The New Mexico state and local law enforcement agencies conducted a massive arrest warrant roundup in 2013. Under the special exercise, perpetrators of more serious criminal infractions who had NM outstanding warrants were actively sought out and taken into custody. Given the success of the program, such roundups may very well become the norm in the state. This not only highlights the importance of arrest warrants in criminal processing but also why an inquiry into the issue of active warrants is highly recommended.
What are outstanding warrants?
This is simply a term used to segregate freshly issued arrest directives from those that have been held back in the system for a while. There is no specific reason for the non execution of outstanding warrant; there is the likelihood of the police handling more important cases which is why a detention order may have been set aside or the accused may be out of the reach of the law enforcement agency of a specific county.
Because these orders are sanctioned by the judiciary and the statute of limitations has no bearing on their validity, they can remain in effect over any duration, till the suspect is taken into custody. As far as the terms of service are concerned, these are imposed by the magistrate and are in tandem with the criminal offense that a person is being accused of.
For example, in case of serious offenses such as homicide, sexual assault, battery, armed robbery, etc, the suspects can be picked up in any part of the country and at any time. The only reason they are not in custody after the issue of the arrest warrant is because the police may not have been able to locate them. It should be clearly understood that cops are not legally bound to seek active warrants from the tribunal when they need to make arrests in felonies.
It is generally assumed that given the heinousness of the crime involved, there is a very high possibility of the accused taking to his heels after commissioning the act. So, as long as the police can show that they have probable cause when conducting the arrest, they do not wait for the tribunal to sanction an arrest warrant. Yet, when the case involves a misdemeanor, the rule is very stringent and clear- a police officer needs to witness the crime for him to be able to detain an accused without a warrant.
How can you conduct an inquiry on NM outstanding warrants?
Among the scores of options available for a warrant search in NM are state agencies and private information vendor. As far as government entities go, you can connect with just about any office that handles a task linked to criminal processing in any way. For instance, the office of the magistrate is directly involved in trying the accused as the bench releases all arrest warrants and other judicial orders required.
The police serve these directives, place the request for the issue of the warrants and even maintain arrest records pertaining to criminal cases. Once again, this is an agency that has a direct role in the processing of adult offenders. However, the county clerk’s office merely serves the function of records keeping.
Of course, the fact that the office maintains court dockets for all the courts, both civil and criminal, means that they possess the most extensive collection of criminal details in the area.
Any of these departments can be contacted for an inquiry on arrest warrants. At the moment only one county in NM is offering the facility to find arrest warrants online and it is available at http://app.bernco.gov/warrants/