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.
Memphis, Tennessee, in Shelby County, has about 611,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for Memphis comes from a judge of the Shelby 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: Memphis public records, Shelby County warrants, Memphis arrest records, Memphis criminal records, Memphis court records, Memphis police reports, Tennessee arrest records and Tennessee inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Memphis
In Tennessee an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Memphis that means the Shelby 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 Shelby County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at shelbycountytn.gov/2463/Case-Search (page title: CourtConnect), a site that blocks automated checks (HTTP 403), so open it in a browser.
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 Memphis
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Memphis (filed by the FBI as Memphis Police Department) serve warrants in and around Memphis.
The FBI's agency list also places two other agencies and four campus police departments in Shelby County (the arrest records guide names each one); each serves warrants on its own ground.
A warrant issued in Shelby County is good anywhere in Tennessee, 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 Shelby County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 26,802 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Memphis arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Memphis 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 Shelby County Sheriff's Office, held about 4,000 people on an average day in 2024 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count.
A person arrested in Memphis on a warrant from another county is held at the same jail until that county takes custody.
How to Check for a Warrant in Memphis
The place to check for a warrant from Memphis is the District Attorney General, phone (901) 222-1300, which can say whether charges were filed; a warrant on a complaint follows the filing.
The one Shelby County page SearchSystems verified, the prosecutor's, is not a list of open warrants.
Clearing a Warrant from Memphis
Only the judge who issued a warrant can recall it. For a case from Memphis that means appearing before the Shelby 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 Shelby County Circuit and Chancery Courts.
A lawyer can often arrange the appearance in advance. The District Attorney General's page SearchSystems verified is at shelbycountytn.gov, phone (901) 222-1300.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Memphis?
Not from the Shelby County pages SearchSystems verified; none of them is a warrant list. The court that issued it keeps the record; ask the Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master.
Who serves warrants in Memphis?
The agency that reports for Memphis inside the city and the Shelby 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 Memphis held?
At the county jail, run by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from Memphis 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 Memphis 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.