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 25, 2026.
Cleveland, Tennessee, in Bradley County, has about 50,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for Cleveland comes from a judge of the Bradley County Circuit and Chancery Courts or the General Sessions 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: Cleveland public records, Bradley County warrants, Cleveland arrest records, Cleveland inmate search, Cleveland criminal records, Cleveland court records, Tennessee arrest records and Tennessee inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Cleveland
In Tennessee an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Cleveland that means the Bradley County Circuit and Chancery Courts, which hear felonies in the Circuit or Criminal Court, civil cases in either court, and divorces in either; the General Sessions Court, which takes misdemeanors, traffic cases, small claims and preliminary hearings, 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.
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 Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master.
For Bradley County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at bradleycountytn.gov/departments/courts (page title: Courts | Bradley County, TN), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Tennessee has no single public index of every trial court case; each court's records are looked up through that court.
Who Serves Warrants in Cleveland
The Bradley County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Cleveland (filed by the FBI as Cleveland Police Department) serve warrants in and around Cleveland.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Bradley County: Drug Task Force's 10th Judicial District (other agency); Cleveland State Community College (campus police); each serves warrants on its own ground.
The agency that serves a warrant from Bradley County is whichever one finds the person; a Tennessee warrant is valid across Tennessee.
Together, the three agencies in Bradley County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,478 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Cleveland arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Cleveland 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 Bradley County Sheriff's Office, held about 490 people on an average day in 2024 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count and has a custody page SearchSystems verified at bradleysheriff.com/booking-reports. The Cleveland inmate search guide covers the jail in full.
A person arrested in Cleveland on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in Cleveland
The places to check for a warrant from Cleveland:
- The court file of the case, through the Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master, since a warrant is recorded in the case it was issued in.
- The District Attorney General, which can say whether charges were filed; a warrant on a complaint follows the filing.
- The custody page of the Bradley County Sheriff's Office at bradleysheriff.com/booking-reports, which shows people already arrested and booked, not open warrants.
Not one of the Bradley 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 Cleveland
Only the judge who issued a warrant can recall it. For a case from Cleveland that means appearing before the Bradley County Circuit and Chancery Courts or the General Sessions Court, with the case put back on the calendar through the Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master.
A missed date in a case before the General Sessions Court is handled by that court, not by the Bradley County Circuit and Chancery Courts.
A lawyer can often arrange the appearance in advance. The District Attorney General's page SearchSystems verified is at tennesseeda.gov/district-11/about.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Cleveland?
Not from the Bradley County pages SearchSystems verified; none of them is a warrant list. The court file is the record of a warrant: ask the Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master.
Who serves warrants in Cleveland?
The agency that reports for Cleveland inside the city and the Bradley County Sheriff's Office outside it, or whichever agency finds the person; a Tennessee warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in Cleveland held?
At the county jail, run by the Bradley County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from Cleveland 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 Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master.
Is this the official Cleveland 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.