Rules for Serving Arizona County Warrants

The Arizona County judiciary has formulated a well-defined set of laws on search and arrest warrants that dictate who shall issue them and the circumstances when they shall be considered valid.

Search and Arrest Warrant Requirements

As dictated by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Arizona county criminal law maintains that individuals and their belongings shall be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures. So no Arizona county warrants can be issued unless there is a probable cause for issuing it, that is, a reasonable belief that a crime had or is being committed. This cause has to be supported by oath or affirmation. A valid warrant shall contain an explicit description of the place to be searched and the person or things to be seized. This may even be in the form of a handwritten note from the judge who has issued the warrant. The warrant must be issued by a neutral judicial official.

Exceptions to Warrant Requirements

There are exceptions to the above-mentioned warrant requirements. Searches or arrests may be carried out without warrants if they are “reasonable” but circumstances exist that make acquiring a warrant impossible.

In most circumstances, warrantless searches and seizures are conducted when there is no opportunity to obtain a warrant and any delay would risk human life or cause a perpetrator to flee. These are emergency situations. If an officer has reasonable belief that a criminal activity is underway, he or she may carry out limited detentions and frisks without warrants. 

There are other instances where warrantless searches and seizures are considered valid. For instance, a warrantless search may be conducted on a person who has been arrested to find hidden weapons or to prevent him from destroying evidence. A person may waive his Fourth Amendment rights and agree to a warrantless search or seizure. Vehicles may be subject to searches without warrants if the officer has reasonable belief that there is contraband inside and that it may be moved before a warrant is obtained. 

How to Search for Arizona County Warrants

Warrant records are available online for public viewing at the Arizona Department of Public Safety website, http://www.azdps.gov/Services/Records/. For this you will have to fill in the Public Records Request Online Form, available at https://www.azdps.gov/Services/Records/Public_Records/New/. You may also request warrant records via mail, to the Department of Public Safety, Attention PRU MD1200, P.O. Box 6638, Phoenix, Arizona 85005-6638. You may also request these records in person at the Department Records Section housed at the Arizona Department of Public Safety building on 2102 West Encanto Boulevard, Phoenix, AZ.

In addition to the central repository maintained by the Arizona Department of Public Safety, counties also have their own databases of warrant records. For instance, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office maintains an online database of persons with active warrants at 
http://www.mcso.org/index.php?a=GetModule&mn=Techno_Cops&spec=tech.

When searching for warrant records, do keep in mind that public records cannot be used for commercial purposes.

Other Arizona County Warrant Information:

Pima County Warrants