Checking Your Own Warrant Status: Tips & Tricks

Checking Your Own Warrant Status: Tips & Tricks

Many people call me to find out whether or not they have a warrant, bench warrant, arrest warrant, etc.  My first question is always, “Do you have a case number?”  If the answer is no, then the task is to find out the case number, and then use the case number to find out about the case, and the warrant.

Every county in Southern California offers anyone a chance to search their name, date of birth and/or driver’s license number to see whether they have any criminal cases.  Some counties allow you to search for warrants (San Diego).  Some counties charge (Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside) some do not (San Diego, San Bernardino, and Ventura).

If you don’t have a case number, you need to know where to search.  Here are the appropriate links for each county, with my comments:

Los Angeles County Index of Defendants:   Los Angeles county charges, it’s a dollar a search for the first 10 searches of every month.  Once you have the case number, you need to plug that into a different search engine.   To search Los Angeles county, you need account.  Court records may or not reflect warrant status depending on the age and locaiton of the warrant- once you have a case number, call me so I can give you advice about whether the case has a warrant or not.

Orange County Criminal and Traffic Cases Search:   Orange county also requires an account and charges a dollar a search.  Their records regarding the existence of warrants is more accurate than that provided by Los Angeles.   Be VERY careful trying to clear warrants without a lawyer in Orange county- things can go very wrong, very quickly.

San Diego County Sheriff Warrant Search:    San Diego allows you to search directly for warrants, unlike the other counties.  Also, the warrant search is free.

Riverside County Criminal Case Information:   Riverside County also requires an account and charges a dollar a search.

San Bernardino Criminal Case Information:  San Bernardino is free to find case information, just need your full name.

Once you’ve found a case number, call me or text to discuss whether or not you have a warrant.