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 September 30, 2026.
Erie County, New York, has about 951,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for Erie County comes from a judge of the Erie County Supreme and County Courts or the city, town and village courts, 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: Erie County public records, Erie County arrest records, Erie County inmate search, Erie County criminal records, Erie County court records, New York arrest records and New York inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Erie County
In New York an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Erie County that means the Erie County Supreme and County Courts, which hear divorces and major civil cases in the Supreme Court, felonies in the County Court; the city, town and village courts, which take misdemeanors, traffic cases and small claims, issue their own warrants on the cases before them.
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 County Clerk keeps that file.
For Erie County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at www4.erie.gov/clerk/court-recordsfiling (page title: Court Records/Filing | Erie County Clerk Michael P. Kearns), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Statewide, eCourts is the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily).
Who Serves Warrants in Erie County
The Erie County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Buffalo, Lackawanna, Tonawanda (town), Tonawanda, Kenmore, Lancaster and five more cities serve warrants in Erie County.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Erie County: the Buffalo State College State University of New York Police and the Buffalo State University of New York Police (campus police); the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (other agency); each serves warrants on its own ground.
The Gowanda Village Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Erie County, so its arrests are not broken out for Erie County here.
The agency that serves a warrant from Erie County is whichever one finds the person; an New York warrant is valid across New York.
Together, the 19 agencies in Erie County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 17,041 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Erie County arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Erie 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 Erie County Sheriff's Office, held about 760 people on an average day so far in 2026 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count and has a jail page SearchSystems verified at www4.erie.gov/sheriff, phone 716-858-7755. The Erie County inmate search guide covers the jail in full.
A person arrested in Erie 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 Erie County
Whether a warrant is out from Erie County shows in three places:
- The court file of the case, through the County Clerk, since a warrant is recorded in the case it was issued in.
- ECourts, the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily), 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.
Not one of the Erie County pages SearchSystems verified (the sheriff's, the court's, the prosecutor'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.
Clearing a Warrant from Erie County
A warrant is recalled by the court that issued it, so clearing one from Erie County starts with the County Clerk: 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 city, town and village courts is handled by that court, not by the Erie County Supreme and County Courts.
A lawyer can often arrange the appearance in advance. The District Attorney's page SearchSystems verified is at www4.erie.gov/da.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Erie County?
Not from the Erie County pages SearchSystems verified; none of them is a warrant list. eCourts is the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily), 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 County Clerk.
Who serves warrants in Erie County?
The Erie County Sheriff's Office, and the agency that reports for the city where the person is found; an New York warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in Erie County held?
At the county jail, run by the Erie County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from Erie 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 County Clerk.
Is this the official Erie 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.