Can a Lawyer Clear a Warrant in Pierce County, WA?
Finding out that you have an outstanding warrant can be scary. Your first reaction might be to ignore it and hope you don’t get arrested, but that can lead to additional hassle, encounters with the police, and the need to pay bail. A lawyer may be able to handle the situation for you.
Lawyers can often get outstanding bench warrants cleared, but not arrest warrants. The distinction is that bench warrants are usually for ongoing cases where you already missed a court date, and arrest warrants are for a new arrest based on an investigation. Our lawyers can contact the court and arrange a new court date and potentially get your bench warrant dropped. With an arrest warrant, we can also discuss turning yourself in so we can get bail set and start working on your case instead of you getting arrested by surprise.
To review your case, call the Law Offices of Smith & White’s Pierce County criminal defense lawyers at (253) 203-1645.
Bench Warrants vs. Arrest Warrants
It is important to understand which type of warrant you have to know how to proceed. Our lawyers can help you figure this out and take the proper action, but understanding which warrant you have can help you feel confident in the process of what happens next in your case:
Bench Warrants
A bench warrant is issued by a judge “from the bench.” These are used to get people into court, usually for a case they have already been arrested or charged in.
If you have a court date and fail to appear, courts can issue bench warrants to drag you back to court. This often means you violated the terms of your bail or release on your own recognizance, and it may mean the judge will want to adjust your bail terms going forward.
If you have a bench warrant for you, police can arrest you any time they come across you for other issues. That means that if they pull you over for a routine traffic stop or need your name as part of another investigation, and they run your name through a warrant search, they can find the warrant and arrest you.
Bench warrants are issued for existing cases, but also for outstanding traffic tickets – though it usually takes more than one or two outstanding tickets for a judge to resort to a bench warrant.
Arrest Warrants
An arrest warrant is usually the result of a criminal investigation. This is the kind of warrant that police need to go to a judge to sign off on.
An arrest warrant gives the police the ability to go look for you and arrest you anywhere they might find you. For them to go inside your house or other private property, they also need a search warrant or permission. However, they can arrest you outside your house, job, or other location with just an arrest warrant.
Can You Clear an Arrest Warrant?
Arrest warrants usually cannot be cleared so easily. Police get a warrant once they think you are the one who committed a crime. That means the most common way to challenge an arrest warrant is to fight the case after you have been arrested and formally charged.
However, our Pierce County criminal defense lawyers might be able to make the arrest warrant go more smoothly. Especially if the police have been in contact with you and your lawyer, they might give you notice of the arrest warrant and give you an opportunity to turn yourself in.
This means going to the station, presenting yourself, getting booked, getting arraigned, and getting released on bail after a bail determination hearing.
This is usually a better alternative than an arrest, and your cooperation with the legal process can often help you if it comes time to negotiate for a plea agreement or sentencing. It’s also better than being jumped by officers outside your workplace or being woken up at 2 a.m. to be arrested.
Can You Clear a Bench Warrant?
The goal of a bench warrant is simply to get you to come back to court. If you show the court you are willing to do that without being arrested, they can often clear the warrant.
Our attorneys can contact the court on your behalf, explain why you missed your prior hearing, and schedule a new hearing. Judges are often willing to drop warrants once they know that there is an attorney on the case and the defendant has had someone explain the process to them.
If the judge is not willing to clear the warrant, then you might need to turn yourself in, as discussed above. More likely, the court can schedule a new court date, but the judge might leave the warrant open until you actually appear in court.
Once we get to court with you, we can focus on defending you from the outstanding charges.
What Happens After Clearing a Warrant?
Just because your bench warrant was cleared doesn’t mean your case is over. In fact, it could just be the beginning.
Most bench warrants are issued in the early stages of a case for failure to appear. This means you still have charges to address.
Once we get you back to court, we can pick up where you left off with your previous counsel or before you had a lawyer. This means getting discovery from the prosecution (the evidence they have against you), doing our own investigations, and preparing to challenge the charges in court.
How to Prevent a Warrant
If you have charges pending in court, it is vital that you show up to your court dates. Our lawyers can accompany you and represent you in court.
If you appear at all court dates, there is typically no reason to issue a bench warrant against you in the first place.
Why Do I Still Have a Warrant After My Case was Dismissed?
If there was a bench warrant for you, but you came to court and paid your fine/served your sentence, or you got the charges dropped/dismissed, then the bench warrant should go away. If it is still on the books, it is likely an error, and our attorneys can help you clear this up with the court.
Call Our Pierce County, WA Criminal Defense Lawyers
If you have a warrant, call Smith & White’s Lakewood, WA criminal defense lawyers today at (253) 203-1645.