Finding outstanding warrants for yourself or someone you know requires that you find out which Georgia court issued the warrant and, possibly, the law enforcement agency that is responsible for serving it. The court clerk, the sheriff's office or the police department's warrants division in the county where the offense was committed may provide information about the crime, charges or bail amount. You might not be able to obtain warrant information on someone else, as some law enforcement agencies provide warrant information only to the person involved. The main types of warrants used in Georgia are search warrants, arrest warrants and bench warrants for failure to appear in court.
Finding the Source and Protocol
Determine the county where the offense took place and locate its courts. You can find Georgia court locations using the Judicial Council of Georgia's lookup tool (see Resources). There are various types of courts in the Georgia court system, and you may have to make contact with several courts to determine where the warrant originated.
Another option for finding outstanding warrants is to contact the warrants division of the sheriff's office or police department in the county where the offense was committed. Policies for obtaining warrant information vary among law enforcement agencies. Some provide warrant information over the phone to third parties. Others make it public via their websites. Some departments discuss the information only in person and with identification and only to the person involved.
Third-Party Solutions
Numerous commercial vendors provide "active" or outstanding warrant lookup tools via websites such as these:
- TruthFinder.com
- CountyOffice.org
- PublicDataCheck.com
- ArrestWarrantRecords.com
These websites supply police records by state. You would search Georgia records to find outstanding warrants in a person's name, if the offense took place within the state. You must also supply first and last names. Vendors may provide the service for free or charge a one-time fee. Some offer subscriptions if you want to check for warrants on multiple people. Be aware that the information on these sites may be limited. If you discover an outstanding warrant, the site may not tell you what it is for.
Check Most Wanted Lists
Sheriff's offices, police departments and organizations such as the Drug Enforcement Agency, or DEA, in Georgia provide the public with their lists of most wanted fugitives via their websites. It is their effort to obtain help from the public to locate persons with outstanding warrants who pose the most threat. OnlineSearches.com provides a Georgia Warrants Directory, where you can search a list of counties with wanted lists and their links.
References
Resources
Writer Bio
Karina C. Hernandez is a licensed real estate agent since 2004 in San Diego. She has written legal articles pertaining to housing and real estate for multiple internet channels over the past 10 years. She has a B.A. in English from UCLA.