Maine Warrant Search

Maine Revised Statues Title 15, Section 506 states that magistrates of the district courts along with judges of municipal courts have the authority to issue orders for arrests known as active warrants. These directives are issued when a member of the local law enforcement agency brings to light the fact that an offense has been committed by filing an examination of this incident in court.

In terms of an arrest warrant, the complaint filed for the order can only be taken to a tribunal that deals with criminal matters and has geographical jurisdiction in the area where the offense occurred. An active warrant issued on the basis of probable cause serves as an order to local police officers to arrest the person named in the document.

The authority of a warrant

Section 208 further states that an outstanding warrant from Maine authorizes all police officers from across the state and beyond the boundaries of Maine to execute the warrant. In fact, to this effect, when an active order remains unserved in the police database, it is promptly added to the outstanding warrants category, so that information on it can be relayed to law enforcement agents from across the country.

The execution of an arrest warrant

Chapter 99 of Title 15 deals with the execution of an active warrant; it is clearly mentioned in this section that all police officers regardless of the sheriff’s department that they are associated with are responsible for serving a warrant. Also, it is explicitly mentioned here that the use of reasonable force is legal when executing an order for arrest if the offender is resisting the attempts of peace officers to take him into custody.

It is further stated that keeping in mind the judicial system’s integrity, the execution of an active warrant should be of the highest priority to all law enforcement agencies and their officers. To further augment the powers of an arrest warrant, these orders have been made free from the restrictions of time. This means that a directive of this nature never goes out of effect.

Other judicial orders that are issued in criminal matters by the Maine courts

While a subpoena and summons also order a litigant or witness to appear in court, these do not command the detention of the person in question. In contrast, bench warrants, although primarily used in civil matters and cases where the defendant has skipped bail, authorize police officers to take an individual into custody.

On the other hand, search warrants are simply orders that allow cops to enter a private property, be it a home or office, and look for incriminating evidence against the offender. A search warrant is also based on the establishment of probable cause which has to show that there is reason to believe that the suspect may have stashed illegal substances or items that can be used as proof in a property.

Getting a warrant search done in Maine

You can access crime history information in Maine including arrest records through the Maine State Police, the local sheriff’s office and the Department of the Clerk of Court. In the case of the latter, this agency is responsible for managing the court dockets database which contains information on all matters that have entered the state’s judicial system.

Because a pre-warrant hearing also calls for the involvement of a deputy from this department, you will also find information on arrest warrants in the court records. For a generic look at people with outstanding warrants from Maine to their name, you can look at the most wanted list furnished on the website of some sheriff’s departments or visit the agency in person.

To find information on warrants and arrest records through the MSP, you can visit the official website of the department at the Maine Criminal History Record and Juvenile Crime Information Request Service here. Charges for crime history information are in the range of $21 to $31 and you will need your subject’s full name and date of birth to initiate the inquiry.

To visit the agency office in person for your search, you can head over to the State Bureau of Identification, 45 Commerce Drive, Suite 1, Augusta, ME 04333 or call on 207-624-7240 for more information.

If you seek information on Maine inmates, try the state Department of Corrections website. They offer a handy search tool that crawls the database of adult offenders maintained by the agency. It is available here. You can also find information on probationers through this service. Alternatively, you can connect with this department through the mail by writing to them at the following:

Central Office 25 Tyson Drive 3rd flr State House Station 111 Augusta, Maine 04333-0111(207) 287-2711