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    driftmycar's Avatar
    driftmycar Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Apr 20, 2007, 02:12 AM
    Can you fly with a bench warrant?
    Ok, So I have a bench warrant because the letter I got for a court date was misprinted and differed from what the actual court date was, no big deal, but I need to fly this Sunday and will not be able to clear it before than. The original charge was a misdemeanor, and I am not flying from the same county. Do you think I will have a problem?
    excon's Avatar
    excon Posts: 21,482, Reputation: 2992
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    #2

    Apr 20, 2007, 06:46 AM
    Hello drift:

    I don't know. Since 9/11 things have changed. Before that, I would have told you that the airlines wouldn't have any idea about your warrant. TODAY, I have no idea what shows up on their computers.

    However, if they're any good AT ALL, even a teeny little bit, your warrant will show up. Do you think they're any good?? Do you feel lucky??

    excon

    PS> (edited) Of course, you DO know that the TSA who does the screening ARE federal cops. I kind of think they know all about the people waiting in their line.
    excon's Avatar
    excon Posts: 21,482, Reputation: 2992
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    #3

    Apr 20, 2007, 07:46 AM
    Hello again, drift:

    Let me expand upon my last edit.

    I believe from the moment you buy your airline ticket, Homeland Security is advised. I believe from the moment you arrive at the airport, YOU are tracked by closed circuit TV. I believe from the moment you check your bags or check in with the airline, Homeland Security/TSA knows who YOU are, knows about your criminal history, knows about your travel plans, and has done a sweep through its database to see if YOU are in there.

    IF you appear in that database (and millions of us do), I believe from that moment on, they watch you. I believe that of the hundreds of people waiting in line at the security check in, they're watching 25% - 50% of them.

    I believe that you'd never know if you're the one being watched, unless you have a warrant.

    excon

    PS> Of course, I could just be extremely paranoid... Nahhh - they're watching...
    Fr_Chuck's Avatar
    Fr_Chuck Posts: 81,301, Reputation: 7692
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    #4

    Apr 20, 2007, 08:12 AM
    Ok, NO big deal?? You get stopped for speeding in the area where the bench warrant is from and you will find out how big of deal. An example in GA where I used to work, there was no judge available on the weekend, so if you were stopped on Friday afternoon, you would sit in jail till Monday morning when the judge holds court. So sitting in jail for two days will be a "deal"

    Next of course if it is no big deal why have you not just went down before and taken care of it.

    So one of the issues is where are you flying from, if the airport is 100 miles from the area of the bench warrant, most likely they won't arrest you, but if you are in the same town as the warrant, it is very possible they will detain you, maybe not when you leave but most likely when you get back.

    And as excon said, a lot of us are on the data base, I am even on it, I understand because of my "radical political view"
    But anyone flying now adays are checked against many lists.
    rkennedy's Avatar
    rkennedy Posts: 9, Reputation: 1
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    #5

    Apr 25, 2007, 03:24 PM
    You can fly with a bench warrant, however you need to take care of it as soon as possible so it does not haunt you later.
    mysteryyyy's Avatar
    mysteryyyy Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #6

    Oct 14, 2010, 12:48 PM
    I know this is old but it may help someone. I know first hand you can fly within the US with a felony warrant. I did it on accident not knowing that I had one. This was in 2009.
    excon's Avatar
    excon Posts: 21,482, Reputation: 2992
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    #7

    Oct 14, 2010, 01:06 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by mysteryyyy View Post
    I know this is old but it may help someone. I know first hand you can fly within the US with a felony warrant. I did it on accident not knowing that I had one. This was in 2009.
    Hello mystery:

    Yes, it IS old, but your information might HURT someone.. I got it. You know first hand that YOU could fly with YOUR warrant. That doesn't mean that EVERYBODY can fly with a warrant. It's not even close. Your experience is YOURS alone. You cannot extrapolate from your experience that that's how things work... No way, no how.

    excon
    REsearch1's Avatar
    REsearch1 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #8

    Oct 16, 2010, 01:44 PM
    Ok under the new Federal program a that is enacted since Capps II was deactivated The Only warrants that they will be advised of Will be Violent felonys and others that are deemed a risk to national security
    Frenchifrancois's Avatar
    Frenchifrancois Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #9

    Aug 4, 2011, 02:06 PM
    I'm in the same boat. I have two bench warrants in colorado(Dui, not finishing my classes and driving w/ suspended license) I moved back to Ca. after my court hearing for suspended license. I want to visit my family in Co. Can I fly there and back to Ca. without getting arrested at airport?
    excon's Avatar
    excon Posts: 21,482, Reputation: 2992
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    #10

    Aug 4, 2011, 02:10 PM

    Hello f:

    I'm still here and I haven't changed my mind. You DID read what I said above you, didn't you?

    excon
    kdchef's Avatar
    kdchef Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #11

    Nov 4, 2011, 09:14 PM
    Do not fly! I was trying to fly to ireland from newark with a misdemener in California. I was arrested as I was boarding the plane. I sat in Essex county jail for a week waiting to see if California would pick me up. They never did but it sucked and know I'm afraid to leave the country
    Kball80's Avatar
    Kball80 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #12

    Mar 15, 2012, 09:00 PM
    I flew with a warrant recently across the country and no problems. I definitely wouldn't try leaving the country though cause your passport and everything gets ran through. Stateside flights they will not spend the money on millions of daily passengers for a thorough background check. That costs too much time and money. It cost me $132 just to apply for a TWIC card through TSA which is mainly costs of having to run a background check through FBI and other sources. My answer is stateside, OK, but out of the country, no
    rlrl2010's Avatar
    rlrl2010 Posts: 85, Reputation: 3
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    #13

    Mar 16, 2012, 09:08 AM
    Question here. In 1996 I was charged with a misdemeanor and pled guilty to a non criminal violation. My NY rap sheet was sealed as per NY state CPL 160.55 and FBI prints expunged

    This has never caused any problem with my flying but I am just curious, from the time I bought a ticket and ran my boarding pass through the computers would there be any data that would get activated that would indicate the sealed notation in my record, or my record wouldn't even be involved due to it's "non serious" nature?
    ibelongincali's Avatar
    ibelongincali Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #14

    Mar 29, 2012, 12:24 PM
    Hi, I'm a canadian that has a warrant in CA for not finishing my domestic violence classes.
    I ended up flying back to Canada before I could complete the classes. I was charged with Domestic Violence however it was dropped to a misdemeanor and I was told to complete a domestic violence course.

    That was in 2008 - I need to fly to the USA in California for work, I'm nervous that I won't be able to get in to the USA with this warrant looming over me.

    Any advice? Will I be able to enter the US?
    ElNavajo's Avatar
    ElNavajo Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #15

    Apr 20, 2012, 03:41 PM
    Silly silly silly people... we are talking about a misdemeanor warrant... are you serious? The people that are paranoid about that stuff are the same people are geeks... I fly all the time... have bench warrants in three states... I drive too... never a problem... you people are dumb... I am an ex con and still have a passport and everything... now go back to the state that issued the warrant and have a local cop check your name and you will go to jail... other than that... in another state? They don't even know you exist... it does not come up on some big brother screen... it does not matter... seriously it is a misdemeanor warrant... like forgetting to wash your hands after you pee... is not good but nobody really cares... unless you go back to the state...
    ElNavajo's Avatar
    ElNavajo Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #16

    Apr 20, 2012, 03:52 PM
    And the guy trying to fly to irland and getting arrested in newark for a misdemeanor in cali is simply lying... it was a felony warrant he had... trust me... I've been to jail in other states and left the jail too without even a question to warrants out of state... I had to help a friend with cps as security monitor and cps ran my info and all that came back was in state stuff... a federal search won't even bring it up... only ONLY felonies... and yes it will bring up felonies you wasn't even convicted off... but misdemeanors no no no... that's why they suspend you license for bench warrants... because is all they can do... my license is suspended now because of that... but swat teams rushing you in an airport? For a misdemeanor? Hilarious... seriously I am laughing... you guys watch too much TV...
    ElNavajo1's Avatar
    ElNavajo1 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #17

    Apr 20, 2012, 05:10 PM
    excon should understand this... I too am an excon... lets talk about jurisdiction everybody... first shell of the onion is city... and than is county and than state and then federal... misdemeanors fall under county jurisdiction... this is the law... felony under state... and than we have the federal DA office... your misdemeanor is in county... OK everybody understand thus far? Now lets talk about interstate compact... I am not going to talk about federal because I don't know much and this is leagues and leiagues from that anyway... interstate compact is an agreement... a legal agreement between states to share information... the DMV for instance uses databases allowed by interstate compact... OK everybody does mesdameanors fall within interstate compact? no... why? Because as I already said... interstate compact is a interstate agreement,, not county... and what does misdemeanors fall under? County... we are talking about databases that would produce a flag... now bench warrants? What are they? Warrents ordered by the bench... what is the bench? It is where the circuit court judge presides... it is a warrant issued by a judge... who has access to those databases? Employees in law enforcement under the countys payroll... are there inter county agreements? You bet... so what is the radius of a county flag? Well of course within the state of that county... does a county flag show in another state? Of course not... how can a county based bench warrant appear in another state? An All Points Bulletin... APB... for short... what will get you an APB? A serious misdemeanor or a flee from an instition... what is a serious misdemeanor? Depends on the state... DUI? no... driving on suspended? no... FTA? No Ftp? no... OK now lets talk about federal groups such as TSA... does TSA have access to state databases outside of their immediate states office... no... will a county tag show up on a TSA check? If there is an APB... if not than probably not... if it does will they arrest you? If you are in the state of the county that issued the bench warrant they will detain you and bond you to county police... other than that than can only question you... thank you I've said enough
    pete8931's Avatar
    pete8931 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #18

    Jun 23, 2012, 01:59 AM
    I've flown 6 times for business in the last months and a half... all domestic flights to the same destination... I've flown from the airport in the same county where my 2 felony warrants are currently active... They are both bench warrants for missing court dates a few months back... Unfortunately, I have a very good career, and I was forced to travel for business several times to Texas and back to my home state. I have never been stopped or detained yet. However, on my last flight while picking up my baggage, 2 of my co-workers were temporarily detained by TSA and told they had been flagged because they were suspected of drug smuggling because of the fact we have been flying every week to an area of Texas with supposedly a high drug trafficking crime problem. I was lucky enough to leave before TSA confronted my co-workers, but now since they have been flagged, and my name was booked on the same reservation and I'm sure they have me on camera walking through the airport with them, they now know who I am, and probably have run my name through a criminal background check. I'm now concerned about flying again for business because of this. Even though they found no drugs or illegal activity and released my co-workers, I am afraid of being detained and arrested next time I step foot in an airport. I plan on taking care of these warrants within the next month, but unfortunately, this will require a lot of money and time, which is a luxury I do not have with my work schedule. I'm not sure how to handle. Does anyone have any experience with being "flagged" by TSA and how long it lasts and what it entails?
    excon's Avatar
    excon Posts: 21,482, Reputation: 2992
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    #19

    Jun 23, 2012, 06:04 AM
    Hello again,

    From MY perspective, I'd stay away from cops/TSA/Customs/Ice, and their computer terminals, if I had a warrant.. That's just me.

    excon
    AK lawyer's Avatar
    AK lawyer Posts: 12,592, Reputation: 977
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    #20

    Jun 23, 2012, 06:43 AM
    Quote Originally Posted by pete8931 View Post
    ... Unfortunately, I have a very good career, and ...
    they now know who I am, and probably have run my name through a criminal background check. I'm now concerned about flying again for business because of this.
    ...
    I plan on taking care of these warrants within the next month, but unfortunately, this will require a lot of money and time, which is a luxury I do not have with my work schedule. ...
    If, as you say, you have a very good career (hopefully it's a non-criminal career), you do have the money to take care of these warrants now, before you fly again. Hire a lawyer and get it taken care of now.

    If you don't, you will no longer have the career, but will have the time.

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