How Do I Find Out If I Have a Warrant in California? Arrest Warrants, Bench Warrants, and How to Clear One
The short answer: California has no single public website where you can type in your name and see every warrant, but you can usually find out by checking the Superior Court's online case index for the county where the case would be, checking the county Sheriff's warrant search tool where one exists, or having a criminal defense lawyer run the check for you. A bench warrant is issued by a judge because you missed court or violated probation; an arrest warrant is issued because a prosecutor filed charges or a detective obtained a probable cause warrant before charges were filed. Both can get you arrested at a traffic stop in Riverside, Victorville, or Los Angeles, and both can usually be cleared on your terms if you act before that happens. This guide from our criminal defense practice explains how to check, what each type of warrant means, and how clearing one works.
Arrest Warrant vs. Bench Warrant: What Is the Difference?
An arrest warrant means charges or probable cause. When the District Attorney files a complaint and the defendant is not in custody, the judge can issue an arrest warrant under Penal Code section 813 for a felony or Penal Code section 1427 for a misdemeanor. Separately, a detective who has probable cause but no filed case can obtain a warrant under Penal Code section 817, often called a Ramey warrant after People v. Ramey (1976) 16 Cal.3d 263, which held that police generally need a warrant to arrest someone inside their home absent an emergency. If a detective has been calling you, an arrest warrant may be the next step, and our article on what to do when a detective calls explains how to handle that contact.
A bench warrant means you missed something. A bench warrant is issued by the judge from the bench, most often under Penal Code section 978.5, because a defendant failed to appear for a court date, failed to appear for sentencing, failed to pay a fine or complete a program, or violated probation. In a traffic or infraction case, a bench warrant can follow a failure to appear on a signed promise to appear under Vehicle Code section 40508. Missing court is also a separate crime: Penal Code section 1320 applies when you were released on your own recognizance and Penal Code section 1320.5 applies when you were out on bail, and a failure to appear on a felony is itself a felony. Our guide to what happens if you miss court in California covers the consequences in detail.
Both are entered into statewide and national systems. Once issued, a warrant is entered into the California law enforcement database, and felony warrants are often entered into the national system as well. That is why a bench warrant from the Pomona courthouse can surface at a traffic stop in Barstow or at an airport in another state. Warrants do not expire on their own; a ten-year-old bench warrant from a missed DUI arraignment is still active.
How to Check Whether You Have a Warrant
Check the Superior Court case index. The Superior Courts of Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Los Angeles County, Orange County, and Ventura County each maintain an online case access system where you can search criminal cases by name. The case record generally shows whether a bench warrant was issued and whether the case is still open. These systems do not always show arrest warrants on cases that have not yet had a first appearance, and the Los Angeles system in particular limits what the public can see, so a clean search is not proof that no warrant exists. Use the court's current website, because the search tools and their names change.
Check the Sheriff's warrant tool. Some county Sheriff's departments publish a searchable warrant index or will confirm a warrant by phone. Calling or walking into a station to ask about yourself carries an obvious risk: if the warrant is active, you can be arrested on the spot. For that reason, most people in Hesperia, Moreno Valley, or Santa Ana have a lawyer make the inquiry instead.
Have a criminal defense lawyer run the check. A lawyer can search the court index, contact the clerk's office, call the District Attorney's office to ask whether a case has been filed, and, where appropriate, confirm a warrant through the court without exposing you to arrest. The lawyer can also find out the amount of bail set on the warrant, whether it is a no-bail warrant, and which courthouse issued it, which is the information you need to plan a surrender or a motion to recall. Our article on how long the District Attorney has to file charges explains the filing window a lawyer is checking against.
Signs a warrant may exist. A missed court date on a citation, a bail bondsman calling, a letter from the court returned because you moved, a DMV hold you cannot explain, or a detective leaving a card at your door are all signals. If you were cited and released after an arrest, the court date is printed on the citation, and the court will not send a reminder; see our guide for people who were cited and released on a misdemeanor.
What Happens If You Are Arrested on a Warrant
Traffic stops are the most common trigger. Officers run every driver's name during a stop, and an active warrant results in arrest regardless of why you were stopped. You will be booked, and a bench warrant from another county means you can be held while that county arranges transport. Under Penal Code section 825, a person arrested on a warrant must be brought before a judge without unnecessary delay and within 48 hours, excluding Sundays and holidays, but a weekend arrest can still mean several days in custody.
Bail on a warrant. A bench warrant usually states a bail amount set by the judge who issued it, and a bondsman can post it so you are released with a new court date. Some warrants, especially for repeated failures to appear or for probation violations, are issued with no bail, which means only a judge can release you. The rules on release are explained in our guides to how bail works in San Bernardino County and the ability-to-pay requirements set by In re Humphrey (2021) 11 Cal.5th 135.
Home arrests on a warrant. Under Payton v. New York (1980) 445 U.S. 573, an arrest warrant allows officers to enter the suspect's own home to make the arrest when they reasonably believe the person is inside, and under Steagald v. United States (1981) 451 U.S. 204, they generally need a search warrant to enter someone else's home to look for the person. Evidence found during a warrant arrest at a home can lead to new charges, which is another reason to clear a warrant before officers come looking. Our guide to whether police can search your house without a warrant explains the limits.
How to Clear a Bench Warrant
File a motion to recall and quash the warrant. For most misdemeanor bench warrants, a lawyer can calendar the case, appear in court, and ask the judge to recall the warrant and reinstate the case on the regular calendar. In many misdemeanor cases the lawyer can appear without the defendant present under Penal Code section 977, subdivision (a), although judges often want the defendant in the courtroom when the warrant is recalled; see our article on whether you have to go to court on a misdemeanor. For felony bench warrants, the defendant must appear personally, and the question becomes whether the judge will release the person on the same terms as before.
What the judge considers. Judges at the Riverside Hall of Justice, the San Bernardino Justice Center, the Victorville courthouse, and the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center generally want to know why the date was missed, how long ago, what the defendant has done since, and whether the defendant came in voluntarily. A person who walks in with a lawyer, a plausible explanation, and proof of a stable address and job is treated very differently from a person brought in on a traffic stop. The court can add a failure-to-appear charge, raise bail, or add conditions, but a voluntary appearance usually keeps the original case on track. Our High Desert guide to clearing a bench warrant at the Victorville courthouse describes the local practice.
Warrants on old traffic or infraction cases. An old failure to appear on a traffic ticket can carry a bench warrant, a civil assessment, and a hold on your driver's license through the DMV. Clearing it usually means appearing or having counsel appear, resolving the underlying ticket, and asking the court to lift the hold. These are often resolved in a single appearance, but the DMV side takes additional steps, so follow up on your license record afterward.
How to Handle an Arrest Warrant for New Charges
Arrange a surrender on your terms. If a case has been filed and a warrant issued, the lawyer can contact the court and the prosecutor, confirm the bail amount, arrange for a bond to be posted in advance where appropriate, and schedule a walk-through surrender so that you are booked and released or brought directly to arraignment rather than arrested at work. For felonies, the lawyer can also ask the court to recall the warrant and let you appear voluntarily at arraignment under Penal Code section 988. Our guide to what happens at arraignment in Riverside County describes that first hearing.
Do not try to talk your way out of it. A warrant means the decision to charge has already been made, and a phone call to the detective to explain yourself only adds statements to the file. Our articles on whether you can talk your way out of charges and what not to say to police explain why silence protects you.
Out-of-state and out-of-county warrants. A California warrant can lead to arrest in another state and an extradition process under the Penal Code's extradition provisions, and a warrant from another California county means a transfer between jails. A lawyer can often arrange to have the case calendared in the issuing county so that you appear there voluntarily instead of being transported in custody. Immigration consequences of an open warrant and a later conviction are discussed in our guide to immigration consequences of a California conviction.
Mistakes People Make With Warrants
Waiting for it to go away. Warrants do not expire, and every month of delay makes the explanation to the judge harder. Interest and assessments accrue on old fines, and the failure-to-appear charge gets harder to negotiate away.
Calling the police station to ask. Asking a desk officer whether you have a warrant invites an arrest if one exists. Have a lawyer check.
Driving on a suspended license while the warrant is open. A DMV hold from a failure to appear can leave you driving on a suspended license without knowing it, which adds a charge under Vehicle Code section 14601 at the next stop. See our guide to driving on a suspended license.
Handling it alone to save money. Appearing on a warrant without counsel often means a higher bail, a new charge, or a plea entered just to get out. Daniel Gramling, Esq. offers flat-fee criminal defense and limited-scope options, including limited-scope representation for a single warrant recall appearance, and our article comparing a public defender and a private attorney explains the options.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a free way to check for a warrant in California?
Yes, but it is incomplete. The Superior Court's online case index for each county is free and shows bench warrants on existing cases, and some Sheriff's departments publish warrant lists. Neither reliably shows a new arrest warrant on a case you have not yet appeared on, so a lawyer's check through the clerk and the District Attorney is more complete.
Will a warrant show up on a background check?
Often, yes. Open warrants are tied to court cases, and employment and housing background checks that pull court records can show the open case and the warrant status. Clearing the warrant and resolving the case is the only way to change what appears.
Can a lawyer clear a bench warrant without me going to court?
Sometimes, for misdemeanors. Under Penal Code section 977, subdivision (a), a lawyer can appear for a misdemeanor defendant, and many judges will recall a warrant and reset the case on that appearance. Felony warrants and many domestic violence and DUI cases require the defendant's personal appearance, and some judges want the defendant present regardless.
Does a warrant ever expire in California?
No. Bench warrants and arrest warrants stay active until they are recalled by the court or served by an arrest. A decade-old bench warrant can still get you arrested at a traffic stop, and it continues to show on the court record and in law enforcement databases.
What happens if I get pulled over with a warrant?
You will be arrested. Officers run every driver's name, and an active warrant results in booking regardless of the reason for the stop. You will then be brought before a judge within 48 hours, excluding Sundays and holidays, under Penal Code section 825, or held for transport if the warrant is from another county.
How much does it cost to clear a warrant?
It depends on the case and the court. Daniel Gramling, Esq. offers flat-fee and limited-scope options so that a single warrant recall appearance has a known price before it is scheduled. Bail, court assessments, and fines on the underlying case are separate and depend on what the court orders.
Gramling Law Group clears warrants and defends criminal cases at the Riverside Hall of Justice, the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta, the San Bernardino Justice Center, the Victorville courthouse, the Rancho Cucamonga courthouse, the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, the Pomona courthouse, and the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, and throughout the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, Orange County, and Southern California. Daniel Gramling, Esq. offers flat-fee criminal defense and limited-scope options for clients in Riverside, San Bernardino, Victorville, Hesperia, Apple Valley, Barstow, Pomona, Los Angeles, and Santa Ana. Call (909) 654-4575 or contact us through this website for a consultation.
This article is educational and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It addresses California law only.
Related Guides From Gramling Law Group
Learn more about our criminal defense practice serving the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, and Southern California.
Need a warrant cleared in the Inland Empire or Los Angeles? See our Riverside criminal defense attorney page, our Victorville criminal defense attorney page, our San Bernardino criminal defense attorney page, and our Inland Empire criminal defense landing page.
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