As with many other states, the state of Nevada does not require police to have an arrest warrant to bring a person into custody that has committed a crime in the presence of an officer. An arrest warrant is usually issued by a judge in the event of:
- A crime that was witnessed by a person and the suspect was identified
- The police identified the suspect through DNA or fingerprints
- Video footage identified the suspect engaged in a crime
- There is a federal indictment against an individual
In the event of an active arrest warrant, authorities have the power to aggressively seek out the subject of the warrant and arrest them wherever they find them, including in their own home.
If you believe that you or somebody that you know has a warrant, we recommend that you do a Nevada warrant search to know for sure so that you can take action on your own terms.
Active Warrants in Nevada
Nevada is a unique state in the fact that gambling and prostitution are legal activities. Although there are several stipulations and regulations that are in place for each of these types of leisures, they are, nevertheless legal within the boundaries of the state.
In any event, the presence of an active warrant against an individual in the state of Nevada means that there will be action taken against the subject, or person named in the warrant.
A warrant is a signed document that officiates the permission of police officers to search, or take into custody the person named in the warrant. Once the warrant is issued, the only way for it to be completed is to be executed or dismissed. Only a judge can dismiss a warrant once it is signed into action.
Types of Warrants in the State of Nevada
There are basically three types of warrants that can be initiated in the state of Nevada:
- Search warrants
- Bench warrants
- Arrest warrants
There are other types of warrants that can be issued in each state, however, those types of warrants generally fall under the category of one of the warrant types listed above.
Where bench warrants and arrest warrants give authority to law enforcement officers to put you under arrest and take you into custody, search warrants grant officers permission to conduct searches of the body or property of the person listed on the warrant.
Warrant Records Search
Search Warrants in Nevada
Even though search warrants are put into effect by a judge through the court system they do not become public information until after they are executed. What this means is that the existence of the warrant is kept hidden from public view so that the named subjects of the warrant will not be aware of it until after it happens.
Keeping the search warrant secret ensures that the suspects named in the warrant will not have time to hide whatever it is that is being sought out.
The Fourth Amendment to the United States is in place in order to protect the people of the country from being harassed or illegally searched by aggressive police officers. In order to uphold this amendment, law enforcement agencies must obtain a search warrant in order to legally search the body or the property of anybody.
However, when it comes to the general safety of the community that surrounds the supposed criminal activity, police officers can use probable cause and community protection as a means to conduct a search without a warrant.
Reasons to substantiate a search warrant in Nevada can be:
- Possession of property that is stolen
- Possession of items that were used to commit a crime or crimes
- Possession of material that depicts the abuse of children
- Possession of illegal drugs or weapons
Search warrants need to include the areas of search in writing
In many cases, the authorities will get a tip or some other type of evidence that implicates that a person or people are involved in criminal activity. The police officers involved in the case will bring this evidence to a judge in order to obtain a search warrant.
When the judge writes out the warrant, they will need to include specifically where the officers will be allowed to search for evidence.
The warrant can state that an entire area of property is subject to search. This way the officers will have permission to search an entire home and everything in it without having to be specific regarding a particular item located in a closet. However, in some cases, that specific item will be mentioned in the warrant.
Bench Warrants in Nevada
Another type of warrant in Nevada is the bench warrant. When a judge issues a bench warrant it is because the person named on the warrant failed to comply with a court order. The judge will write and activate the warrant right from their bench in the courtroom.
Some of the major reasons that a judge will issue a bench warrant are:
- Failure to appear for a court appearance
- Failure to pay a fine within a stated amount of time
- Non-compliance with probation
- Failure to comply with a traffic violation sentence
As soon as a bench warrant is put into place the person that is named on it will be subject to arrest and detention until they are seen by a judge to clear the matter.
In some cases, a person will not even realize that they have a warrant because they forgot about a court date or a stipulation that they were supposed to adhere to. In any event, a person that has an active bench warrant will most likely go to jail, unless they hire an attorney to appear in court upon their behalf.
Arrest Warrants in Nevada
An arrest warrant is much like a bench warrant where it gives the authorities permission to arrest and detain the subject on sight. However, unless under certain circumstances, an arrest warrant is written out before the case against the subject has been heard in court.
In most cases, the police will bring whatever evidence they have against a defendant to the district attorney’s office. The DA will then file official charges agains the defendant, and get a judge to sign an arrest warrant into effect.
There are cases when, for example during the weekend, the police will contact a judge personally, off-hours, and get them to sign a warrant into effect.
Once an arrest warrant is active the authorities can make an arrest:
- At the suspect’s home
- At the suspect’s work
- At the suspects school
- Anywhere they see the person named on the warrant
In the event of an arrest warrant the officer, in most cases, will bring the subject of the warrant to jail in order to be processed. It is not common that an officer will release a person named in an arrest warrant with a notice to appear, however, in the event of jail overcrowding, or other critical situations a person could end up with a ticket to show up in court without having to endure jail.
Why Perform Warrant Searches?
If you, or anybody that you care about lives the kind of lifestyle that could end up with a warrant it is always better to be prepared to face the warrant, than not. If you have an active arrest warrant, or bench warrant the police can arrest you and take you to jail at any given moment. If you are aware that you have a warrant in the first place you will have the opportunity to contact an attorney and deal with the legal issue on your own terms before you get arrested. Doing a quick warrant search could ultimately save you a lot of heartaches.
***Regardless of which state you live in it is always wise to contact an attorney for any questions that you may have when it comes to warrant laws or any other legal concerns. The content found on this website is only for informational purposes and is not to be mistaken for legal advice.