Warrant search, with the coverage stated up front
Statewide warrant and most-wanted systems, searchable from one call. Roughly half of US states publish one — so this page names the 26 we cover rather than implying a national search we could not deliver.
Why a clean warrant search result proves less than it looks
Warrants are issued at every level of government, and most levels publish nothing. A statewide system carries what that state chose to publish — frequently felony and most-wanted cases only. County and municipal warrants routinely appear in none of them.
- No match means no match in the systems searched — never that no warrant exists
- 26 states publish a statewide warrant system; the rest publish none
- Every result cites the jurisdiction that issued it, so it can be verified at the source
- Warrant status changes without notice — treat any result as a pointer to the official record
The 26 states with a live warrant system
Each of these also carries county jail rosters, so a warrant search and a custody search can run against the same state in one call.
| State | County jail rosters | Statewide prison system | Court records |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 12 | Yes | — |
| Arkansas | 14 | Yes | Yes |
| Colorado | 66 | Yes | Yes |
| Connecticut | 1 | Yes | Yes |
| Idaho | 46 | Yes | — |
| Illinois | 27 | Yes | Yes |
| Iowa | 18 | Yes | Yes |
| Kansas | 16 | Yes | — |
| Louisiana | 15 | — | — |
| Minnesota | 18 | Yes | Yes |
| Mississippi | 21 | Yes | — |
| Nevada | 17 | Yes | Yes |
| New Mexico | 40 | Yes | — |
| North Carolina | 20 | Yes | — |
| North Dakota | 10 | Yes | — |
| Oklahoma | 17 | Yes | Yes |
| Oregon | 38 | Yes | Yes |
| Pennsylvania | 65 | Yes | Yes |
| Rhode Island | 1 | Yes | — |
| South Carolina | 23 | Yes | — |
| South Dakota | 21 | Yes | — |
| Tennessee | 16 | Yes | Yes |
| Texas | 65 | Yes | — |
| Utah | 29 | Yes | — |
| Washington | 40 | Yes | Yes |
What the criminal records on our index contain
In a random sample of 66,154 US criminal records on our index, 50% are state prison (department of corrections) records and 49% are court cases.
41% of those records include charge detail. Among them, the most common charges are theft, larceny and stolen property (14%), drug possession (13%) and assault, battery and threats (10%).
Where a record states the level of the charge (9% of records), 60% are felonies and 34% misdemeanors.
93% of court cases on our index do not state an outcome. Among those that do, 43% ended in a conviction, guilty plea or adjudication, 14% were dismissed or found not guilty, and 43% are still open.
A jail booking records an arrest and the charges at booking. It is not a conviction.
- Theft, larceny and stolen property14%
- Drug possession13%
- Assault, battery and threats10%
- Burglary and breaking & entering9%
- Fraud, forgery and identity theft8%
- Drug sale, distribution or manufacture8%
- Traffic offenses (not DUI)7%
- Other or unclear7%
- DUI / DWI6%
- Public order, trespass and property damage6%
- State prison (department of corrections) records50%
- Court cases49%
- County jail bookings1%
- Convicted, pleaded guilty or adjudicated3%
- Dismissed, not guilty or acquitted1%
- Open or pending3%
- No outcome stated (including cases marked closed without a disposition)93%
Based on a random sample of 66,154 records on our index (2026-10-08). Categories are our grouping of the charge text each court, jail or agency publishes; a record can include charges in several categories. Percentages are rounded. See criminal charge types and what shows up on a background check.
How to check if someone has a warrant
- Step 1
Enter the name
Add a date of birth or birth year when you have one; warrant records carry few identifiers.
- Step 2
Search warrant systems
Run a criminal search scoped to warrants, or an unscoped search that includes them.
- Step 3
Read what came back
The record type, the issuing jurisdiction and the match label on every result.
- Step 4
Confirm with the issuer
Warrant status changes without notice. Confirm with the agency that issued it before acting.
Arrest warrants, bench warrants and federal warrants
| Warrant | Who issues it | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| Arrest warrant | A judge, on a sworn statement from police or a prosecutor | Probable cause to arrest the person for a crime |
| Bench warrant | A judge, from the bench | The person missed a court date or did not follow a court order |
| Probation or parole warrant | A court or a supervising authority | An alleged violation of supervision terms |
| Federal warrant | A federal judge or magistrate | A federal charge or a federal supervision violation |
What a warrant record shows, and what it does not
- Usually shown: the name, the offense or reason, a physical description and the warrant status as published.
- Often missing: a full date of birth, an address and a case number, because warrant lists are published to help the public identify someone.
- Never shown: whether the person committed the offense. That is decided in court.
- Always given: the issuing jurisdiction, so you can confirm the record there.
States without a statewide warrant system on our index
26 jurisdictions have no statewide warrant system on our index: Alaska, Arizona, California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. In these places, warrants are published, if at all, by individual counties, cities or sheriffs. A search there returns other criminal record types, but it cannot answer the warrant question, and the response says which systems were searched.
How to find out if you have a warrant yourself
If you think a warrant may have been issued for you, the most reliable answers come from the court clerk in the county where the case would be, or from a criminal defense attorney, who can check and advise you on how to resolve it. Many bench warrants for missed court dates can be cleared by contacting the court.
Warrant searches here are not a consumer report. Hiring and tenant decisions run through FCRA Partner Access. Related searches: court records, jail rosters and arrest records.
Warrant search FAQ
Which states can I search for warrants?
Statewide warrant or most-wanted systems are live for 26 states, listed in full on this page. The remaining states do not publish a statewide warrant system at all, and we would rather name that than let a national-sounding claim imply otherwise.
If nothing comes back, does that mean there is no warrant?
No — and this is the most important limitation on this page. A clean result means no match in the systems we searched, in the states that publish one. Many warrants are issued at county or municipal level and never appear in any statewide system at all. Absence of a warrant record is not evidence that no warrant exists, and it should never be presented to anyone as if it were.
What does a warrant record contain?
Typically the offense, a physical description and the warrant status. Warrant systems are among the sparsest record kinds we carry — they are published to help the public identify someone, not to document a case — so expect fewer identifiers than a court or custody record, and use the citation to reach the issuing jurisdiction.
Is a warrant the same as a criminal record?
No. A warrant is outstanding: someone is sought. It is not a charge that has been tested, and it is certainly not a conviction. The record that says how a matter ended is the court disposition, which is a separate layer and a separate search.