Seminole County Bench Warrant Search

Bench warrants in Seminole County are issued by judges in the 18th Judicial Circuit when someone fails to appear for a court date or breaks a court order. The Seminole County Clerk of Court and the Sheriff's Office both handle tracking and serving these warrants out of Sanford. You can search for active bench warrants through the clerk's online records system, the sheriff's website, or the FDLE statewide warrant database. All bench warrants are public records under Florida's Sunshine Law. This page covers where to search, what to expect, and how to deal with a bench warrant in Seminole County.

Seminole County Clerk of Court

Brandon J. Patty serves as the Clerk of Court in Seminole County. The main office is at 1750 East Lake Mary Boulevard in Sanford, Florida 32773. You can call (407) 665-4330 or email clerk@seminoleclerk.org for questions about your case. The Seminole County Clerk website provides access to criminal, civil, and traffic case records. If you need to ask about a specific bench warrant, the clerk staff can look it up by name or case number during business hours.

The Seminole County Clerk homepage is shown below and gives access to court records and case search tools.

The clerk's office handles a range of services beyond bench warrant records. These include traffic citations, foreclosures, jury duty, and passport applications. For criminal case records specifically, you can visit the Seminole County criminal courts page for more details on fees and document requests.

Seminole County has set fees for court record copies. Standard copies cost $1.00 per page. Certification is $2.00 per document. The notary fee is $10.00. Fingerprint cards cost $5.00 and must be paid in cash. For FDLE background checks through the clerk, the fee is $75.00 and is not refundable. The clerk processing fee is $54.00. These fees apply when you request bench warrant documents or certified copies of court records from Seminole County.

Search Seminole County Warrants Online

Seminole County has an online court records search tool for looking up bench warrants and other case information from home. The clerk's database lets you search by name, case number, or date. You can check criminal, civil, and traffic records. Results show case details like the charge, filing date, and warrant status. Keep in mind that the online system gets updated on a schedule, so brand new warrants may take a short time to show up in Seminole County search results.

The FDLE database at fdle.state.fl.us is another free option for checking Seminole County bench warrants. The state pulls warrant data from all 67 Florida counties and updates every 24 hours. You can search by first name, last name, or date of birth. The FDLE system covers outstanding arrest warrants, failure to appear capias warrants, direct capias warrants, fugitive warrants, and violation of probation warrants. FDLE does warn that this data should not be the sole basis for any legal action.

Note: Some warrants are held by officers before being entered into the public system, so not every active bench warrant in Seminole County will appear online right away.

Seminole County Sheriff Warrants

The Seminole County Sheriff's Office is the agency that serves bench warrants in the county. They are at 100 Bush Boulevard in Sanford, Florida 32773. The main phone number is (407) 665-6650. The Seminole County Sheriff website has information about warrants and other law enforcement services. Under Florida Statute 901.04, any sheriff in the state can serve a bench warrant issued in Seminole County, and the arrest can happen at any time on any day.

The Seminole County Sheriff's Office website is shown here and provides warrant information and law enforcement services.

If you think you have a bench warrant in Seminole County, the sheriff's office recommends turning yourself in at the Seminole County Jail. Voluntary surrender leads to better outcomes than getting arrested during a routine traffic stop. The 18th Judicial Circuit covers Seminole and Brevard counties, so warrant information is shared between those offices. Contact the sheriff's non-emergency line to find out what steps to take before showing up.

Under Florida Statute 901.02, a judge must find probable cause before issuing a bench warrant. In Seminole County, the warrant is entered into the system as soon as the judge signs it. Electronic signatures have been valid since July 2013, which has made the process faster for Seminole County courts.

Bench Warrant Penalties in Seminole County

Missing court in Seminole County creates serious legal problems. Under Florida Statute 843.15, failure to appear on a felony charge is itself a third-degree felony. That can mean up to five years in prison. Failure to appear on a misdemeanor is a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying up to one year in jail. These new charges are stacked on top of the original case. The bench warrant is separate from whatever you were in court for.

Florida bench warrants do not expire. A bench warrant from years ago in Seminole County is still active today. That sets them apart from search warrants, which expire after 10 days under Florida Statute 933.05. The warrant stays in the FCIC and NCIC databases until it gets resolved. It will show up during a traffic stop, at the airport, or at any law enforcement encounter. Under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.730, the clerk or state attorney can prepare a direct capias to bring someone before the court for sentencing or adjudication in Seminole County.

Resolving Seminole County Bench Warrants

If you have a bench warrant in Seminole County, get legal advice first. A criminal defense attorney can review your case and plan the best way to handle it. They may be able to file a motion to quash the warrant, which is often effective for older cases or less serious charges. Going voluntarily to the court is almost always a better outcome than being arrested without warning at work or on the road.

Options for resolving a Seminole County bench warrant include:

• Hire an attorney to file a motion to quash or recall the warrant
• Turn yourself in at the Seminole County Jail
• Contact the sheriff's office at (407) 665-6650
• Call the clerk's office at (407) 665-4330 for case status
• Email the clerk at clerk@seminoleclerk.org

Watch out for scam calls. Law enforcement in Seminole County will never ask you to pay over the phone to clear a bench warrant. Under Florida Statute 88.3051, a court can issue a bench warrant, capias, or writ of bodily attachment when someone fails to appear after proper notice. Bench warrant records in Seminole County are public under Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes, the Sunshine Law. Anyone can look them up.

Cities in Seminole County

Seminole County has several cities and towns. All bench warrants in the county are handled through the 18th Judicial Circuit Court in Sanford. No cities in Seminole County have a population over 75,000.

Places in Seminole County include Sanford, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Lake Mary, Longwood, Oviedo, and Winter Springs. Bench warrants for residents of these areas are all handled at the Seminole County courthouse in Sanford.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Seminole County. Make sure your bench warrant is in the right county before you take action. Each county has its own clerk and sheriff that handle warrants.