Reviewed and updated October 9, 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.
Dothan, Alabama, in Houston County, has about 72,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for Dothan comes from a judge of the Houston 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: Dothan public records, Houston County warrants, Dothan arrest records, Dothan criminal records, Dothan court records, Dothan traffic tickets, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Dothan
In Alabama an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Dothan that means the Houston 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.
A bench warrant follows a missed court date in any of those courts. Whichever kind it is, the warrant is part of the file of the case it was issued in, and the Circuit Clerk keeps that file.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at houston.alacourt.gov (page title: Houston County | Twentieth Circuit Court of Alabama), phone (334) 677-4800, Monday-Friday; 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m., 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 Dothan
The Houston County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Dothan (filed by the FBI as Dothan Police Department) serve warrants in and around Dothan.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Houston County: Wallace Community College at Dothan (campus police); the Dothan-Houston County Airport Authority (other agency); each serves warrants on its own ground.
A warrant issued in Houston County is good anywhere in Alabama, so it is served by whichever agency finds the person, in a traffic stop as often as at the door.
Together, the five agencies in Houston County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 6,064 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Dothan arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Dothan 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 Houston County Sheriff's Office, held about 440 people on an average day in 2023 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count.
A person arrested in Dothan on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in Dothan
Whether a warrant is out from Dothan shows in two places:
- The court file of the case, through the Circuit Clerk at (334) 677-4800, 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 one Houston County page SearchSystems verified, the court's, is not a list of open warrants.
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 Dothan
Only the judge who issued a warrant can recall it. For a case from Dothan that means appearing before the Houston 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 Houston County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Dothan?
Not from the Houston 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 (334) 677-4800.
Who serves warrants in Dothan?
The agency that reports for Dothan inside the city and the Houston 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 Dothan held?
At the county jail, run by the Houston County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from Dothan 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 (334) 677-4800.
Is this the official Dothan 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.