• Criminal warrants are in place to protect a person's rights during a criminal investigation and to protect the public safety when a person charged with a crime becomes a fugitive. These warrants are used at different stages of a criminal proceeding, and each serve a different purpose.
  
  

Search Warrants

• The first type of criminal warrant is a search warrant. If a police officer suspects that evidence from a crime is located somewhere, he must obtain a search warrant from a judge. A judge will issue the warrant only if the officer establishes "probable cause" that evidence of the criminal activity will be found during the search. The search warrant includes the address of the location to be searched, the specific area to be searched at that location and the specific items the police are looking for. This means that if the search warrant limits to police to looking for a gun in someone's home office, they may not seize drugs from a bedroom.
  
  

Arrest Warrants

• If police do have evidence of a crime, the next warrant issued is an arrest warrant. A court will issue an arrest warrant if a district attorney or prosecutor files a criminal complaint against a person suspected of a crime. The complaint must allege the crime a person is accused of and how the accused committed the crime. If a judge finds the complaint contains probable cause that the accused committed the crime, he will issue a warrant for the suspect's arrest.
  
  An arrest warrant may also be issued after a grand jury indicts a suspect. Instead of filing a complaint, the DA or prosecutor will present the evidence of the crime to a grand jury. If the grand jury finds that there is probable cause that the suspect committed the crime, it will hand down an indictment. The indictment is then used to have a judge issue the arrest warrant. When the arrest warrant is issued, it must include the suspect's name, the crime allegedly committed, the judge's permission for immediate arrest and the issuing judge's signature.
  
  

Bench Warrants

• A bench warrant is a different type of arrest warrant issued by a judge. Bench warrants allow police to find and arrest a person out on bail who has missed a court date, failed to pay a fine or did not perform court-ordered community service. Before issuing the warrant, a judge must verify that a person had notice of the court appearance or court order. Unlike the other warrants, which are issued only with "probable cause"--a lower standard--"sufficient cause" is all that is required for a judge to issue a bench warrant.
  
  Additionally, bench warrants are the only warrants also permitted in civil cases. For example, if a person fails to pay court-ordered child support, a judge can issue a bench warrant ordering his arrest.