Kansas Warrant Search

Kansas Statutes 22-2401 lays down the rules concerning arrests effected by a law enforcement officer. Pursuant to this statute, a sheriff’s deputy or state trooper can arrest a person if he has a warrant ordering the detention of this individual and even when the agent has probable cause to believe that the person in question has committed a criminal act or will do so in the future.

An individual can also be taken into custody if it is clear to a police officer that if he/she is not arrested, the evidence available in a case can be irrevocably lost or damaged. Also, when a person is mentally unstable or is a threat to himself or society in general, he can be placed under arrest. Another reason that a law enforcement agent can have to detain an individual is if he commits a crime in the officer’s view.

The all-important and elusive probable cause!

Probable cause is an important consideration when effecting an arrest without a warrant and when seeking the release of a detention order and a search warrant. It is defined in K.S.A. 8-2118. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that arrests that are not supported by probable cause are to be deemed unreasonable. Probable cause is described as a legal determination that is to be based on the facts brought before the judge by the investigating agency and witnesses’ testimonies.

In using this assessment, the court tries to understand if the proof available in a case is enough to conclude that a criminal act did occur and that there is enough reason to believe that the accused had a hand in it. Also, when issuing a warrant, the court is essentially deciding if the transgressions of the person in question are serious enough to merit immediate arrest.

Arresting an individual under a Kansas active warrant and without it

K.S.A. 22-2405 prescribes the methods that can legally be incorporated to detain an accused. In accordance with this section of the Kansas penal code:

• The arresting officers are allowed to use reasonable and necessary force when it comes to apprehending the offender
• Because arrest implies placing a physical restriction on the movement of the accused, it is also acceptable for cops to use overt methods of restraining a person like handcuffs, etc.
• When an active warrant is issued against a person or if there is probable cause to believe that he may have committed a felony, peace officers can arrest this individual at any time of the day or night.

The powers of outstanding warrants vis a vis other legal instruments available to the judiciary in KS

It will also help to understand here that what makes an outstanding warrant far more powerful than other detention orders like bench warrants, etc is the fact that this directive can be executed without paying heed to the geographical boundaries in which the warrant was issued.

In other words, officers can give chase to a criminal outside the county, even requesting the local police to aid in their efforts to capture the criminal. In fact, a person with an outstanding warrant to his name can be arrested in any part of the country. Given the serious nature of arrest warrants, it is understandable why the sheriff’s office frequently displays lists of the county’s most wanted in their offices and even on their websites at times.

In contrast, search warrants, which are also issued after due deliberation over case facts to establish probable cause, can be used only within a stipulated period, and that too for searching a specific property.

Finding information on arrest records and warrants from Kansas

People who are interested in a warrant search in Kansas will be relieved to know that, unlike some other states, crime history data is freely disseminated to the general public in KS. However, this information is offered while upholding the privacy laws of the state and also federal provisions that allow crime records pertaining to cases that did not result in a conviction to be made available only to law enforcement personnel.

To find information on warrants in the state, you can approach the Kansas Bureau of Identification, the local clerk of the court’s office, or even the sheriff’s department of your county. While you will only find crime-related information from law enforcement agencies, the office of the county clerk in charge of keeping the court dockets will be able to furnish information on civil and criminal court records.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation offers two provisions for conducting a warrant search:

The name-based check: For the name-based inquiry, you will need personal identifier data about the subject like the name, date of birth, race, gender and social security number. An inquiry of this kind can be conducted without involving the subject. This means that you won’t need a consent form from the individual.

Name-based checks are charged at $20 per inquiry, and you can conduct these online at the Kansas Criminal History Record Check website or you could download the request form made available at the site and send it to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Criminal History Records Section, 1620 SW Tyler, Topeka, KS 66612.

The fingerprint check: You will need to get the subjects or your own fingerprints taken at the local law enforcement agency and send these to the address given above with a check for $35.