How to manage warrants

Warrants in eCourtDate give your agency a record for each arrest, search, bench, or provider warrant, with files, a judge assignment, a client assignment, and a printable PDF in one place. You create warrants from the **Warrants** tab under **Cases** and finish them on the warrant record.

### Overview

- **What it is:** A warrant record with a **Reference**, **Type**, **Status**, **Case Number**, **Bond Number**, and **Issued At** date, plus cards for file uploads, warrant details, a judge assignment, and a client assignment.
- **Why it matters:** Keeping warrants next to your cases, clients, and judges means one searchable list, one PDF, and one audit trail instead of separate spreadsheets.
- **Who uses it:** Court and agency staff who record warrants, plus administrators who set warrant types and warrant statuses.
- **Expected outcomes:** A searchable warrant list you can filter and export, warrant records linked to a client and a judge, and warrant messages scheduled by a flow.

### Prerequisites

- An eCourtDate account that can see the **Cases** navigation and the **Warrants** tab
- Warrant statuses added under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Statuses** with **Type** set to warrant, if you want to set a status
- Judge records, if you want to use **Assign to Judge**
- Client records, if you want to use **Assign to Client**
- Locations added under **Admin** > **Locations**, if you want to set a **Location**

### How-To Steps

#### Create a warrant

1. Click **Cases** in the top navigation.
2. Click the **Warrants** tab.
3. Enter your primary system's ID for the warrant in **Reference** in the **Create Warrant** card.
4. Select a **Type**. The field defaults to the first type in your agency's list.
5. Select a **Status**. This field appears only after your agency adds warrant statuses.
6. Enter or select the **Case Number**. The field becomes a dropdown when your agency has cases.
7. Set **Issued At**. The field defaults to today's date in your agency timezone.
8. Click **Create**. The warrant saves and opens on its own page.

To attach the warrant to a client while you create it, search for the client in the **Search clients...** box at the top of the left column first. The list filters to that client and new warrants are assigned to them.

#### Complete the warrant record

1. Select a **Flow** to schedule automated warrant messages. This field appears only when your agency has flows with the warrant type, and it saves as soon as you change it.
2. Select a **Location** from your agency's locations.
3. Enter the **Bond Number**.
4. Change **Type** or **Status** if needed. Both save as soon as you change them.
5. Click **Save**.

**Reference** is required on the warrant record, so you cannot save without one.

#### Add warrant details

1. Enter a **Title** and a **Subtitle** in the **Warrant Data** card.
2. Select an **Audience**: **Law Enforcement**, **Judicial**, **Court**, **Public**, or **Other**.
3. Write the warrant text in the **Description** editor.
4. Click **Save** in the page header. The **Warrant Data** card has no save button of its own.

#### Upload supporting files

1. Click **Upload Files** and choose one or more files.
2. Click **Upload** and wait for the progress bar to reach 100%.
3. Click a file name in the list to open it, or click **Delete** to remove it.

#### Assign a judge and send the warrant

1. Enter a name in **Search Judges** in the **Assign to Judge** card.
2. Click **Search**.
3. Click the judge in the list. The card changes to **Assigned Judge** and the assignment saves right away.
4. Enter your text in **Message** in the **Send a Message** card.
5. Click **Send**. Warrant details and attachments are included in the message to the judge.

Click **Unassign** to clear the card and search for a different judge, or **View Profile** to open the judge record in a new tab.

#### Assign a client

1. Enter a name in **Search Clients** in the **Assign to Client** card.
2. Click **Search**.
3. Click the client in the list. The assignment saves right away and the client's contacts and addresses load on the page.

#### Generate a provider warrant request

1. Set **Type** to social media or isp. The **Social Media** and **ISP** cards appear only for those types.
2. Click the provider you need, such as **facebook** or **Comcast**.
3. Click **Generate**. Your browser downloads a file named Warrant Request.pdf.

A **Carrier** card appears when **Type** is carrier and lists cell phone carriers.

#### Find and export warrants

1. Enter your terms in the **Search Warrants** card. You can filter by **Case Number**, **Bond Number**, **Status**, **Type**, **Creator**, **Issued From**, and **Issued To**.
2. Select **Archived** or **Trashed** to look at records that are no longer active.
3. Click **Search**.
4. Click **PDF** or **CSV** above the table to download the filtered results.
5. Select rows with the checkboxes, then click **Archive**, **Trash**, or **Restore** to act on them together.

### What to Expect

Creating a warrant opens the new record immediately, and the warrant reference becomes the page heading. Changes to **Type**, **Status**, and **Flow** save on the spot, while the other fields save when you click **Save**. Each save confirms with a "Warrant updated" message. The **PDF** button in the header downloads a copy of the warrant, the **Audit Logs** card shows who created and updated the record and when, and the **Tools** menu holds **Archive**, **Trash**, and **Sync Messages**. Archived and trashed warrants stay in the system and reappear when you select the matching filter on the **Warrants** tab.

### Best Practices

- Add your warrant statuses before you start creating warrants so every record carries a status from the beginning.
- Enter a **Reference** that matches the warrant number in your primary system, since the record requires one and staff search on it.
- Set **Type** early, because the **Social Media**, **ISP**, and **Carrier** cards only appear for those types.
- Assign the client so contacts and addresses load on the warrant, which saves a trip to the client record.
- Archive warrants you have closed instead of trashing them, then use the **Archived** filter when you need them again.

### Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Why is there no Status field when I create a warrant?**

A: The **Status** field appears only when your agency has warrant statuses. Go to **Admin** > **Settings** > **Statuses**, enter a **Name**, select warrant as the **Type**, and click **Create**.

**Q: Which warrant types are available?**

A: The defaults are arrest, search, bench, extradition, alias, social media, isp, and carrier. To use your own list, enter comma separated values in **Warrant Types** under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Cases and Records**.

**Q: Can I send a warrant to a judge from eCourtDate?**

A: Yes. Assign the judge first, then use the **Send a Message** card that appears below the assignment. The message goes to the judge's email address and phone number on their record.

**Q: How do I get a printed copy of a warrant?**

A: Open the warrant and click **PDF** in the page header. The file downloads with the warrant's ID in its name.

**Q: Where do warrant messages to clients come from?**

A: They come from a flow. Build a flow with the warrant type, add messages that trigger when a warrant is created, on the issue date, or on a warrant status, then select that flow in the **Flow** field on the warrant.

### Troubleshooting

**Issue:** The warrant will not save.

**Symptoms:** Clicking **Save** on the **Edit Warrant** card does nothing and the browser highlights the **Reference** field.

**Solution:** Enter a value in **Reference**. The field is required on the warrant record even though it is optional on the create form.

**Issue:** The message to the judge does not send.

**Symptoms:** Clicking **Send** shows "Judge has no contact information".

**Solution:** Click **View Profile** on the assigned judge, add an email address or a phone number to the judge record, return to the warrant, and send the message again.

**Issue:** The **Social Media**, **ISP**, or **Carrier** card is missing.

**Symptoms:** The warrant record shows the **Warrant Data** card but no provider card.

**Solution:** Set **Type** to social media, isp, or carrier. If those values are not in the dropdown, add them to **Warrant Types** under **Admin** > **Settings** > **Cases and Records**.

### Related Articles

- [How to Manage Cases](/how-to-manage-cases)
- [How to Manage Judges](/how-to-manage-judges)
- [How to manage statuses](/how-to-manage-statuses)
- [How to Create a Flow](/how-to-create-a-flow)
- [How to Manage Files](/how-to-manage-files)