Warrants For Arrest: Find Out How The Procedure Work

By: Benjamin E. Hertz|LRL Editor

Law enforcement cannot just break through your front door or attack you on the street if you are suspected of committing a crime.  All citizens under the 4th amendment of the Constitution of the United States, are protected against any illegal search and seizures. Law enforcement may question the person, so that they may press criminal charges against the person on the warrant.  On the other hand, if a person who blatantly disregarded a direct court order can also be issued with warrants for arrest like those who failed to show up at an appointed court schedule. The person charged with crimes are referred to as defendant. Law enforcement officers with a warrant authorizes to arrest the person against whom it is issued.

Warrants for arrest are issued by a court when law enforcement has adequate evidence or with a probable cause that a person might have committed a crime.  If you have been served with a warrant for arrest and detained by police, he/she will have to stay in jail until the appropriate amount of bail is posted for his/her release.  Warrants for arrest are difficult to avoid because the police can request to the court and obtain one at any time they think you committed a crime. It could be because they have identified you as a suspect in a serious crime, or it may be for something as simple as a speeding or other traffic offense.

Warrants for arrest are usually valid for at least a year or a period equal to the statute of limitations on the crime, but Capital crimes (like murder and rape) have no statute of limitations. Automated warrant systems usually purge old warrants that have expired, police officers usually check on expired or recalled warrants anyway, because arrest under these circumstances is invalid. Although you would still be under arrest until it was corrected.  Warrants for arrest are an order directing a law enforcement agency to seize an individual to answer a complaint. The great majority of warrants are issued by the courts, other agencies such as parole boards and correction departments are authorized in some states to issue arrest warrants.

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