How to Perform a Florida Warrant search

Anyone with an access to the Internet can perform a Florida Warrant Search. The information is available to all those interested in carrying out a background check to find out if a person has a criminal history.
Florida Capitol Police

Running an inquiry using the state’s resources

The best source for a Florida warrant search is the computerized Public Access System operated by the FDLE’s Crime Information Center. By typing a name (and additional data such as race, sex and date of birth to get more accurate results) you will see wanted people all across the state.

Once you get a result, it is recommended to check with the local authority for maximum accuracy. The next paragraphs explain how to do it.

Conducting a single county query

Naturally, a Florida warrant search done on a local level will be much more precise. What you should do is go to the sheriff of the county where the suspects lives or where he has committed the offense. The sheriff processes and stores information on all the wanted people under its jurisdiction.

In some cases, you will have to physically arrive at his office and ask for information. However, some of the sheriffs (usually in larger FL counties) maintain an online tool which will allow you to access information from your personal computer or your cell phone. For instance, you can do a Miami-Dade county warrant search with the help of the online MDPD Crime Information Center.

Using this website’s search tool

Another recommended option for a Florida warrant search is the inquiry tool operated by www.flarrestscheck.org. You can search the whole state by typing the subject’s name. The main advantage of using this tool is that you get a full background reports that also covers Florida arrests (including a person’s incarceration history) and court records. The data is highly accurate and up to date. Your anonymity is strictly observed.

Some important things you should know about Florida warrants

In Florida, an active warrant is one that has been properly documented and signed by a judge, authorizing the arrest of a person.  Police officers need certain criteria to be fulfilled to obtain a judge or a magistrate’s signature, namely:

  • Probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed, and that the suspect is the one who committed it.
  • Reasonable belief that the information which justifies taking a person’s freedom is true.
  • Details of the person to be arrested.

A typical warrant contains the following details:

  • The suspect’s full name
  • Identifying features like  eye color, hair color, height, weight, and so forth
  • A description of the crime the suspect is accused of committing.

It should be noted that any official arrest order issued by the court is not likely to go away. It remains valid until the suspect is captured and taken into custody.

One final word – the number of Florida warrants continues to increase with each passing year.  As of 2015 there were more than 120,000 outstanding warrants in the state.