Arrest warrants are legal documents issued by a judge or court for a person’s arrest and incarceration. There are hundreds of reasons why a court would an arrest warrant, but most often, it is because a person is either suspected of a crime, violated their parole or probation, or failed to appear for a mandatory court hearing. Continue reading to learn more about arrest warrants and how they relate to the bail bonds industry.
Arrest Warrants
An arrest warrant retains a defendants name, suspected offense, and a magistrate’s signature. When an arrest warrant is issued, it means a person is wanted by the police, whether for penalization, investigation, questioning, or more. Arrest warrants give law enforcement the right to arrest and detain the person it is for. Police can show up at a person’s home and take them straight to jail, or run license plates and pull wanted fugitives over to arrest them. If a person has an arrest warrant issued for them, they can be arrest and taken to jail on the spot if they are ever discovered by police for any reason. Situations like bar fights, domestic disputes, or a car accidents can allow law enforcement to catch a person with an arrest warrant. Arrest warrants can be issued for various reasons, as mentioned before, even for non-violent infractions like owing back taxes and unpaid traffic tickets. But in a bail bondsman’s world, there is a frequent reason for issued arrest warrants.
Bail Bonds
Arrest warrants are commonly issued when a defendant fails to appear for their court hearing after being bailed out of jail. When this happens, their bond is revoked and a warrant is issued for their arrest. A person in this situation must go to the jail and turn themselves in to authorities. From there, they will be re-processed and booked into the jail’s database. Since they “tried to skip bond” before, it is possible for the courts to not allow them to use a bail bond again to get released from jail. They may have to wait in jail until their initial court hearing, which could be weeks or months away. In other circumstances, there could be a good reason why a person missed their court date, in which case, they can prearrange their bail with a bail agent, and get a faster release from jail to clear up the matter of their arrest warrant.