How To Search For Bench Warrants
The internet is going to be your best tool for searching warrant records.
How to search for bench warrants. Welcome to the hawaii state judiciary s electronic bench warrant system. Bench warrants are usually public records because the suspect has already been charged and or arrested but in some circumstances the order to bring that suspect back into court may be part of an ongoing investigation which is one of the nine exemptions to freedom of information act law where an agency has a reason to deny your request. In serious criminal cases a failure to appear will most likely lead to a regular arrest warrant which would spur immediate attempts to find and jail the defendant.
Some bench warrants are arrest warrants but it really depends on the circumstance in which the courts issued the warrant. Pursuant to these sections of the state criminal code once a complaint is filed with a tribunal the magistrate has the authority to decide on whether to issue a process or not. Official government sites typically end in gov or us.
This happens more than you would think. A bench warrant is a type of warrant issued by a judge. A bench warrant is a warrant for arrest issued by a judge in a criminal or civil case for failure to appear in court fta violating probation or failure to obey any court order such as paying a fine.
Approved members of hawaii s law enforcement and criminal justice agencies may use the system to search for and view traffic and non felony criminal warrants. Failure to obey court orders and failure to appear are considered contempt of court offenses that can trigger a. Bench warrants can also be issued if you re indicted by a grand jury.
If you have a location in mind where you would most expect the warrant to exist you can search for that city county or state s official website. Fortunately checking for warrants is usually pretty easy. How to check for warrants online.
Most common warrant to have without knowing bench warrants. The bench is the traditional term for the judge s seat. A bench warrant on the other hand usually does not mean the police will be at your door the next morning.