass and for the warrant to expire. You can be arrested for an outstanding warrant at any time, whether it was issued a week ago or a decade ago. If you act now and face your warrant head-on, your lawyer in Tampa can help you seek to get your warrant recalled, where possible. Luckily, your Florida defense lawyer can help. While the prospect of going to jail may be scary, your criminal defense lawyer can represent you and help you address your warrant.

We can start by helping you learn if your warrant can be recalled and if your case can be resolved without your even appearing in court. It could even result in better treatment—and lesser penalties, if you decide to enter a plea.

Answering your warrant now gives you and your lawyer time to prepare a strong defense, too.