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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 30, 2026 and October 2, 2026.
New York County, New York, has about 1.7 million residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for New York County comes from a judge of the New York 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: New York County public records, New York County arrest records, New York County inmate search, New York County criminal records, New York County court records, New York arrest records and New York inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in New York County
In New York an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For New York County that means the New York 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.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at nycourts.gov/help/representing-yourself-court/getting-court-records... (page title: Getting Court Records & Case Information | New York Courts), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
Statewide, eCourts is the Unified Court System's free online case search (WebCivil, WebCrims and WebFamily).
Who Serves Warrants in New York County
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in New York County: the Optometry State University of New York Police (campus police); it serves warrants on its own ground.
The New York City Police Department polices all five boroughs of New York City, New York County among them, and reports its arrests to the FBI as one agency, so they are not broken out for New York County here.
A warrant issued in New York County is good anywhere in New York, so it is served by whichever agency finds the person, in a traffic stop as often as at the door.
Each agency and what it reported is in New York County arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from New York County Is Held
A person arrested on a warrant and kept in custody is held by the New York City Department of Correction, which runs the city's jails for all five boroughs; there is no county jail. The page of the sheriff's office SearchSystems verified is at nyc.gov/site/doc/inmate-info/inmate-lookup.page.
A person arrested in New York 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 New York County
Whether a warrant is out from New York County shows in two places:
- 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 custody page of the sheriff's office at nyc.gov, which shows people already arrested and booked, not open warrants.
The one New York County page SearchSystems verified, the sheriff's, is not a list of open warrants.
Clearing a Warrant from New York County
A warrant is recalled by the court that issued it, so clearing one from New York 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 New York County Supreme and County Courts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in New York County?
Not from the New York 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 that issued it keeps the record; ask the County Clerk.
Who serves warrants in New York County?
The police agency that finds the person; an New York warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in New York County held?
In the New York City jail system, run by the New York City Department of Correction for all five boroughs.
How is a warrant from New York 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 New York 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.