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What to Do if I Have a Warrant in Maryland?

Finding out that a warrant has been issued for your arrest can be jarring, to say the least. Fear, anger, and anxiety are just a few of the many emotions experienced by those facing the prospect of arrest. If a warrant has been issued for your arrest in Maryland, it’s imperative that you respond appropriately.

If you fail to do so, you may create additional problems for yourself - including additional charges. In this article, we discuss what to do if you have a warrant in Maryland. For additional information on this issue, please contact an experienced criminal defense attorney today.

This article will discuss options if you’re wondering, “What do I do if I have a warrant in Maryland?”

Determining if You Have a Warrant

If you’ve been accused of a crime or have some other reason to believe that you may have a warrant out for your arrest, you should take the steps necessary to confirm this. One way to determine if you have an outstanding bench warrant is to search the applicable court database. However, unserved arrest warrants are not included in such databases.

Therefore, if you believe that a warrant may have been issued for your arrest, you should contact a Maryland criminal defense attorney immediately. An experienced criminal defense attorney will conduct a search on your behalf and take steps to determine whether a warrant has been issued for your arrest.

Specifically, your attorney can check with the courthouse and sheriff’s office to determine if you have an outstanding warrant. In addition, your criminal defense lawyer will work to gather the details of your charges to begin planning your defense.

Types of Warrants in Maryland

As we discuss below, the two primary types of warrants in Maryland are bench warrants and arrest warrants.

Bench Warrants

A bench warrant is issued by a district or circuit court judge from the bench. Bench warrants are usually issued in open court when a defendant fails to appear at a required hearing. When a judge issues a bench warrant, the court typically forwards it to the police station closest to the defendant’s home. Most Maryland police departments have warrant task forces that serve these types of warrants on defendants.

Not all bench warrants are the same, however. If you fail to appear at a felony hearing, you will likely receive what is called a no-bail bench warrant. This means that you won’t be eligible for bail, and you will be held in a jail cell until your trial begins, or you are brought before a Judge at a bail review. On the other hand, if a court issues a bench warrant for a misdemeanor or traffic offense, like a DUI, you may receive a bench warrant with a preset bail or with instructions to the commissioner to set bail.

Fortunately, it is possible to file a motion to quash (i.e., cancel) a bench warrant. However, a bench warrant cannot be dropped by anyone other than a Maryland Judge. In other words, the decision to drop a bench warrant is not made by the prosecutor or state’s attorney. If your criminal defense attorney files a motion to quash a bench warrant for your arrest, it is typically the judge that issued the warrant who will rule on the bench warrant request for recall. This means that the judge who issued the warrant will make the decision regarding whether to recall or grant the motion to quash.

If you’re worried about a bench warrant, remember that it can be just es easily recalled as it was issued by a judge. Bench warrants issue for simple things like, failure to appear for a jailable traffic ticket, or missing a Court date. By filing a motion in Court, a criminal defense lawyer can make sure you don’t spend any time behcn bars from a bench warrant in Maryland.

In your motion to quash, your lawyer will explain why the motion should be cancelled in legal terms and provide information about you and why you missed or failed to appear for your trial date. If the judge agrees with your attorney’s reasoning, he or she will grant the motion, and you will no longer be at risk of arrest.

Arrest Warrants

Arrest warrants are issued against individuals who are charged with crimes. Arrest warrants, along with the details of the underlying charges, are kept confidential until they are served. Thus, defendants rarely know when an arrest warrant has been issued against them. There is a reason for this, however: it prevents defendants with active arrest warrants from attempting to flee to avoid arrest.

A judge issues an arrest warrant when he or she finds probable cause that a specific individual has committed a crime. The judge may be convinced that a crime has been committed based on a police investigation or by witness testimony. In addition, an arrest warrant may be based on a grand jury indictment.

Following the issuance of an arrest warrant, the police attempt to track down and arrest the defendant, particularly if the crime in question is a felony. After an arrest warrant has been issued, the police have the right to arrest the defendant at work, at home, on the streets, or anywhere else they can locate him or her.

After arresting the defendant, the police transport him or her to jail until he or she is arraigned by a judge. The judge may then set bond or order the defendant to be held until trial, depending on factors like the seriousness of the alleged crime and whether the defendant is perceived as a flight risk.

Steps to Take if You Have a Warrant

If a warrant has been issued for your arrest in Maryland, you must be proactive. In other words, ignoring the warrant won’t make it go away, and it has the potential to make your situation worse. Therefore, if you have a warrant in Maryland, you should take the following steps:

(1) Stay calm:

Although this may be be easier said than done, it is imperative that you attempt to stay as calm as possible when you determine that you have a warrant. Becoming agitated, angry, or excited can only hurt you and cause you to act irrationally. Remember, the goal here is to deal with the warrant in the most effective manner possible.

(2) Keep it to yourself:

Next, do your best to keep the warrant to yourself. This means that you shouldn’t post about it on social media, and you should limit who you tell about the warrant. For example, although you may want to share the news with one or two select family members (and your criminal defense attorney, as discussed below), you shouldn’t casually share this information with friends and acquaintances. To effectively deal with your warrant, you should keep it under wraps to the greatest extent possible.

(3) Contact a Maryland Criminal Defense Lawyer:

Finally, if you have a warrant in Maryland, you need you need an experienced criminal defense lawyer in your corner. At FrizWoods, we focus exclusively on criminal defense, which means that our sole focus is defending people against criminal charges.

Attorneys Luke Woods and Max Frizalone are passionate advocates for justice, and each have strong histories of obtaining successful results for their clients.

When you come to us for assistance with your warrant, attorneys Woods and Frizalone will utilize their experience and knowledge to address your warrant in a manner that is the most appropriate under the circumstances. In addition, after examining the facts of your case, we will provide you with the strongest defense possible against your Maryland criminal charge. If you are ready to defend your criminal charges, please contact us today to schedule a free and confidential initial consultation.

Speak with a criminal attorney during a free consultation

Both Max Frizalone and Luke Woods, the criminal defense attorneys with FrizWoods, can help ensure you do not go to jail based on a warrant issued by a Judge in Court. We offer free case evaluations during free consultations between attorneys and clients. Failed to appear at Court? We can fix the warrant that was issued by a Judge from the Maryland bench.

Have a bench warrant in Maryland? Our firm can offer a reduced fee agreement to ensure that the warrant for your arrest is recalled, and you can appear in court at a new Court date. A bench warrant shouldn’t ruin your life. Wondering what to do if I have a warrant? We can help deal with any bench warrant. Whether your warrant is for a failure to appear, or a bench warrant issued by the Maryland bench for a violation of probation, we can deal with it together instead of you spending time behind bars.