In accordance with Chapter 2 to the Indiana Code, an active warrant is defined as a judicial arrest order that is issued by a local court with criminal jurisdiction. This directive is issued to the office of the sheriff in response to a complaint filed by the law enforcement agency.
The issue of an active warrant
Pursuant to section 35-33-2-1 of the IC, a warrant can only be issued on the basis of information or indictment filed with a tribunal. In case of the latter, the court has the authority to issue a warrant against the suspect even when there is no probable cause to hold him culpable as long as the indictment is filed and the alleged offender has not been produced before the court or taken into custody, the sitting magistrate can issue an arrest directive in his name.
In contrast, if there isn’t enough ground for the filing of an indictment, the judge is legally obligated to ensure that there is probable cause to hold the suspect responsible for a felony before he/she signs the warrant making it an active order for detention. When issued in felonies and in cases where the re-arrest of an individual is ordered for a particular offense, the directive stays valid till the perpetrator is brought before the court.
Till such time that the active warrant is executed, it is kept in the police database as an outstanding arrest orders that can be served in any part of the country and at any time. Chapter 2 of the Indiana Code further states that an arrest warrant will always be in writing and it will have a clear mention of the charges being brought against the person to be detained.
Finding information on Indiana active arrest warrants
Although the Indiana State Police does offer online and offline provisions for a crime background check, you cannot find information on active and outstanding warrants from this source. For this, you will have to approach the issuing authority that is the court of the magistrate of the county that the warrant was released in.
Alternatively, you could initiate an inquiry into active warrants through the office of the sheriff or the county clerk’s department as well. You can also look for warrants issued in a specific county of Indiana or in any other state across the country through online third party sites. Filling the form above will give you access to such a privately owned database.
County wise search for active warrants
In some counties the local sheriff’s office does put up a list of the most wanted criminals in the area on their website. While this may not give you the details on all active warrants issued in the area through a specific period, you will be able to get details on some of the more dangerous criminals operating in and around your neighborhood through this list. A few counties that do furnish such information on their site include:
- Madison: http://www.sheriffofmadisoncounty.com/warrants.html
- Porter: https://www.portercountysheriff.com/
- Lake: http://www.lakecountysheriff.com/
- Hamilton: http://www.hamiltoncounty.in.gov/588/Most-Wanted
Judicial inquiry for finding active warrants from Indiana
If you would like to conduct a broader search for active warrant issues in the state, you can try the website of the county clerk’s department or the Indiana judiciary; these can be found at:
- Clerk of court: http://hats2.courts.state.in.us/ISC3RUS/ISC2menu.jsp
- The judiciary: http://www.in.gov/judiciary/2729.htm
Both sites feature tools that allow applicants to look for records by furnishing the name of the defendant, the name of the attorney or the case number. Results are provided free of charge and it only takes a few minutes to find the court records or dockets of a particular case through these sites.