Also known as: outstanding warrants · active warrant · unexecuted warrant
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An arrest warrant that has been issued by a court but remains unexecuted by law enforcement officers.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Officer Lopez stopped Octavia Okonkwo on a hunch near a suspected drug house. A records check revealed an outstanding warrant for unpaid fines from another county. Lopez arrested Okonkwo and found methamphetamine during a search incident to arrest. The valid warrant supplied an independent basis for the arrest and search.
Investigator Ramirez pulled over Otis Olsen after a tip about a shooting. A warrant check returned an active outstanding warrant for Olsen. Ramirez arrested Olsen and recovered a gun and drugs from his truck. The warrant later proved invalid due to a clerical mistake in another jurisdiction.
State trooper Rivera stopped Olivia Owens and her husband for a traffic violation. A database showed an outstanding warrant for missed fine payments. Owens was arrested and taken to the county jail where officers conducted a full intake search including a delousing shower and visual inspection.
Officer Patel detained Orlando Okafor on a sidewalk without reasonable suspicion. A routine warrant check disclosed an outstanding bench warrant for a prior citation. Patel arrested Okafor and discovered drug paraphernalia in his pocket during the ensuing search.
Detective Hayes arrested Oliver Okeke outside his home on an outstanding warrant for driving with a suspended license. Okeke was handcuffed and placed in a patrol car. Hayes then searched the passenger compartment of Okeke's nearby vehicle and found drug evidence.
Officer Rohleder encountered Odessa Okada walking with her child. Knowing Okada was on parole, Rohleder confirmed an outstanding warrant existed and conducted a suspicionless search of her person. The search revealed a cigarette box containing methamphetamine.
No. Courts weigh the officer's culpability, the presence of purposeful or flagrant conduct, and whether the warrant serves as a genuine intervening circumstance. Isolated negligence in a database entry often leads to admission of evidence, but deliberate or systemic misconduct can still require suppression.
Once a lawful custodial arrest occurs, officers may perform a thorough search of the arrestee's person and clothing without additional justification. The search remains valid even if conducted shortly after the arrest in a nearby location such as a locker room.
…the residence and conducted a records check, which revealed that Gant’s driver’s license had been suspended and there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest for driving with a suspended license. When the officers returned to the house that evening, they found a man near the back of the house and a woman in a car parked in front…
…Utah lists over 180,000 misdemeanor warrants in its database, and at the time of the arrest, Salt Lake County had a "backlog of
…truck. Herring was no stranger to law enforcement, and Anderson asked the county's warrant clerk, Sandy Pope, to check for any
…Rohleder stopped petitioner and asked him whether he had an outstanding parole warrant
…in Burlington County, New Jersey, petitioner and his wife were stopped in their automobile by a state trooper. Based on the
No. Officers may search the passenger compartment only if the arrestee remains unsecured and able to access the vehicle or if it is reasonable to believe evidence of the offense of arrest will be found inside. An old warrant for a completed offense usually fails both prongs.
Yes, when the impoundment follows standardized department policy and the inventory is conducted for administrative purposes such as protecting property and avoiding liability claims. Officers may open closed containers if the policy authorizes it.
It depends on the officers' culpability. Isolated clerical errors by another agency that produce an erroneous warrant entry typically do not justify suppression because exclusion would not meaningfully deter future misconduct.