I missed a court date and need to know if there is a warrant out in my name. How do I find that out before actually getting arrested?

If in the United States, there are many places now where you can see current court documentation online. Some places will even list if there has been a warrant of some kind issued. But, there are many places where the information is not yet available online and may never be available online. Are you in the United States, please?

Yes, I am in the US.

Can I call the court clerk or the probation department of my county and ask about any warrants? Will they give me that information?

Sure, you can call and maybe they might give you the information. But, if your going to do that, I would suggest talking to your attorney who could also find that out for you. If you think that there might be a warrant out for you, you should be speaking with an attorney anyway.

What I am getting at is that the information may be available online or it might not be.

What is the state and county, please? Please know that you're anonymous here.

Thanks!

I can see that you are still looking at this question. If you would list the state and county, I may be able to tell you if information is available online.

Thanks!

Illinois, Cook County.

The court house in question is:

Cook County Circuit Court
Skokie, IL 60077-1084

Can I call the court clerk and ask for warrants? Will they place me under arrest if I go to the court house to get this information?

If I pay a lawyer to get this information for me, how would he obtain it?

Okay, now we're cookin' here! Many county courts in Illinois pay to use what is called Judici. Judici Welcome Page (http://www.judici.com/) Please be aware that Judici only lists things on the state level and not the federal. If a federal warrant has been issued, then I don't know of any site where it might be listed. If a state warrant has been issued, it will be on the Judici site for the respective county. Please give me a minute and I will see if Cook County uses Judici or not.

If an Officer knows that a warrant has been issued for your arrest and sees you at the court house, yes, you would probably be arrested.

Lawyers can obtain information much easier than a private citizen can. I don't really know how they get all of the information that they do. But, others on this site might know.

Nope, Cook County in Illinois is not using Judici. But, you might find information about your case on the following sites. I don't know. You will need to check them out yourself.
I do know that Judici would list if a warrant of some kind had been issued for someone.

Thanks!

Circuit Court Cook County (http://198.173.15.34/)

Welcome to the Sheriff's Office for the County of Cook, Illinois (http://www.cookcountysheriff.org/)

I already checked. None of these sites have any warrant information. My concern here is that I need to take care of any warrants before I go driving to work on Monday. I can get pulled over and sent to jail.

By the way, you are musician and an artist, why so interested in criminal law?

I am interested in a lot of things. I just like to help people. That's the main reason that I am on this site. I'm not normally on the threads concerning Criminal Law very much. There are a number of people on this site who handle that topic area quite well with excellent expertise because of the experience and training that they have had.

The reason that I responded to your question, was that it was because it was a question that I felt that I could respond well to. Also, by the nature of your question, you appeared to be going through a period of angst, and I felt the you needed some sort of immediate answer in order to relieve the stress that you are feeling.

I have seen a lot of things happen to people, for people and between people in the five decades that I have been on this Earth. I am also a people person and when a person is involved in the arts of any kind, that person will meet all sorts of people from many different backgrounds and experiences that have been both good and bad. You just learn how to "go with the flow" of what is being asked and the answers that might need to be given when meeting and dealing with all sorts of people.

Thanks. I appreciate your interest in my question. And you are right about the fact that I am going through a period of angst. Probably the worst time in my life right now. I am a software engineer; haven't missed a day at work for the past 5 years and I am facing possible criminal charges for protesting at my local car dealership, where I purchased my car, to fix a fault in the wire harness that caused an engine fire, destroying the car and jeopardizing my life. I sometimes think that the laws are way too strict in the United States and that the people live here in a constant state of oppression and an illusion of "freedom".

Thanks. I appreciate your interest in my question. And you are right about the fact that I am going through a period of angst. Probably the worst time in my life right now. I am a software engineer; haven't missed a day at work for the past 5 years and I am facing possible criminal charges for protesting at my local car dealership, where I purchased my car, to fix a fault in the wire harness that caused an engine fire, destroying the car and jeopardizing my life. I sometimes think that the laws are way too strict in the United States and that the people live here in a constant state of oppression and an illusion of "freedom".

I'm not quite clear as to why you are facing possible criminal charges for what you have described. Would you mind simplifying or clarifying the explanation a little bit, please? Peaceful protest is something that is within the law in the United States and what people do have a right to do here, as long as it is peaceful and civil.

I do agree with you about the oppression here and the illusion of "freedom".

Thanks!

The protest was not quite civil. The dealership gave me a loaner car while they investigated the cause of the fire. A week later, they came back with the conclusion that a rag caused the fire and since it is an external object, it is not covered under warranty.

This made me furious and I refused to return their loaner car until they fixed my car. They called the cops to repossess the loaner and I ended up in Jail.

Two months later, they recalled quarter of a million of their own cars for the same problem. More details here:

Acura recalling 273,000 TLs to fix potential fire hazard | Automotive News Blog - Wide Open Throttle (http://wot.motortrend.com/6235625/recalls/acura-recalling-273000-tls-to-fix-potential-fire-hazard/index.html)

Thank you for the further explanation ahsan19! Your original question has now evolved into something that is quite complicated to figure out legally.

As such, I'm sure that there will be others who will come along to address your question and advise you of the things that you need to do in your situation.

I think that it would be good if you could describe specifically how the protest was not quite civil so that that we can help you the best here.

Thanks!

If you missed a criminal court date chances are very good, if not 100%, that there is a bench warrant out for you. Sometimes it takes a few days to officially get into the computer depending on what day of the week your missed hearing was held and when the clerks get around to entering it. Regardless of why you think you deserved to keep the rental car, they wanted it back and filed charges accordingly. It does not negate the fact of you keeping their property (grand theft) and the fact that the car was defective. One has nothing to do with the other. You just cannot merge the two cases and expect to win the grand theft case due to "technicalities" of the other case. Would suggest you contact your attorney about the outstanding warrant before you are stopped in a traffic stop and summarily taken to jail, and have to call your attorney from jail to help you.

I'm not quite clear as to why you are facing possible criminal charges for what you have described. Would you mind simplifying or clarifying the explanation a little bit, please? Peaceful protest is something that is within the law in the United States and what people do have a right to do here, as long as it is peaceful and civil.

I do agree with you about the oppression here and the illusion of "freedom".

Thanks!



The details of the arrest do not matter - if you were scheduled to appear in Court and did not you might receive a second notice or a warrant could simply be issued. The details of the how/why of the arrest do not matter; only the non-appearance matters.

I would have your Attorney check - on line records are never 100%; if you go to a Police Station and there is a warrant you can be arrested on the spot, same with the Court Clerk's Office. If you get stopped or they simply come to your house - you can and will be arrested.

Some Courts get on the computer faster than others (as Twinkie said).

Twinkie is 100% correct - chances are good there is a warrant and the time to argue whether the arrest was justified, whether you are oppressed, whether you were within the boundaries of the law, was at the Court appearance.

I would like to prevent an arrest, be it at my house or if I get stopped. How can I do that without having to pay for an attorney? If I call the Court's Clerk, will they give me that information; since it is supposedly "Public Information"?

Also, how likely is it that the police will actually come to my house to execute the warrant (if such a warrant exists)?

Hello ahsan:

You're between a rock and a hard place. You can't find out about a warrant without getting arrested in the process. An attorney is your only hope. He can't prevent you from being arrested, but he can arrange for you to turn yourself in, and get bonded out the same day.

I doubt they'll come to your house. They'll just wait. You'll get stopped for a broken taillight or something. But, there's a warrant. Of that, you can be sure. What?? You think the cops are kiddin??

excon

You can not "prevent" the arrest but you can have your bail arranged, go down and turn yourself in and then walk out with bail set.

You can not "prevent" the arrest but you can have your bail arranged, go down and turn yourself in and then walk out with bail set.



And you'll need an Attorney -

Of course, once you've missed the first Court date they won't trust you to just promise to appear the next time around.

And I've seen the Police come to the door and arrest people on warrants - depends on how badly the complainant "wants" you and how busy the Police are.

Here's how you get your warrant without spending any time

Cost lots of money
Get a lawyer have him call the judge that issued the warrant they make a time when you a bail bondsmen and your lawyer meet at court, it all takes place, you loose about 2k or what ever it cost, I mine was 1800$ it was a cash deal people jump if you tell them you will pay cash,

Believe me there was nothing crooked,about this at all I committed a crime Friday and by Monday morning I had the meeting and was on my way, judge even told my lawyer to tell me to stay low,

So in fact there people like us and if they can avoid paperwork you are there secret lover

heres how u get ur warrent without spending any time

cost lots of money
get a lawyer have him call the judge that issued the warrent they make a time when u a bail bondsmen and ur lawyer meet at court, it all takes place, u loose about 2k or what ever it cost, i mine was 1800$ it was a a cash deal people jump if u tell them yoiu will pay cash,

belive me there was nothing crooked,about this at all i committed a crime friday and by monday morning i had the meeting and was on my way, judge even told my lawyer to tell me to stay low,,

so in fact there ppl like us and if they can avoid paperwork you are there secret lover


This a legal board. You are not text messaging. Please speak English.

[QUOTE=Comments on this post
excon agrees: and his advice sucks too]



Are you saying that based on the fact that he doesn't know the difference between an arrest and bail and a warrant being issued for non-appearance or the other incorrect posts?

Well, I'll have to check with my "ppl" and see what they have to say.

And what's with the "secret lover" stuff?