Oklahoma Warrant Search

Oklahoma Criminal Code 2-7-4 is used to provide information on the release of arrest warrants, search warrants, criminal process, and police detentions. Oklahoma law states that a warrant can only be issued when probable cause has been established through the affidavit that is submitted to petition the tribunal for a warrant.

Probable cause and how it sets arrest warrants apart from other legal processes

Legally, probable cause can be defined as reasonable evidence that would be adequate for the magistrate or for any person of sound mental disposition to conclude that a criminal act was indeed committed, and this said incident could be attributed to the doings of the accused. Although active warrants from Oklahoma are one among several types of detention orders available at the court’s disposal, only these orders and search warrants come with the probable cause requisite.

In contrast, bench warrants can be issued at the discretion of the tribunal; this simply means that a petition need not be filed by the cops for the issue of these orders. It will help to know at this point that bench warrants are generally issued when a court order is disobeyed.

So, the person in question is already in contempt of court which is a punishable offense. Hence, the court has the legal authority to issue a warrant without deliberating over the nature of the transgression or the role of the accused in it. Also, it is worth mentioning that bench warrants do not have the bite of active warrants.

While the latter stay in effect perpetually, bench warrants do expire over a period of time. When it comes to arrests, active warrants score over bench orders that can only be executed within the issuing county. In contrast, outstanding warrants have countrywide reach. These orders for detention can be served at any time and at just about any place.

Arrests under warrants in OK

An arrest through a warrant can only be made by an officer of law; however, this law enforcement agent can summon the help of fellow officers and civilians if needed to apprehend the accused. In fact, police officers are obligated to immediately take any person with a warrant out in his name or figures in the list of a state’s most wanted into custody.

To facilitate arrests, warrants contain information about the accused such as his/her name, gender, race, address, physical marks like tattoos, etc which can be used to identify this person and more. If the accused is a fugitive, the warrant information will be included in the central crime database with a picture of this individual.

The agent serving the warrant must notify the arrestee of the warrant’s existence unless in pursuit of the accused. This should be done whether the officer is in possession of the warrant at the time of making the arrest or not. Before a person can be taken into custody, officers have to ensure that he is the individual named on the warrant. They also have to comply with all the conditions of arrest stated in the document.

Is it possible to find information on Oklahoma’s outstanding warrants?

If you are looking for past arrest records, these can easily be procured from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections site here. However, if you would like your warrant search to get results on arrest orders that have yet to be executed, you must request the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

To find the crime history request form, you can go to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation page here. You can initiate a crime records inquiry by sending in personal identifiers of your subject or this person’s fingerprints. The same also holds in the case of a personal background report. Name-based searches will cost you $15 while fingerprint searches will set you back by $19. If you need to look up a person’s name through the state’s sex offender registry, you will be charged $2.

The OSBI can also be contacted by visiting the agency office in person at OSBI Headquarters, 6600 North Harvey, Oklahoma City, OK 73116 or you could get in touch with them through their website Contact page. It is also possible to access free information on arrest records and warrants through the office of the clerk of court or the local law enforcement agency.

Because the former acts as the keepers of court records, you can find details on both criminal and civil cases through the county clerk’s department. In fact, the court dockets database will prove to be a veritable treasure trove of information for anybody who is looking for crime records.