Public Warrant Records Information

The warrant records are maintained by the office of the county sheriff. It becomes difficult to determine whether you have an outstanding warrant issued against your name as you do not know which records are available for public dissemination. It is possible to source information from public warrant records.  There may be several commercial websites that offer relevant information but you cannot be sure of their authenticity. You need to source the information from state and federal agencies in order to acquire authentic information. The public warrant records can be of immense help when you need to check a new recruit’s background.

Availability of Public Warrant Records

The warrant records are not made public in some cases. The state and federal laws forbid the disclosure of information pertaining to warrants. These restrictions are imposed especially in cases where the warrants are issued for minors, in cases where the warrants record the statement of the witnesses, or bear the names of the victims of a sexual assault. Any other information that is stated in the warrants and is regarded as confidential cannot be disclosed in public warrant records.

You can come to know about anyone who has an outstanding warrant issued against his or her name by calling up the office of the local sheriff.  You can also visit the department in person. Several law enforcement departments refrain from publishing information on the web in order to ensure that the records are protected.

In Austin City, Texas, for example, warrant information is sourced from public court records and published on the website of the police department. All the warrants that are listed here might not be active. There are some warrants for which a court appearance has already been made while there are others where the subject of the warrant has already been arrested. Therefore the law enforcement authorities are discouraged to make any arrests on the basis of the data published on the website.

In Florida, warrant information can be accessed from the Public Access System maintained by the Florida Crime Information Center. All you need to do is type in the name and other details of the subject of the search on the online search form and click on the “submit search” option.  All these function under the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The FDLE advises warrant information requestors to check with the office of the local sheriff before taking any legal action.

State Statutes Concerning Public Warrant Records

It is important to have a clear idea about the state laws before you set out to search for public warrant records. The state laws might not be in favor of public warrant records search. Though the data available on the website of the respective law enforcement agency are updated on a regular basis, you need to check it with the concerned agency in person. There are chances that the warrant information has become outdated. If you want to search for warrant records that are no longer part of the current database available on the web, you may be required to pay an additional fee for the service.