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 October 9, 2026.
Shelby County, Alabama, has about 236,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for Shelby County comes from a judge of the Shelby 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: Shelby County public records, Shelby County arrest records, Shelby County inmate search, Shelby County criminal records, Shelby County court records, Alabama arrest records and Alabama inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Shelby County
In Alabama an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Shelby County that means the Shelby 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 shelby.alacourt.gov (page title: Welcome to the Shelby County Circuit Clerk's Office), phone 205-669-3760, 112 North Main Street P.O. Box 1810 Columbiana, AL 35051, Monday Through Friday 8:00 A.M. to 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 Shelby County
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Alabaster, Pelham, Helena, Calera, Montevallo, Columbiana and one more cities serve warrants in Shelby County.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Shelby County: the University of Montevallo (campus police); it serves warrants on its own ground.
The Vestavia Hills Police Department, the Hoover Police Department, the Birmingham Police Department and one more are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Shelby County, so their arrests are not broken out for Shelby County here.
The agency that serves a warrant from Shelby County is whichever one finds the person; an Alabama warrant is valid across Alabama.
Together, the eight agencies in Shelby County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,526 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Shelby County arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Shelby County 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 Shelby County Sheriff's Office, held about 500 people on an average day in 2023 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count and has a custody page SearchSystems verified at inmatelisting.shelbyal.com. The Shelby County inmate search guide covers the jail in full.
A person arrested in Shelby County on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in Shelby County
The places to check for a warrant from Shelby County:
- The court file of the case, through the Circuit Clerk at 205-669-3760, 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 Shelby County Sheriff's Office at inmatelisting.shelbyal.com, which shows people already arrested and booked, not open warrants.
Not one of the Shelby 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 Shelby County
A warrant is recalled by the court that issued it, so clearing one from Shelby County starts with the Circuit Clerk at 205-669-3760: the case goes back on the calendar and the judge recalls the warrant when the person appears.
A missed date in a case before the District Court is handled by that court, not by the Shelby County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Shelby County?
Not from the Shelby 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 205-669-3760.
Who serves warrants in Shelby County?
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office, and the agency that reports for the city where the person is found; an Alabama warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in Shelby County held?
At the county jail, run by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from Shelby County 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 205-669-3760.
Is this the official Shelby County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.