Running any type of arrest warrant check is something that most people don't know how to do, and don't realize how simple it really is. And while civilians don't actually have the authority to run arrest warrant checks per se, it's very easy to contact your local law enforcement agency and ask them to do it. Generally speaking, this requires a call to your local sheriff's department and they will run it for you free of charge.

Before you contact the sheriff's department, it's important to get some of the basics out of the way. The first thing that you need to do is make sure that your information is correct. This is important because even a small misspelling in someone's name could alter your results and could falsely show no active warrants. If you aren't checking on warrants for yourself, it is even more important that you have the spelling of the person's name correct. You'll also need to make sure that you're calling in the right county. Generally speaking, arrest warrants are arranged by county and handled by the sheriff's department. So, you'll need to make sure that you call the sheriff's department in the correct county. This may not always by the county you live in, depending upon who you are checking on a warrant for.

Once you've got your preliminary information, you can contact the sheriff's department and ask for the warrant line or warrant clerk. When the clerk answers the phone, all you need to do is tell them that you are calling to check for active arrest warrants and give them the name of the person you want to check. They will normally place you on hold for a moment while they run the check and then give you the results for free. If you want a printout of the warrant you may have to go in person and pay a small fee, but just checking on warrants over the phone is almost always free of charge.