You need to talk to a criminal defense/traffic lawyer. Having a traffic warrant means that you can be arrested anytime you come into contact with law enforcement. A lawyer can get the warrant recalled and resolve the underlying traffic issues without damaging your driving record.

How Can You Check For Warrants?

Most municipalities are now participating in Missouri Casenet. The safest way to search is by name. Searching by number can give you bad results because some jurisdictions change ticket numbers to case numbers on things like no insurance or driving while suspended. So, a ticket number like 180xxxxxx will be changed to something like 22SL-CR55xxx. If you search by ticket number, you will not find your case. 

The name search can be refined, useful if you have a common name. The drop-down menu at the top allows you to search by county, and there is a box at the bottom where you can enter the year the case was filed.

If you find results for your name, you can check to see if you have a warrant by clicking on the blue case number link in the right column. You can double-check that the case is yours by clicking on the “Parties and Attorneys” tab and verifying the address and birth date. Then click on the “Docket Entries” tab. Look through all of the entries on the case; the warrant entry will not necessarily be at the top.  

Not all jurisdictions are on Casenet. Most notably, St. Louis City is at Municourt.net. This is also where many municipalities keep their records from before they transferred to Casenet, so old cases can sometimes be found here. In this system, warrants are displayed under the case status heading. 

Unfortunately, not all warrants will show up even if you search both systems. Attorneys have a few more databases they can use, but these are not completely comprehensive either. Some municipalities ran their own systems before they migrated to Casenet. If you have an old warrant from one of these places, but you don't remember which one, it can be hard to track down. 

What Can a Lawyer Do?

As you can see, it can sometimes be difficult to determine if you have a warrant. At Beerup Law, Attorney Ruth Beerup will be happy to run a search for you. She has been navigating these systems for more than 25 years. She can also give you a game plan to recall the warrant and fix the underlying issues. Give her a call at (636) 940-1111 to get started.  

In most cases, when you hire a lawyer to recall a traffic warrant, they can get it lifted within a week. Every court operates at its own pace; sometimes, it takes a few days, sometimes much longer. Either way, once the court sees that you have hired a lawyer, they know that you are taking your case seriously and intend to get it resolved. The vast majority of traffic warrants are for missed court or payment dates, and the warrant is the court's way of making sure you are not ignoring your case. 

Once the warrant is recalled, you will need to fix the issue that caused the warrant without damaging your driving record. If possible, your lawyer will negotiate with the prosecutor to get the original ticket amended to a no-point, non-moving violation. This will ensure that you do not get a suspension and keep your license valid with a clean slate.

How Long Do Warrants Last?

There is no expiration date on warrants. You cannot just “wait it out.” If you have a traffic warrant, you need to hire a lawyer to get it recalled, or you can be arrested at any time. Different jurisdictions have different policies for bringing people in on minor warrants. It is difficult to tell which departments will actually arrest you for a traffic warrant, so why risk it? 

Hire Attorney Ruth Beerup to Clear Your Traffic Warrants 

 Getting a traffic warrant recalled with Beerup Law is an easy process. Ruth knows how to work with clients to find all the jurisdictions where they have warrants. Having a traffic warrant can be a nagging worry with troublesome consequences, but it doesn't have to be. Give Attorney Ruth Beerup a call at 636-940-1111 to get your warrants cleared.