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 on September 24, 2026.
Washington County, Rhode Island, has about 130,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for Washington County comes from a judge of the Rhode Island Superior Court, Washington County or the District Court and the Traffic Tribunal, 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: Washington County public records, Washington County arrest records, Washington County inmate search, Washington County criminal records, Washington County court records, Rhode Island arrest records and Rhode Island inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Washington County
In Rhode Island an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Washington County that means the Rhode Island Superior Court, Washington County, which hears felonies and civil cases over $10,000; the District Court and the Traffic Tribunal issue their own warrants on the cases before them.
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 clerk of each court.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at courts.ri.gov/Courts/SuperiorCourt/Pages/default.aspx (page title: Superior Court), phone (401) 222-3250, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
Statewide, Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal is the courts' free statewide case search.
Who Serves Warrants in Washington County
The state police or the town police serve warrants in Washington County.
In Rhode Island the police for a given address is the town police in a town with its own department and the state police elsewhere.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Washington County: the University of Rhode Island (campus police); it serves warrants on its own ground.
A warrant issued in Washington County is good anywhere in Rhode Island, so it is served by whichever agency finds the person, in a traffic stop as often as at the door.
Together, the six agencies in Washington County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,985 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Washington County arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Washington County Is Held
A person arrested on a warrant and kept in custody is in the custody of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, which runs every jail and prison in Rhode Island; its inmate locator is at doc.ri.gov/family-visitors/incarceration-search.
How to Check for a Warrant in Washington County
Whether a warrant is out from Washington County shows in two places:
- The court file of the case, through the clerk of each court at (401) 222-3250, since a warrant is recorded in the case it was issued in.
- Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal, the courts' free statewide case search, for a case whose register of actions shows a warrant.
The one Washington County page SearchSystems verified, the court's, is not a list of open warrants.
The statewide criminal history kept by the Rhode Island Attorney General Bureau of Criminal Identification is not open to the public in Rhode Island, so it is not a route to a warrant check on someone else.
Clearing a Warrant from Washington County
A warrant is recalled by the court that issued it, so clearing one from Washington County starts with the clerk of each court at (401) 222-3250: 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 and the Traffic Tribunal is handled by that court, not by the Rhode Island Superior Court, Washington County.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Washington County?
Not from the Washington County pages SearchSystems verified; none of them is a warrant list. Rhode Island Judiciary Public Portal is the courts' free statewide case search, 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 clerk of each court at (401) 222-3250.
Who serves warrants in Washington County?
The state police or the town police; an Rhode Island warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in Washington County held?
In a facility of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, which runs every jail in Rhode Island.
How is a warrant from Washington 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 clerk of each court at (401) 222-3250.
Is this the official Washington 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.