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 30, 2026.
Fort Payne, Alabama, in DeKalb County, has about 15,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for Fort Payne comes from a judge of the DeKalb 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: Fort Payne public records, DeKalb County warrants, Fort Payne arrest records, Fort Payne inmate search, Fort Payne criminal records, Fort Payne court records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Fort Payne
In Alabama an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Fort Payne that means the DeKalb 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.
For DeKalb County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at dekalb.alacourt.gov (page title: DeKalb County | Ninth Circuit Court of Alabama), phone (256) 845-8525, 300 Grand Avenue South, Suite 200, Fort Payne, AL 35967, 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 Fort Payne
The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Fort Payne (filed by the FBI as Fort Payne Police Department) serve warrants in and around Fort Payne.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in DeKalb County: Northeast Alabama Community College (campus police); it serves warrants on its own ground.
A warrant issued in DeKalb 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 nine agencies in DeKalb County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,049 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Fort Payne arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Fort Payne 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 DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, held about 150 people on an average day in 2021 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count and has a custody page SearchSystems verified at dekalbcountysheriff.org/inmate-roster/filters/current/booking_time=.... The Fort Payne inmate search guide covers the jail in full.
A person arrested in Fort Payne on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in Fort Payne
Whether a warrant is out from Fort Payne shows in four places:
- The court file of the case, through the Circuit Clerk at (256) 845-8525, 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 District Attorney, which can say whether charges were filed; a warrant on a complaint follows the filing.
- The custody page of the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office at dekalbcountysheriff.org, which shows people already arrested and booked, not open warrants.
Not one of the DeKalb County pages SearchSystems verified (the sheriff's, the court's and the prosecutor's) 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 Fort Payne
Only the judge who issued a warrant can recall it. For a case from Fort Payne that means appearing before the DeKalb 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 DeKalb County Circuit Court.
A lawyer can often arrange the appearance in advance. The District Attorney's page SearchSystems verified is at dekalbda.org.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Fort Payne?
Not from the DeKalb 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) 845-8525.
Who serves warrants in Fort Payne?
The agency that reports for Fort Payne inside the city and the DeKalb 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 Fort Payne held?
At the county jail, run by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from Fort Payne 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) 845-8525.
Is this the official Fort Payne 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.