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.
Carter County, Tennessee, has about 57,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Every warrant for Carter County comes from a judge of the Carter 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: Carter County public records, Carter County arrest records, Carter County inmate search, Carter County criminal records, Carter County court records, Tennessee arrest records and Tennessee inmate search.
Who Issues Warrants in Carter County
In Tennessee an arrest warrant is signed by a judge. For Carter County that means the Carter 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.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at cartercountytn.gov/government/elected_officials/circuit_court_clerk... (page title: Carter County Tennessee), phone (423) 542-1835, 900 East Elk Avenue Suite 906 Elizabethton, TN 37643, Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 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 Carter County
The Carter County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Elizabethton serve warrants in Carter County.
The Johnson City Police Department is listed by the FBI across three counties including Carter County, so its arrests are not broken out for Carter County here.
A warrant issued in Carter 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 two agencies in Carter County with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 1,431 arrests to the FBI that year; arrests on warrants are counted among them, not separately.
Each agency and what it reported is in Carter County arrest records.
Where a Person Arrested on a Warrant from Carter 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 Carter County Sheriff's Office, held about 250 people on an average day in 2024 by the Vera Institute of Justice's count and has a custody page SearchSystems verified at cartertnsheriff.gov/inmateRoster. The Carter County inmate search guide covers the jail in full.
A person arrested in Carter 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 Carter County
The places to check for a warrant from Carter County:
- The court file of the case, through the Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master at (423) 542-1835, 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 Carter County Sheriff's Office at cartertnsheriff.gov/inmateRoster, which shows people already arrested and booked, not open warrants.
Not one of the Carter County pages SearchSystems verified (the sheriff's, the court's and the prosecutor's) 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 Carter County
Only the judge who issued a warrant can recall it. For a case from Carter County that means appearing before the Carter 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 Carter 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-1.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I check for a warrant online in Carter County?
Not from the Carter 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 at (423) 542-1835.
Who serves warrants in Carter County?
The Carter County Sheriff's Office, and the agency that reports for the city where the person is found; a Tennessee warrant is valid anywhere in the state.
Where is a person arrested on a warrant in Carter County held?
At the county jail, run by the Carter County Sheriff's Office, if kept in custody.
How is a warrant from Carter 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 Circuit Court Clerk and the Clerk and Master at (423) 542-1835.
Is this the official Carter 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.