Delaware Warrant Search: How to Check If You Have a Warrant (2026)

Delaware only has three counties, and unlike most states, none of their sheriffs can arrest anyone. If you want to check whether you have an outstanding Delaware warrant, the state itself, not a county sheriff's office, runs the tool built for that job. Here is how to search your own name, why the sheriff isn't the right stop, and what to do if a warrant turns up.

Information last verified on 2026-07-15. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

What a Warrant Search Actually Checks

The word "warrant" covers several different things, and knowing which one applies changes where you should look. An arrest warrant is a judge's order authorizing police to take a specific person into custody, issued after officers present probable cause; once signed, it can be enforced anywhere in Delaware, not only in the county where it was issued. A bench warrant is issued directly by a judge, usually because someone missed a court date or violated a condition such as probation, and it generally sits until the person is arrested some other way, like during a traffic stop, rather than triggering an active manhunt. A search warrant authorizes police to search a specific place, such as a home or car, for evidence and has nothing to do with your own personal status. This article addresses only the first two: checking whether you personally have an active arrest or bench warrant in Delaware.

How to Check for a Warrant in Delaware

Delaware is a small state with only three counties, New Castle, Kent, and Sussex, and warrant checking is genuinely centralized at the state level rather than split up county by county. The primary tool is the DELJIS Wanted Person Review, run by the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System and linked directly from the Delaware State Police's own website. The search form asks for a last name, with first name as an optional filter, and returns results for free with no account needed. DELJIS's own disclaimer notes that recent changes to a warrant's status may not yet be reflected in the database, and that only law enforcement officers can act on the information to make an arrest.

Delaware State Police's official guidance page walks through the same process: search DELJIS for your name, and if a warrant appears, contact the issuing agency directly to arrange to turn yourself in voluntarily rather than waiting to be picked up unexpectedly. The page also links to a directory of Delaware State Police troop locations to help identify the right office to call.

For general court case status, not warrant-specific, Delaware Courts' CourtConnect at courtconnect.courts.delaware.gov lets you search by name across Superior Court, Court of Common Pleas, and Justice of the Peace Court dockets, free and without an account. Its public-facing page is labeled around civil case search, and it was not possible to independently confirm how completely it surfaces criminal case or warrant status, so treat it as a useful general lookup rather than a substitute for the DELJIS tool. If a search leaves you uncertain, the Clerk of Court, called the Prothonotary at the Superior Court level, in the relevant county courthouse can confirm case status directly.

Why a County Sheriff Isn't the Right Place to Ask

In most states, a county sheriff's office is a natural first stop for a warrant question. Delaware is a genuine exception. In June 2012, the Delaware General Assembly enacted House Bill 325, which added the following language to Title 10 of the Delaware Code, Section 2103: "Sheriffs and deputy sheriffs shall not have any arrest authority. However, sheriffs and deputy sheriffs may take into custody and transport a person when specifically so ordered by a judge or commissioner of Superior Court."

Sussex County's sheriff at the time sued, arguing the office retained an inherent constitutional arrest power. Delaware's Superior Court rejected that argument in March 2013, and the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed in October 2013, holding that a sheriff's common-law arrest power was never constitutionally guaranteed and could be limited or removed by the legislature. As a result, Delaware's county sheriffs today function primarily as civil process servers, serving papers and handling court-ordered transports, not as general law enforcement or a public warrant desk. If you are searching for the "county sheriff warrant search" that works in many other states, in Delaware that role belongs instead to the state-run DELJIS tool and the Delaware State Police.

Tip: Skip the county sheriff in Delaware. New Castle, Kent, and Sussex County sheriffs have no arrest powers under state law, so they are not the office tracking active warrants. Use the state-run DELJIS Wanted Person Review at pubsrv.deljis.delaware.gov instead.

Common Warrant Scams to Watch For

The Federal Trade Commission has documented a widespread phone scam targeting people who are anxious about their warrant status. A caller poses as a sheriff's deputy, court officer, or U.S. Marshal, claims you missed jury duty or have an active warrant, and demands immediate payment, often through gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or payment apps like Zelle, Cash App, or Venmo, to avoid arrest. These calls can spoof caller ID to display a real-looking law enforcement number and sometimes include personal details that make the pitch sound credible.

Real Delaware courts, the Delaware State Police, and local police departments do not call demanding instant payment to cancel a warrant, and they do not text or email you an arrest warrant. If a warrant genuinely exists, official contact usually comes in person or by mail rather than an urgent, payment-demanding call. If you receive a call like this, hang up, do not use the callback number the caller provided, and independently look up the court's or agency's number to verify.

Paid "background check" or "people search" websites are a related but separate concern. The FTC fined two major providers, TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate, $5.8 million in 2023 for marketing unverified, sometimes inaccurate background reports as highly reliable. These commercial sites are generally legal, but for a personal Delaware warrant check they add cost without adding accuracy: the free DELJIS tool is the same official court data, direct from the source.

What to Do If You Have a Warrant in Delaware

Delaware State Police's own guidance recommends contacting the issuing agency and arranging a voluntary surrender if you discover a warrant. Before you do that, it is worth talking to a criminal defense attorney first. An attorney can review the underlying case, confirm the warrant is accurate, and in many cases coordinate directly with the court or the issuing agency so the surrender happens on a scheduled basis rather than as a surprise arrest, which is generally viewed more favorably by a judge than a field arrest during a traffic stop.

For a bench warrant tied to a missed court date, an attorney may be able to file a motion to quash or recall the warrant, particularly where you missed the date for a documentable reason. Delaware warrants, like those in most states, generally do not expire on their own; they typically remain active until the person is arrested, surrenders, or a court formally recalls the warrant, regardless of how much time has passed. Ignoring a warrant does not make it disappear, and it can resurface unexpectedly during a traffic stop or a background check.

Frequently asked questions

Related articles

• Warrant Search by State
• Delaware DUI Laws
• Delaware Expungement Laws

Disclaimer

This article provides general legal information about checking your own warrant status in Delaware as verified on 2026-07-15. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Warrant databases change daily and official guidance can change without notice. If you need a definitive answer about your own status, or you are dealing with an active warrant, consult a criminal defense attorney licensed in Delaware.

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Last updated: 2026-07-15.