Reviewed and updated October 7, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026.
Huntsville, Alabama, in Madison County, has about 230,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for Huntsville comes from a judge of the Madison County Circuit Court or the District Court, is served by whichever agency finds the person, and is recorded in the court file of the case it was issued in. This guide says who issues and serves warrants here, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one and how one is cleared.
This guide covers who issues warrants, who serves warrants, after a warrant arrest, checking for a warrant, clearing a warrant and common questions.
Related guides: Huntsville public records, Madison County public records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Huntsville
In Alabama an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Huntsville that means the Madison County Circuit Court, which hears felonies, civil cases over $20,000, divorces and appeals from the district court; the District Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, small claims and preliminary hearings in felony cases, issues its own warrants on the cases before it. A city with a municipal court of its own issues warrants on the tickets and ordinance cases it tries.
When a defendant misses a court date the judge issues a bench warrant, and either kind of warrant lives in the court file of the case, kept by the Circuit Clerk.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at madison.alacourt.gov (page title: Madison County | Twenty-Third Circuit Court of Alabama), phone (256) 532-3300, 100 North Side Sq, Rm 217, Huntsville, AL 35801, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
Statewide, Alacourt is the statewide online index of Alabama trial court cases, sold by subscription.
Who Serves Warrants in Huntsville
The Madison County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Huntsville (filed by the FBI as Huntsville Police Department) serve warrants in and around Huntsville.
The FBI's agency list also places one other agency and four campus police departments in Madison County; each serves warrants on its own ground.
The agency that serves a warrant from Madison County is whichever one finds the person; an Alabama warrant is valid across Alabama.
Together, the five agencies in Madison County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 11,178 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Huntsville Is Held
A person arrested on a warrant and kept in custody goes to the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest. The jail, run by the Madison County Sheriff's Office, held about 860 people on an average day in 2020 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count and has a custody page SearchSystems verified at madisoncountysheriffal.org/inmate-roster, phone 256.722.7181.
A person arrested in Huntsville on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in Huntsville
Whether a warrant is out from Huntsville shows in three places:
- The court file of the case, through the Circuit Clerk at (256) 532-3300, since a warrant is recorded in the case it was issued in.
- Alacourt, the statewide online index of Alabama trial court cases, sold by subscription, for a case whose register of actions shows a warrant.
- The custody page of the Madison County Sheriff's Office at madisoncountysheriffal.org/inmate-roster, which shows people already arrested and booked, not open warrants.
Not one of the Madison County pages SearchSystems verified (the sheriff's, the court's and the records request page) is a list of open warrants, so a check means asking the court or the prosecutor about a case by name.
The statewide criminal history kept by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is not open to the public in Alabama, so it is not a route to a warrant check on someone else.
Clearing a Warrant from Huntsville
Only the judge who issued a warrant can recall it. For a case from Huntsville that means appearing before the Madison County Circuit Court or the District Court, with the case put back on the calendar through the Circuit Clerk.
A missed date in a case before the District Court is handled by that court, not by the Madison County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Huntsville?
Not from the Madison County pages SearchSystems verified; none of them is a warrant list. Alacourt is the statewide online index of Alabama trial court cases, sold by subscription, and a case whose register of actions shows a warrant is the record of it. The court file is the record of a warrant: ask the Circuit Clerk at (256) 532-3300.
Who serves warrants in Huntsville?
The agency that reports for Huntsville inside the city and the Madison County Sheriff's Office outside it, or whichever agency finds the person; an Alabama warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in Huntsville held?
At the county jail, run by the Madison County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from Huntsville cleared?
By appearing before the court that issued it; the judge recalls the warrant in court. The case is put back on the calendar through the Circuit Clerk at (256) 532-3300.
Is this the official Huntsville website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.