Learn About New York Warrant Rules and Regulations

A warrant is an official document issued and signed by a judge directing the law enforcement officers to search, seize or take into custody the individual who is the subject of the warrant.

Types of New York Warrants

There are four types of warrants that are issued by the courts in the state of New York,, the Department of Corrections, the US Marshals as well as the New York State Bureau of Investigation. These are:

1.    Search Warrants

2.    Bench Warrants

3.    Arrest Warrants

4.    Other Warrants

A search warrant is a court order which directs the peace officer or a police officer appointed by the State of New York to conduct a search of a person, vehicle or a place or premises mentioned in the warrant. It gives the officer permission to seize and take into custody the items, objects, substance, material or any other type of properties found in the premises, vehicle or in the possession of the person mentioned in the search warrant. The designated officer or officers are required to deliver the seized items to the court that had issued the warrant (as per the criminal procedure law of New York State, Section 690.05.)

A bench warrant is issued by a criminal court during a pending criminal action. It gives permission to the police officer or a peace officer to arrest and bring into custody the offender who had been previously arraigned for a crime but failed to appear for a court hearing ( as per the criminal procedure law of New York State, Section 1.20 (30))

An arrest warrant is a process followed by a superior court or a local criminal court that gives order to the law enforcement officers to arrest and present the accused before a judge in a court for the purpose of arraignment following an indictment filed with a criminal court in which a criminal action has been initiated against the accused (as per the criminal procedure law of New York State, Section 1.20 (28 and 29)).

Other Warrants refers to the warrants other than the arrest warrants and search warrants. These warrants are issued for the detention or the arrest of a person or persons as per the guidelines of a federal law or any section of the New York State’s criminal procedure law. Examples of the other warrants in the State of New York are executive law warrants (that fall under the “Office of Children and Family Services” and the violation of parole), all federal warrants and the warrants issued by the family court and such.

Information Contained in a Warrant for Arrest

The most wanted list comprises the names of all the fugitives against whom there is an outstanding warrant for arrest.

The outstanding warrant for arrest in the New York State include details such as the name of the offender, date of birth, identifying information such as the photograph of the offender if available along with other details such as the sex, race eye color, hair color, height, weight, distinguishing characteristics or features such as a cut or a mark or even a tattoo along with the nature of offense and the last known address that is available in the database.

Who Can Issue a New York Warrant

The New York warrants are usually issued and signed by a judge or a special magistrate in the county where the crime was committed. This ensures that the warrant is issued by a person who is detached from the case as well as who is neutral.

There are two requirements that should be met before a special magistrate or a judge gives their sanction to issue a New York warrant.

The judge must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt supported by substantial evidence to establish that (1) the crime had been committed. (2) The judge should also be convinced that the evidence can support that a criminal offense was in fact committed in the place or is likely to have been committed in the place that has been outlined by the police officer in his or her affidavit requesting the judge to issue a search warrant. For the warrant to be effective the judge must issue and sign the warrant. For more information on the New York warrants you can visit: http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/dict/dataelement441.htm

Searching for New York Warrants

In the State of New York it is possible for an individual to search and access their own criminal history records in order to look for any outstanding warrants or citations registered against them. Individuals can also check for any outstanding warrants that are issued against other individuals from various official sources.

To search and access your own record you can either visit in person or use the official websites maintained by most of the local county Sheriff’s Department in the New York State. You can also visit the office of the Clerk of the County Courts who is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all the court records.

You should be careful while searching for the outstanding warrants registered against your name from a court in New York because you can be taken into custody immediately upon the discovery of an arrest warrant against you.

A list of the contact address of the office of the various county clerks’ court can be acquired from: http://www.dos.state.ny.us/lists/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/coclerks.html The contact address of the various Sheriff’s Departments for the state of New York can be obtained from:  http://www.scoc.state.ny.us/sheriffsaddre.htm You can also search for the wanted persons and the most wanted persons that are wanted for arrest from the state, county as well as the federal agencies from: http://newyork.fbi.gov/ ( New York State Bureau of Investigation) http://www.usmarshals.gov/district/ny-e/general/marshal.htm (US Marshals, Eastern District)http://www.usmarshals.gov/district/ny-n/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/index.html(US Marshals, Northern District) http://www.usmarshals.gov/district/ny-s/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/index.html (US Marshals, Southern District)http://www.usmarshals.gov/district/ny-w/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/index.html (US Marshals, Western District)

Erasing the Warrant Records

Not all records of arrests can be expunged or erased from your criminal records. While the citations, minor traffic infractions and certain outstanding warrants against you get automatically dropped when you voluntarily turn yourself in or pay the required fines and penalties associated with an offense like the citations for parking tickets, speeding and traffic tickets, the warrants issued against you for serious offenses such as felony charges or  serious DUI and DWI charges and accidents that result in grave bodily injuries to other individuals remain in your records.

In order to be eligible for expungement or to clear up any record of an outstanding New York warrant the individual needs to appear in front of a judge in a court in New York and be able to convince the judge beyond a reasonable doubt that the warrant of arrest issued against him or her was not valid in the first place or the individual should be able to take care of the initial case which had led to the issuance of a warrant against your name.