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Clearing a California Warrant

If you have a California warrant, there are two ways to handle it: You can go to Court yourself where the California warrant is located and place yourself on calendar, or you can hire me to clear you California warrant.

Many people chose to hire me to clear a California warrant because they do not live in California and do not want to come hear to clear the warrant. People don’t want to travel from Las Vegas, Arizona, Texas, Florida, New York to California to clear their warrant because it takes too long.

Many California warrants- arrest warrants and bench warrants, can be cleared without coming to California to clear the warrant. You need to hire a lawyer to clear a California warrant without coming to California.

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Arrest or Search Warrant?

A common question is explaining the different types of warrants. Warrants can be for a variety reasons. Two of the most common are arrest and search warrants, but they are totally different. An arrest warrant can be issued for many reasons: At the beginning of a case, before the initial appearance has been made, for missing a court date or for failure to comply with a court order. A subject of an arrest warrant may not always know about the existence of the warrant until after they are arrested.

A target will never know about the existence of a search warrant. Those are used by law enforcement to look inside a protected piece of property- usually a house or apartment. If you have a search warrant executed at your residence and you are not arrested, it is important that you speak to an attorney who can help you with an resulting charges.

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Fixing a Warrant for Your Arrest

Warrant lawyer for Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, criminal defense lawyer Scott Pactor

Do you need help clearing a warrant for your arrest? I am experienced in handling your arrest warrant in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura. You can call or text me at 1 323 645 0697. Check out my five star Yelp profile.

Many people are worried when they learn they have a warrant for their arrest. They learn about the warrant of arrest from different sources, often times from a background check before being hired for a job, or from a notice sent by law enforcement. An arrest warrant is more serious than a bench warrant, because it means a police officer will arrest you if they find out you have a warrant for your arrest.

Warrants for your arrest can be issued for many different reasons. The most common reason is for failing to appear for a new case, either misdemeanor or felony. I talk to people about warrants for their arrest everyday. Before COVID times, you could get on calendar within a day or two in most counties- same day in Los Angeles, next day in Orange County, next week in San Diego, etc. Now, if you haven’t actually been arrested, it can be hard to get your warrant for arrest lifted. It’s a great time to hire me for this job- the headache alone trying to get on calendar makes it worth it to hire me to clear your arrest warrant.

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DUI Warrant Cleared in Riverside

The idea behind southerncaliforniawarrants.com is that you can call me and get a warrant cleared ASAP, not have to go to Court and get additional advice I may be able to provide you about your situation.

Yesterday was a good example- the client needed a recent DUI warrant cleared in Riverside for a job background check. It wasn’t that complicated, but it involves getting to the Riverside Hall of Justice at 7:30 AM in the morning, and then wading through a crowd of over one hundred defendants for the particular department where you have to clear the warrant.

It’s important to understand that in the context of most warrants, attorneys are treated as first class citizens, and people using the public defender or representing themselves are treated like garbage. Much of what I do isn’t hard… for a lawyer, but trying to imagine a client doing the same thing…is unpleasant.

For example, in Riverside I was in and out before 9:30 AM, whereas the people without lawyers were being told that it was “unlikely” that everyone would be done before lunch. Some people were being told they didn’t qualify for a public defender because they earned too much money!

Riverside is another county that technically requires a notarized document to allow an attorney to appear for a criminal defendant the first time. If you hire a lawyer to appear for you on a warrant in Riverside, make sure they know about that requirement!

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Do I have a warrant? Everything You Need to Know About Searching For A Warrant… in 3 Steps

You are probably reading this because you don’t know whether you have a warrant, and you are trying to figure out how to find, search or locate a warrant or warrants. Here is everything you need to know about finding our if you have a warrant or not.

For traffic and misdemeanor warrants in California, if you hire a lawyer you do not have to go to Court. As a lawyer, I can also help you find your warrant.

Step One: Locate your Case Number

The first thing you have to understand is that every warrant comes from a case, and every case has a case number. If you want to find a warrant, first you need to find the case number.

Do I Have a Warrant: Links to Find Your Case Number

Every county in Southern California has a different format for case numbers, and each county has different numbering systems for traffic, misdemeanors and felonies. Once you have found your case number, you either want to either follow the link or put the case number into a separate case summary search engine.

If you can’t complete step one, you should probably talk to me before you give up. Don’t forget to look separately in Criminal and Traffic if your county has different search engines.

Once you’ve completed step one, come back here for step two, interpreting your case information.

Step Two: Interpreting Case Information

If you are at step two, you have found a case number, or numbers. If you are someone who has multiple cases, start at the newest and work backwards. The most common reason a case has a warrant is because the defendant did not show up for court. If you put in a case number and it has no entries, that means you never went to court and there either is or will be a warrant at some point in the future. Usually there is lag of several months between a missed court date and the issuance of a warrant, but issuing a warrant is standard for everything except the most minor traffic violations. So, if you have a case number and there is nothing about the case, yes, you have a warrant, or will have one.

If you enter a case number and there are entries under the case, it can be hard to tell whether or not there is a warrant out. If you get to this step and are stuck, it is a good time to consider talking to me.

Step Three: Go to Court (or Hire Me to Go For You)

If you have found your case number and determined that you have a warrant you are ready to go to Court OR hire me to go for you. Take your case number to the right court house and go to the Clerk’s office and ask them what the warrant is about. They will be able to tell you (or me).

At that point you can add the case on calendar, and that is also when it starts to get complicated. If you get this far, and you are worried about the consequences of making a court appearance, you should consider hiring me to go for you. For most post conviction warrants the fee is only 500, and you’ll probably spend at least a whole day spread out over multiple dates trying to fix the warrant yourself. If you are out of the area, the cost to travel to southern California will probably be more than the cost of hiring me to do it for you.

If you call me and have located your case number, I will give you a free fifteen minute phone consultation.

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Decade Old DUI Warrant in Vista San Diego: Cleared

The highlight of this week in fixing Southern California Warrants was in Vista, California, or Superior Court of San Diego County, Northern Division, or as it is officially, officially known, the North County Regional Center. The client had multiple warrants, all in San Diego County, at two different Court houses, Vista and South Bay (Chula Vista), all for misdemeanors.

This case required more than the usual amount of groundwork. First, the client didn’t know which Court locations inside the County had his warrants, so last week I went to central San Diego and looked him up in the search terminal. Then I had to go Vista. In Vista, you have to calendar the warrants a week in advance. Next I had to go to South Bay, where the rules required one warrant to be set “only on Fridays, in the morning” and the other “either in the afternoon of Monday, Wednesday and Friday or the morning of Tuesday and Thursday.” Additionally, one of the South Bay warrants can only be added on the day of the hearing, and the other needed to be prescheduled.

Yesterday was the first court date, in Vista, where the Judge cleared a decade old DUI warrant and actually terminated probation, meaning that the client is done with this case, no warrant, no more probation, nothing. FINISHED. It was a triumph, and unexpected, since the Judge very easily could have demanded the client fly out from Texas to clear the warrant. The client was very happy.

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Cleared: 10 Year Old DUI Warrant in San Diego

Today I cleared a 10 year old DUI warrant in San Diego. Old warrants are a common reason for calling- I’ve cleared 30 year old warrants. In this case, the client picked up a couple DUI’s in San Diego, but then moved to a different Southern California county, where he was unable to comply with the many onerous requirements of a second time DUI conviction: 96 hours custody, public work service, over three thousand dollar fine.

Fortunately for my client, central San Diego court house is a great place to clear an old warrant because of the frequent tourist and military defendants who may have little or no attachment to San Diego. Today, the client was able to clear his decade old warrant without having to travel to San Diego- saved him a full day at work. It’s not always so easy! He paid 500 dollars.

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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.

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True Stories 3: 15 Year Old Warrants in San Fernando and Van Nuys

 

This is a case from last month:  The client, Mark R., called me from the state of Montana, where he’d been running a several auto body shops for the past two decades.  In his younger years he’d had some issues related to substance abuse- a sick wife, life as a single dad- and he’d picked up a couple cases- one in Malibu and one in San Fernando.  His family was from San Fernando, and his parents still live there.

He didn’t know the warrants existed until he started dating a woman in Canada, and the Border Patrol alerted him to the warrants.

Both cases were at warrant, the Malibu case was a drug diversion where he had failed to show up for the final hearing (a dismissal of the charges),  the San Fernando case was an assault charge where the client had failed to submit proof of community service.

Complicating matters was the fact that the the Malibu Court House was closed some time ago, all the cases were moved to Van Nuys.  Since the client was living in Montana, I went to Van Nuys to try to clear the warrant without him.  There, the Judge said that he would not clear ANY warrant without the physical presence of the client.  I left court, called the client, and we made arrangements for him to fly out.

The next week, we went to Van Nuys- miraculously, the client still had the 15 year old proof he needed to obtain the dismissal.   We got the case dismissed, then went to San Fernando, where the Judge flipped out and threatened to throw the client in jail for failing to clear the warrant sooner.   I asked for a continuance over the weekend- mainly to give the Judge time to cool off.

We went back the next week, and the Judge agreed not to throw the client in jail.  Unlike Van Nuys, the client did not the proof of the work he was supposed to do originally, so he had to back to Montana, and after he does what he was supposed to do originally (community service, anger management class) the case will be dismissed.   I charged the client 1000- 500 for each violation.  In retrospect, I probably would have charged more, but a deal is a deal. 

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True Stories 2: Four Year Old Warrant of Arrest in Orange County

 

Emily X. called me last month with a tough situation- a four year old warrant of arrest in Orange County (Harborside Justice Center/Newport Beach) for failure to complete her 18 month second offender DUI class.  Emily had been living in fear for the last four years, as she raised her son as a single mother- with the warrant out she was afraid of being arrested, but she was also afraid that the Judge in Orange County would send her to jail for failing to clear the warrant.

I charged her 500- standard for a probation revocation, and told her I would go down to Harborside Justice Center by myself the first time, put the case on calendar and talk to the Judge.  Not all Judges will clear warrants without the client present- Orange County is particularly bad in this regard, but even if the Judge won’t clear the warrant, he or she will give an idea of what the punishment is likely to be.

Last month I went down there and the Judge surprisingly cleared the warrant, and agreed to set the revocation hearing out a month, so that Emily could see her kid graduate Junior High.  I’d advised her that jail was a real possibility, and I always want my clients prepared for the worst.   Today was the day of the revocation hearing.

We lucked out and got a visiting Judge- especially in Orange County- getting a Judge other than the “usual” Judge hearing a probation revocation is a win- they are never harsher than the original Judge, and usually they go a lot easier.  Such was the case here, the Judge didn’t even violate Emily, and let her off with 40 hours of community service.

Unfortunately, Emily waited too long to go back to the class, so she has to do the 18 months all over again.  That’s a drag.  When I asked Emily if I could share her story on this blog she said, “Of course- it went a lot better then I was expecting, I’m glad you prepared me for the worst, but now I feel great. I’m so glad it’s over!”