“Arrest Warrants” in Colorado – A Guide to How It Works

Colorado arrest warrants give police the authority to arrest and hold you in custody. To obtain a warrant, police must

1. go to a judge, magistrate, or grand jury and
2. present probable cause that you committed a crime.

Police can arrest you without a warrant only if your case falls under a lawful exception.

In this article, our Denver criminal defense lawyers will address the following key issues regarding arrest warrants in Colorado.

• 1. Do I have a warrant?
• 2. Why do I have a warrant?
• 3. The Warrant Document
• 4. How Police Get One
• 5. How Police Make Arrests
• 6. Do warrants expire?
• 7. Out-of-State Arrests
• 8. Warrantless Arrests
• 9. Challenging the Warrant
• 10. Bench Warrants and Search Warrants
• 11. Frequently Asked Questions
• Additional Resources

1. Do I have a warrant?

You can usually check the applicable Colorado court website to check if there is a warrant for your arrest. You will be asked to input identifying information such as your name and birthday.

It is not recommended you go to court to check if you have a warrant. If there is one, you could be arrested on the spot. We can instead call the court’s warrant department on your behalf.

2. Why do I have a warrant?

Your warrant should say the offense you are suspected of. Seven of the most common grounds for Colorado judges issuing warrants include:

1. The police have probable cause to suspect you of a crime, and the police submitted a sworn affidavit to the judge;
2. FTA – Failure to appear at a required court hearing in a criminal case;
3. Not paying a court-ordered fine or traffic ticket on time;
4. Not paying court-ordered child support;
5. Ignoring a subpoena to testify at a trial;
6. Not showing up for jury duty; or
7. Violating probation by failing to complete community service or other court-ordered sentencing terms.

3. The Warrant Document

In Colorado, an arrest warrant will likely include the following details:

• Your name,
• The criminal offense that you are accused of committing,
• When and where the warrant was issued,
• The judge who approved it, including their signature,
• Limits on how the apprehension can be made (such as where and when the warrant can be executed), and
• Details on the amount of bail that you would have to post.

Ideally, arrest warrants are supposed to identify you by name. However, when your name is not known, the warrant has to make a clear enough description of you for police to be reasonably certain they are arresting the right person.¹

4. How Police Get One

To obtain an arrest warrant in Colorado, the police department or sheriff’s office needs to show a neutral and detached magistrate that there is probable cause for taking you into custody. The police’s affidavit has to be:

• In writing, and
• Sworn to, under oath, by the requesting police officers (affiants).²

A neutral and detached magistrate has to be someone in the judiciary rather than a law enforcement officer^.3 Plus, they should not have been involved in the investigation of the case or have any interest in it.⁴

What is probable cause?

Probable cause means that there is a reasonable basis to believe that you committed a crime. It is not a general accusation: Colorado police have to support their claim with concrete evidence that is particular to the current case. The evidence can include:

• Testimony given by a witness to a crime,
• Anonymous tips from members of the public,
• Results of a long investigation, and
• Statements given by law enforcement about their interactions with you.⁵

What are felony indictments?

In rare felony cases, Colorado prosecutors choose to go through a grand jury to obtain an arrest warrant. When this happens, prosecutors have to show probable cause not to a judge but rather to the grand jury panel of 12 or 23 people.

If the grand jury agrees that there is probable cause, they will return an indictment. The prosecutor then brings the indictment to a judge, who can issue the arrest warrant.

5. How Police Make Arrests

If there is an arrest warrant out for your arrest, Colorado police execute it by:

• checking that the warrant is facially valid,
• finding you,
• arresting you, and
• booking you at the police station.

Unless you can bail out or are released on O.R., you are held in custody until your arraignment (where you are formally charged).

Many arrest warrants have specific instructions about where and when the arrest can be executed based on the type of crime and your criminal history. These instructions are often made to keep others safe during the arrest.

We have had many clients with active warrants who did not get arrested until they were pulled over for a minor traffic violation. Then when the police officer ran their name and found a “hit,” they executed the warrant by taking them into custody.

Note that arresting officers do not need the warrant on their person when they arrest you. However, they should produce it as soon as possible upon your request. Plus, if you claim you are not the person named in the warrant, the police must verify your identity.

6. Do Warrants Expire?

In Colorado, arrest warrants remain in effect until:

• the arrest, or
• the court recalls the warrant (which is rare).

Warrants do not expire after a certain time period. After all, it costs law enforcement nothing to keep warrants active. If warrants did eventually lapse, it would just encourage suspects to lay low until the expiration date.

We have had clients who got arrested on warrants that were years – sometimes decades – old. They often had forgotten about the crime they were being accused of committing. Sometimes they only learn about the warrant when they check their criminal record or have a background check done.

7. Out-of-State Arrests

An arrest warrant that was issued in Colorado can be executed in another state, and vice versa.

The database of outstanding arrest warrants is a national one. If you are arrested in a state on another jurisdiction’s warrant, you can be extradited to the state where the crime allegedly occurred.

8. Warrantless Arrests

Colorado police are not required to get a warrant before arresting you if:

• You allegedly committed a misdemeanor in the presence of a police officer,⁶
• The police officer has probable cause to believe you committed a felony, and the arrest happens in a public place,⁷
• The police officer has probable cause to believe a crime – no matter how minor – is occurring or has occurred,⁸ or
• There are exigent circumstances, there is an emergency, or evidence would be destroyed, even if the arrest happens inside your house.⁹

9. Challenging the Warrant

Proving that your Colorado arrest warrant was invalid requires showing the court that:

• The issuing court did not have jurisdiction,
• The judge did not sign the warrant,
• The magistrate was not neutral or detached from the investigation,
• The affidavit did not prove there was probable cause that you committed a crime,
• “Facts” in the affidavit were lies, or
• The affidavit does not provide specific and concrete facts.

An invalid warrant “taints” the evidence that police obtain by executing the warrant. When this happens, you can ask the court to suppress (disregard) all the illegally-obtained evidence from your trial. Without this evidence, the D.A. may not be able to prove you committed a crime.¹⁰

Note that if police mistakenly arrest you when someone else was named in the warrant, they can be liable for civil damages. However, they are often protected by qualified immunity if they acted in good faith.

10. Bench Warrants and Search Warrants

Arrest warrants should not be confused with other types of Colorado warrants, as the following table shows:

Warrant	Purpose	Issued By	Based On
Arrest Warrant	To arrest you on suspicion of committing a crime.	Judge or Magistrate	Probable cause to believe you committed a crime
Bench Warrant	To arrest you if you failed to appear in court or comply with court orders.	Judge	Failure to appear in court or follow court orders
Search Warrant	To search a specific location for specific evidence of a crime.	Judge or Magistrate	Probable cause to believe evidence is present

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I find out if I have an arrest warrant without getting arrested?

You can check the Colorado court website online by entering your name and birthday. Don’t go to the courthouse in person, as you could be arrested on the spot if a warrant exists. A criminal defense attorney can also call the court’s warrant department on your behalf to check safely.

Do arrest warrants in Colorado eventually expire or go away on their own?

No, arrest warrants in Colorado never expire. They remain active until you are arrested or the court recalls the warrant (which is rare). Warrants can stay in the system for years or even decades, and you can be arrested on an old warrant at any time.

What happens if I’m arrested in another state on a Colorado warrant?

You can be arrested in any state on a Colorado warrant since warrant databases are national. If arrested out-of-state, you can be extradited back to Colorado where the alleged crime occurred. The warrant is valid and enforceable anywhere in the United States.

Can police arrest me without a warrant, and when is this allowed?

Yes, police can arrest you without a warrant in several situations: if you commit a misdemeanor in front of an officer, if they have probable cause you committed a felony in a public place, or during emergency situations where evidence might be destroyed. However, they still need probable cause to believe you committed a crime.

Additional Resources

For more information, refer to the following:

• SearchQuarry.com – Public record provider with warrant searches by name, city or county.
• Vinelink.com – Free site to search for outstanding warrants and criminal records in participating states.
• PeopleFinders.com – Public records site providing warrant searches among other lookup services for a fee.
• CriminalWatchdog.com – Subscription service for continuous monitoring of criminal records and warrants.

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