If There Is a Warrant
ORC 2937.43 — what an open warrant actually is
A bench warrant is not a new accusation. It is the court's response to someone not being where they said they would be, and it does not expire on its own. It sits there until it is answered, and it turns every ordinary traffic stop into an arrest.
Who handles this in Ohio: Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.Holding a paper like this? Read my paper can read one for you, free with an account.
Missing court can become its own charge. Failure to appear is chargeable separately from whatever the original case was about. Where the underlying charge is a felony it is a fourth degree felony, and where it is a misdemeanor it is a first degree misdemeanor. That is a second case stacked on the first, for not showing up to the first.
- Time does not help. An open warrant gets more expensive rather than less, because the original case keeps aging while nothing moves.
- It is discoverable at any contact with police, including one that had nothing to do with you.
- Turning yourself in is one route, and courts can take the willingness into account, though nothing about that is guaranteed.
- Some courts will consider a motion to recall the warrant and set a new date without anyone being taken into custody first.
- What is available differs by county, and the court that issued the warrant is the one whose local practice applies.
Whether a warrant exists can usually be checked with the clerk of the court that would have issued it, and many counties publish a search. Checking is not an admission of anything.
Sources for this section (3)
- ORC 2937.43 — Issuance of a warrant on failure to appear
- ORC 2937.99 — Penalty for failure to appear
- ORC 2937.29 — Release on personal recognizance
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.