An active warrant in Texas is a warrant for arrest that allows a law enforcement officer to arrest the offender named on the warrant. A warrant is considered active in Texas if it has not yet been executed and the offender has not been arrested by an officer. If a warrant remains active for too long in Texas, it is considered to be an outstanding warrant.
Only a judge or court of law can issue active arrest warrants in Texas. Once a warrant is issued, then it is considered active until the offender is arrested or dies. It is the responsibility of the local or state level law enforcement agencies to then arrest the offender, thereby executing the warrant. Databases of active warrants are organized by the jurisdiction of the county where the warrant was issued, so it is impossible to do a statewide search for warrants.
It is not very hard to find out if you have any TX active warrants. The fastest way to find the warrants you have is to go to the local court. They can run your driver’s license number through the active warrant database. If you have any active warrants, they can tell you. If you do not want to visit the court in person, most Texas courts have a phone service for warrant information. Check your county’s website for the correct contact numbers. You can also go to the police station. They also have access to the database for local warrants. Though, if you have an active warrant, a law enforcement officer can arrest you if you choose to check for active warrants in person at the police station.
For example, if you receive a traffic violation for speeding and fail to pay the fine, it is likely that an active warrant will exist on your record. Even if it has been multiple years since you received the citation, the warrant for your arrest will still be active.
Sometimes it can be better to visit the police station and resolve the warrant. In Texas, warrants remain active until they are resolved by the offender, or the offender is dead. TX active warrants will be reported in background checks; this means that active warrants can affect the offender’s chances for employment, their ability to obtain loans from financial institutions, or even their chance to be offered a lease from apartment complexes.