Tax Arrest Warrants

Arrest warrants are usually only issued for misdemeanor offenses, those considered lesser criminal acts punishable by a year or less in prison. Arrest warrants are commonly issued for things like disorderly conduct, vandalism, petty theft, simple assault and other relatively minor crimes. Sometimes arrest warrants will be issued if someone hasn’t paid a traffic fine or misses a scheduled court appearance.

Arrest warrants are issued by the courts, not the police department. After the authorities in charge of investigating a crime can show that they have reason to believe a certain person committed a crime, a signed affidavit is presented to the court who then issues arrest warrants for the person or persons named in the sworn statement. Arrest warrants are needed for crimes that are committed when an officer of the law is not present. If the law is a felony, no arrest warrants are needed to find and detain the criminal.

How will you know if there are outstanding warrants in your name? If you’re a law abiding citizen, you probably don’t have any arrest warrants issued under your name but if someone has stolen your identity it’s very possible to find yourself under arrest for something you didn’t do. It’s a good idea to periodically do an outstanding warrant search on yourself, either going to your local courthouse or using one of many internet sites that can be free or charge a small fee. It would be ill advised, of course, to ask a police officer; if there is a warrant issued for your name he will immediately arrest you, even if the crime was committed by an identity thief.

With the increasing crime rates and the popularity of meeting people over the internet, many people find that checking if a person has an arrest warrant sworn out against them just makes good sense. This simple check helps insure that a company doesn’t hire someone that may commit a crime against them. Searching for arrest warrants is also an excellent way to have confidence that the wonderful person you’ve just met or the nanny you’ve just hired is trustworthy.