A Texas arrest warrant can be issued for several different reasons. If the police think a crime has been committed a detective will put together a description of evidence into a probable cause affidavit. It will then be used to support an application for an arrest warrant.

Once the arrest warrant is signed by a judge it will be input into the system. The person described in the warrant will be called to turn themselves in or be arrested by another means. Depending on the Texas county the police may show up at the person’s home to arrest them or it will linger until the person is stopped for a traffic violation.

Failure To Appear Traffic Ticket

If a person fails to pay a ticket for a traffic offense a failure to appear can be issued. In Texas, a person can check to see if there any such issues at http://www.texasfailuretoappear.com/search.php. This is not actually a warrant but can be detrimental for a person by keeping them from being able to renew a driver’s license.

Failure To Appear Warrant

If a person misses court for a Class B misdemeanor or above, a warrant can be issued by the court. The person’s bond is forfeited unless the person can show good cause about why they did not appear. This is where the term judgment NISI comes in. This is Latin for “unless”.

Travis County Warrant Search

There is also information on the Austin Criminal Lawyer page on this site.

Some Texas counties have an online site that allows a person to check to see if they have a warrant in that county.

You will need to person’s last name and date of birth. Or if you know a cause number you may enter that in the space provide. Travis county’s website is the following link Travis County Warrant Search.

The example below is of the Travis County Outstanding Warrants Information fill in the blank:

Williamson County Warrant Search

Williamson County, Texas does not have a way to check for warrants online. They do have a couple of options. A person can show up at the sheriff’s office with an ID and ask. (Beware that this way they will probably immediately arrest the person if they have a warrant out.) Another way to check is an attorney can fax a letter to the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office 512-943-1314 on letterhead. The letter asking the sheriff’s office to determine if a person has a warrant out for their arrest.

I will do this request for my clients who want to confirm whether they need to have a bondsman ready to bail them out of jail http://erictorberson.com/williamson-county-criminal-attorney. For privacy reasons, the warrants division at the sheriff’s office in Williamson County will not give out warrant information over the phone or by email. This is not uncommon for many counties. Maybe some counties think that people will elude the system if they find out they have a warrant.

If a person is not able to drive to a specific county to check if they have a warrant, there is another option. The person can bring their identification to the nearest law enforcement agency or jail and inquire about a warrant search. The person can just say they are doing it just to make sure. Better safe than sorry. If you think you have a warrant though, it might be best to already have a bondsman on hand ready to bond you out.

Harris County Warrant Search

According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office website, a person can go to the Harris County District Clerk’s website and search for misdemeanor and felony warrants. You would need to generate a user name and password to login to the system. You can also search for ongoing cases in Harris County, both civil and criminal.

Dallas County Warrant Search

Dallas County has a convenient website to look up warrants. You can google Dallas County warrant search and it comes up. There is also an automated number with the Dallas Police Department to call and check for warrants.

Bexar County Warrant Search

A San Antonio Municipal warrant search website is available to search for San Antonio warrants. To search for court records in Bexar County there is a site to enter a person’s name. Otherwise to check for a warrant it may be necessary to bring an ID to the sheriff’s office and ask if there is an open warrant.

It’s not clear why there is not a single website for the whole state of Texas to check for any outstanding warrants. It seems like it would save a lot of resources and allow many people to get unresolved legal issues finished up. The state and local municipalities would see a rise in income from fines and court costs as well.

Call or email me to help you with any legal issues that you have. http://erictorberson.com.