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 23, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
St. Joseph, Missouri, in Buchanan County, has about 71,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for St. Joseph comes from a judge of the Buchanan County Circuit 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: St. Joseph public records, Buchanan County warrants, St. Joseph arrest records, St. Joseph inmate search, St. Joseph criminal records, St. Joseph court records, Missouri arrest records and Missouri inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in St. Joseph
In Missouri an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For St. Joseph that means the Buchanan County Circuit Court, which hears every civil, criminal, family, probate and juvenile case, with associate circuit judges taking misdemeanors, traffic and small claims. A city with a municipal divisions 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 co.buchanan.mo.us/QuickLinks/Court_Links (page title: Court Links | Buchanan County Missouri), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
Statewide, Case.net is the Missouri courts' free statewide case search.
Who Serves Warrants in St. Joseph
The Buchanan County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for St. Joseph (filed by the FBI as St. Joseph Police Department) serve warrants in and around St. Joseph.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Buchanan County: Missouri Western State University (campus police); Northwest Missouri Drug Task Force (other agency); each serves warrants on its own ground.
The Gower Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Buchanan County, so its arrests are not broken out for Buchanan County here.
A warrant issued in Buchanan County is good anywhere in Missouri, so it is served by whichever agency finds the person, in a traffic stop as often as at the door.
Together, the two agencies in Buchanan County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 3,307 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in St. Joseph arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from St. Joseph 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 Buchanan County Sheriff's Office, held about 180 people on an average day in 2021 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count and has a custody page SearchSystems verified at inmate.co.buchanan.mo.us/NewWorld.InmateInquiry/buchananco?Page=1. The St. Joseph inmate search guide covers the jail in full.
A person arrested in St. Joseph on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in St. Joseph
The places to check for a warrant from St. Joseph:
- Case.net, the Missouri courts' free statewide case search, for a case whose register of actions shows a warrant.
- The custody page of the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office at inmate.co.buchanan.mo.us, which shows people already arrested and booked, not open warrants.
The one Buchanan County page SearchSystems verified, the sheriff's, is not a list of open warrants.
Clearing a Warrant from St. Joseph
Only the judge who issued a warrant can recall it. For a case from St. Joseph that means appearing before the Buchanan County Circuit Court, with the case put back on the calendar through the Circuit Clerk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in St. Joseph?
Not from the Buchanan County pages SearchSystems verified; none of them is a warrant list. Case.net is the Missouri courts' free statewide case search, and a case whose register of actions shows a warrant is the record of it. The court that issued it keeps the record; ask the Circuit Clerk.
Who serves warrants in St. Joseph?
The agency that reports for St. Joseph inside the city and the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office outside it, or whichever agency finds the person; an Missouri warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in St. Joseph held?
At the county jail, run by the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from St. Joseph 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.
Is this the official St. Joseph 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.