For many people, it is difficult to imagine having a warrant out for their arrest and not know it. But if you travel a lot, or you have lived in many different places, then sometimes the smallest infractions can often lead to a warrant. For example, if you had a parking ticket in Ohio several years ago that you forgot about, then it will eventually show up on your arrest record as a bench warrant for your arrest. If you are unsure about whether or not there is a warrant for your arrest, then it is a good idea to check and make sure.
Check Online
Official government websites end with .gov, and those are the websites you should use to try and find out if you have any warrants against you. The U.S. Federal Courts system’s website can be found at USCourts.gov, and you can fill out a form from that website that will send you your arrest record. You can also look at the official websites of any counties or towns you have lived in. You may have to pay a fee for your arrest record, but only pay fees to official government websites.
Call the Courts
The fastest and most efficient way to find out if you have a warrant out for your arrest is to call the courts in the places where you have lived and ask. Be warned that if you do have warrants out for your arrest, then the police may be able to track your location through your phone call. If you do have warrants, the last thing you want to do is try to get information from the police through a fraudulent phone account. Also, the police are not going to release your information to anyone but you, which makes it pointless to have someone else call for you.
Visit the Court
The most direct way to find out if you have a warrant out against you is to visit the courts for the places where you have visited or lived. In some cases, one court will be able to tell if you have a warrant out anywhere in the country. You should understand that visiting a court or police station to see if you have any warrants means that you will be arrested on the spot if warrants exist. Before visiting a police station to check on warrants, you may want to talk to your attorney about the process you will follow if warrants do exist.
As life goes on, it can become easy to forget about the little indiscretions that can sometimes grow into big time problems. While you might not have ever been arrested in the past, a forgotten parking ticket or some other forgotten official court order could have blossomed into a warrant for your arrest. It is always best to check on warrants and deal with them if they exist as opposed to having them become a surprise that is awaiting you in a place where you used to live.