Palm Bay Bench Warrant Lookup
Bench warrants in Palm Bay go through the Brevard County court system and the 18th Judicial Circuit. Palm Bay is the largest city in Brevard County by population, with about 142,000 residents. All court files for Palm Bay, including bench warrants, are kept by the Brevard County Clerk of Court. You can search for active bench warrants through the clerk's office, the Brevard County Sheriff, or the FDLE statewide database. These are all public records under Florida's Sunshine Law. This page covers how bench warrants work in Palm Bay and what to do if you have one.
Palm Bay Quick Facts
Brevard Clerk and Palm Bay Cases
The Brevard County Clerk of Court manages all case files for Palm Bay. The clerk's main office is at 2825 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera, FL 32940. Phone is (321) 637-5413. You can email PublicRecordsRequests@BrevardClerk.us for records requests. The Brevard County Clerk website has links to court records, public records search tools, and contact info. If you need to check on a bench warrant from a Palm Bay case, the clerk's office is the first place to call.
Brevard County keeps court records and criminal records available for public search. You can call (321) 637-5413 to ask about a specific bench warrant by name or case number. Official records are also available online through the clerk's website. Palm Bay does not have its own courthouse, so all cases go through the Brevard County court system in Viera. For Palm Bay residents, this means a trip to the Viera courthouse or using the phone and online tools to check bench warrant status.
Under Florida Statute 901.02, a judge must find probable cause to issue a bench warrant. In Palm Bay, a bench warrant gets signed by a judge in the 18th Judicial Circuit. The clerk enters it into the system as soon as it is signed. Electronic signatures have been in use since July 2013. Bench warrant records for Palm Bay stay in the Brevard clerk database.
Palm Bay Police and Warrant Service
The Palm Bay Police Department is at 130 Malabar Rd. SE, Palm Bay, FL 32907. Phone is (321) 952-3456. Palm Bay police officers serve bench warrants during their daily work in the city. If you have an active bench warrant and a Palm Bay officer runs your name during a traffic stop or other contact, you can be arrested right there. Under Florida Statute 901.04, any sheriff or officer in the state can serve a bench warrant. A Palm Bay warrant can lead to an arrest in any Florida county, at any time of day.
The Brevard County Sheriff's Office also handles warrant service across the county. The sheriff's office is at 700 Park Ave, Titusville, FL 32796. Phone is (321) 264-5214. You can email Records@BCSO.us for records requests. The Brevard County Sheriff website has info on warrants, arrest reports, case reports, and background checks. The sheriff's office works with the Palm Bay PD on bench warrant service in the area.
The FDLE statewide database is shown below. It pulls warrant data from all 67 Florida counties, including Brevard, and covers Palm Bay bench warrants.
You can search the FDLE database by first name, last name, or date of birth. The system updates every 24 hours. It shows bench warrants, arrest warrants, direct capias warrants, and violation of probation warrants for Palm Bay and the rest of the state.
Note: The Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers eWarrants system shares bench warrant data from Palm Bay across all 67 counties statewide.
Bench Warrant Penalties in Palm Bay
Missing a court date in Palm Bay results in new charges on top of the original case. Under Florida Statute 843.15, failure to appear on a felony is a third-degree felony. The penalty is up to five years in prison. Failure to appear on a misdemeanor is a first-degree misdemeanor with up to one year in jail. These charges are separate. The bench warrant creates its own case that gets added to whatever brought you to court in Palm Bay to begin with.
Bench warrants in Palm Bay do not expire. They stay on the books until the person is arrested, the judge recalls the warrant, or the subject is deceased. Compare this to search warrants, which expire after 10 days under Florida Statute 933.05. Bench warrants have no time limit. A bench warrant from Palm Bay that is five years old is still fully active. It will flag you if you get pulled over, try to renew a license, or interact with any law enforcement agency in Florida.
Resolving Palm Bay Bench Warrants
If you find out you have a bench warrant from Palm Bay, get a lawyer before you do anything. A criminal defense attorney who works in the 18th Judicial Circuit can look at your case and advise on the best steps. They may file a motion to quash or recall the bench warrant in Brevard County court. This works well for older cases or less serious charges. Surrendering on your own is typically better than getting picked up during a random encounter with police in Palm Bay or elsewhere.
Steps you can take for a Palm Bay bench warrant:
- Hire a lawyer to file a motion to quash
- Turn yourself in at the Brevard County Jail
- Call the Brevard Clerk at (321) 637-5413
- Contact Palm Bay PD at (321) 952-3456
- Call the Brevard Sheriff at (321) 264-5214
Be careful of phone scams. No real law enforcement in Palm Bay will call and ask you to pay money to clear a bench warrant. Gift cards, wire transfers, and cash apps are not how the system works. Hang up and call the clerk or police to verify. Under Florida's Sunshine Law, Chapter 119, bench warrant records in Palm Bay are public. Anyone can search them. Under Florida Statute 88.3051, the court can also issue a capias or writ of bodily attachment when someone does not show up after proper notice. Under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.730, the clerk or state attorney can prepare a direct capias to bring someone in for sentencing in Brevard County.
Brevard County Bench Warrants
Palm Bay is in Brevard County. All bench warrants go through the Brevard County court system and the 18th Judicial Circuit. The county seat is Titusville, and the main courthouse complex is in Viera. Brevard County has a population of about 658,000 and covers a large stretch of Florida's east coast. For the full county details, sheriff info, and more resources, visit the Brevard County bench warrants page.
Nearby Cities
These cities are near Palm Bay on Florida's east coast. Each has its own bench warrant page with local details.