white background
California Warrant Facts

When Are Police Allowed to Enforce Arrest Warrants in California?
In the state of California there are specific laws that govern what time of day an arrest warrant can be carried out by law officers. Felony warrants can be executed at any time because they are for more serious crimes. Misdemeanor arrest warrants are treated different since misdemeanors are for lesser crimes. Generally, a misdemeanor can only be executed between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. The exceptions to this are if the person is already in custody for another criminal matter or if a judge has given specific written permission that the warrant can be executed any time. Once you've been arrested, you must be presented before a judge without delay which is usually within 48 hours. Unfortunately this excludes Sundays and holidays, so if you're arrested on those days an extra day could be added to your jail time. Once you have seen a judge criminal proceedings have begun against you and you will want to hire a lawyer to assist you in any court proceedings



Will I Be Allow to Post Bail?
In California, if you are arrested after an arrest warrant has been issued, a judge may order bail depending on the circumstances of the crime. A bail amount will be stated on the warrant itself if the charge qualifies for bail. There are few crimes where bail is not an option and these include violent crimes, sexual assault crimes, some felonies, murder and possibly capital crimes. The bail amount will be set according to the bail requirements in the county in which your arrest warrant is issued.

Any time you're issued bail you will need a criminal defense attorney. If you post the appropriate bail money, you will then get released from jail with the understanding you will return for any court hearings related to your case until it's resolved. If you fail to appear in court after posting bail you will have further charges against you and possibly another warrant in your name. A California criminal defense attorney may be able to convince the judge to release you on your own recognizance so that you don't have to pay bail as long as you promise to appear in court on your next scheduled court date.


Do Arrest Warrants Ever Expire?
The answer to that question is no. In California, once a warrant has been issued by a judge it will stay attached to your name unless it's resolved by an arrest and you appear in court to answer for the crime you are charged with. Arrest warrants are put into place to serve the justice system and keep citizens accountable who break the law. For that reason they are not resolved until the person answers for the crime committed and is ether found guilty and serves time in prison or pays their mandatory fines or they are found not guilty and the case is dropped. You will want to hire a criminal lawyer to help you navigate the court system if you find yourself with an arrest warrant. A criminal attorney will have the knowledge to handle the warrant effectively, post bail for you if you go to jail, or even help you get the record removed if you are eligible.


How Do I Get An Arrest Record Removed From My Personal File?
You may want to remove an arrest record from your personal background report for many reasons. One of the main reasons is when seeking employment. A future employer may ask for a background check, which is common practice in today's society. Any arrest or criminal record will show up on your background record so it's good to know what your personal file will show. California Labor Code section 432.7 states that an employer cannot require someone applying for a new job to disclose an arrest or detention that didn't end in a conviction.

Regardless of the reason for wanting to remove a record you have two options. You can either have the record expunged or sealed. Both remove the record, but have different end results in who can view the records after an expungement or sealing is complete. Expunging a record removes it entirely. That means the arrest will not show up on a background check and you can treat the incident as if it never happened. Sealing a record only removes the file from the public, but law enforcement and government agencies can still view sealed records if need be.

Expungement, which is often called a 1203.4 dismissal, is initiated by filing a motion with the court asking the judge to reopen the case and review facts and evidence with the intent to dismiss the court case and reverse the guilty verdict. Individuals who have served prison time for a felony or misdemeanor and are now out of jail can motion to have the felony record removed. If the petition is granted, that means the court will allow the individual to withdraw their plea of guilty or if convicted will set aside the verdict of guilty. This is known as an expungement. If there were no charges filed against you or criminal charges were filed, but later dismissed you may also request an expungement which will almost always likely be granted. Any time you were arrested and found not guilty there should be no problem getting an arrest record removed. It's highly advised you hire a lawyer to help you get the record expunged or sealed correctly.

What Records Are not Eligible to be Removed in California?
Expungement eligibility is determined by the severity of the crime you were charged with and if you have a prior criminal record. Misdemeanors are much easier to get expunged than felonies. If you do not have a previous record then it will also be more likely that a judge will grant either an expungement or sealing of records.

A person is not eligible to have an arrest record sealed or expunged if any of the following exist:
You are currently charged with a criminal offense
You are on probation for a criminal offense
You are serving a sentence for a criminal offense.

You may be eligible for expungement if:
You successfully completed probation (either felony probation or misdemeanor probation), and
You are not currently charged with a criminal offense, on probation for a criminal offense or serving a sentence for another  criminal offense
CaliforniaArrestWarrants.com banner
Online Local Record Registry
©Copyright CaliforniaArrestWarrants.com_LLC (a VerifyRecords.com company). All Rights Reserved. CaliforniaArrestWarrants.com is not affiliated in anyway with any Federal or State government agencies. All trademarks on this website, whether registered or not, are the property of their respective owners. Please do your own due diligence to determine if the content is right for your individual purposes. The publisher, vendors and advertisers of this site are not liable for any damages or losses associated with it's content or the information posted by the publisher, advertisers and vendors. If you have any questions related to this website, please send an email to support@verifyrecords.com and we will reply within 24 hours. Thank you for visiting CaliforniaArrestWarrants.com.
Home   |   About   |   Terms of Use   |   Privacy Policy
DISCLAIMER: This report is not legal advice. You need to do your own due diligence to determine if the content is right for your Individual purposes.
The publisher of this report is not liable for any damages or losses associated with the content in this report.


Home   |   About   |   FAQ   |   Types of Warrants   |   Warrant Facts