Read on to learn the different types of arrest warrants commonly used here in the United States.
Outstanding Warrants
If a person has committed a misdemeanor crime, they will have an arrest warrant issued for them. This gives local law enforcement a heads up to look out for this particular guilty party. It also gives them permission to take them into custody for their suspected crime. For lesser crimes, police will not actively search down every guilty person with an outstanding arrest warrant, because there are simply too many. So if a person is not found for a while and neglected to turn themselves in, an arrest warrant becomes an outstanding warrant due to the amount of time it’s been active.
If you have an outstanding arrest warrant, you can choose to turn yourself in to authorities and face your charges; this way you can get it over with and put it behind you. If you do not want to turn yourself in, you are taking a huge risk that can affect your life down the road, substantially. It can affect your job, driving privileges, obtaining a passport, and many other areas of life.
Felony Warrants
Felony warrants are arrest warrants for more serious crimes that are categorized as felonies. This can include drug trafficking, solicitation, larceny, check fraud, multiple DUI charges, and other serious cases. For example, if a person runs a red light at an intersection and causes a serious accident, then drives off to avoid the consequences, the consequences will in fact be more severe, because that is a criminal act and a felony.
Bench Warrants
A bench warrant is a basic warrant; however, rather than being issued by the police, it is issued by a judge. It requires the defendant to be taken into to custody by police and brought to the theoretical “bench” of the court room to face their charges. Bench warrants occur when a non-violent and non-dangerous criminal act is committed. This includes, failure to appear for court, outstanding child support payments, failure to show for jury duty, and other similar legal orders.