If you fail to show up for court after you have agreed or been ordered to do so, a court arrest warrant will likely be issued for you.  What exactly does this mean to you?  Will the SWAT Team be kicking down your door to arrest you?  Is it safe to leave the house?  Should you turn yourself in?  First you will need to find out if a court arrest warrant has even been issued.  If so, what happens next depends on a lot of things.

Finding out if a court arrest warrant has been issued is as easy as picking up the telephone and calling the clerk of courts office.  They will be able to inform you exactly what measures have been taken by the court, and they should be able to tell you who holds the court arrest warrant, too.  The arrest warrant may have been passed on to the city police or the county sheriff.  Maybe both authorities hold your warrant, as well as the state patrol, the FBI, the Federal Marshall's office.  The list of law enforcement authorities who can arrest you on a court arrest warrant is quite exhaustive.  Who holds your warrant depends largely on what your crime was and how badly the court wants you arrested.

If you failed to appear in court for a minor traffic ticket and a court arrest warrant was filed, then it is possible that the police will knock on your door looking for you.  It is more likely, however that they will simply wait for you to make a mistake, like not using your turn signal, and arrest you when they pull you over.  If you are a suspected terrorist, however, then you can expect heavily armored men in black masks and big guns serving the court arrest warrant.

Once you have found out that a court arrest warrant has been issued, it is always best to turn yourself in immediately to the authorities that hold the warrant.  The first reason for turning yourself in is that you won’t have to constantly be looking over your shoulder to see if someone is there ready to slap on the cuffs.  You will also be treated much better when you cooperate, both by the arresting authorities as well as when you show up for court.  Many times when you turn yourself in for a court arrest warrant, your sentence will be much lighter than if you evaded the warrant and the authorities had to hunt you down.

Often court arrest warrants and records are available online.  Try looking up the court you were supposed to appear in and see if they have an online records search.  Simply type in the information it asks for, usually your name, address, social security number, etc.  Any records of court arrest warrants, as well as other records about you, will come up.  This information might include the date that the court arrest warrant was issued, if and when it expires, and who is authorized to serve the court arrest warrant.