Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Warrant Search: How to Check If You Have a Warrant (2026)
Wondering if you have an active warrant in Pennsylvania? Here's the trap a lot of people fall into first: Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System (UJS) Web Portal actually does have a feature called "Statewide Warrants." It sounds like exactly what you're looking for, but it isn't available to you. It's restricted to court personnel, and the portal's own documentation says so in plain language. The good news is there's still a real, free, public way to check your own status, just not through that particular button.
Information last verified on 2026-07-15. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.
What a Warrant Search Actually Checks
An arrest warrant is a judicial order issued after police present a judge with evidence of probable cause that you committed a crime. Once signed, it lets officers take you into custody wherever you're found. A bench warrant is different: a judge issues it directly, usually because someone missed a court date, didn't pay a fine, or violated probation, and it typically doesn't trigger an active manhunt, instead sitting on file until you're encountered another way, like a traffic stop.
Both are distinct from a search warrant, which authorizes police to search a specific place, like a home or phone, for evidence. That's about a location, not a person, and has nothing to do with whether you personally have a warrant out for you.
How to Check for a Warrant in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania does not run a free, direct, public "type your name in and see your warrants" tool, despite having a feature inside its own court system called exactly that. Here's what actually works, and what to skip.
The UJS Portal Case Search (Free, Public)
The real starting point is the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System Web Portal's Case Search at ujsportal.pacourts.us. It's free, requires no account or login to search, and covers court dockets statewide, including Appellate Courts, Common Pleas cases across all 67 counties, Magisterial District Courts, and the Philadelphia Municipal Court. Search by your own participant name, and if you're a party to an open case, it should turn up. If a bench or arrest warrant has been issued in connection with that case, for example after a missed hearing, that action will typically appear as a docket entry within the case, even though there's no single "show me my warrants" button.
The Statewide Warrants Feature: Real, But Not for You
This is the part worth getting exactly right, because it's easy to search "Pennsylvania statewide warrant search," land on official-sounding UJS Portal documentation describing a "Statewide Warrants" application, and assume you've found the tool you need. You haven't. That feature genuinely exists inside the UJS Web Portal, and it does pull warrant data from two internal court case-management systems (the Common Pleas Criminal Court Case Management System and the Magisterial District Judge System). But the portal's own help documentation is explicit about who can use it: "The use of this feature is not available to the general public. It requires unique access permissions that are limited to court personnel." In other words, it's built for judges, clerks, and law enforcement logging into the back end of the court system, not for someone checking their own status from home.
Watch out: If you find yourself on a page describing the UJS Portal's "Statewide Warrants" feature, you have not found a public warrant lookup. That feature is restricted to court personnel with special login credentials. The public tool you actually want is the ordinary Case Search at ujsportal.pacourts.us.
PATCH: A Related but Different Tool
Pennsylvania also runs PATCH (Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History), a State Police system that lets you request your own criminal history record for about $22, with many "no record" results returned quickly. PATCH is worth knowing about, but don't confuse it with a warrant search. It returns a criminal history record, a different legal product than an active-warrant check, and the UJS Portal's own public-records page is explicit that case information "should not be used in place of a criminal history background check, which can only be provided by the Pennsylvania State Police."
If Case Search doesn't turn up anything and you still believe you may have a warrant, for instance if you know you missed a court date, contact the Magisterial District Court or Clerk of Courts in the county where the case originated, or that county's Sheriff's Office, directly.
Scam Warning: Fake Warrant Calls
The Federal Trade Commission and multiple U.S. District Courts have issued repeated, active warnings about a phone scam in which a caller impersonates a sheriff's deputy, court officer, or U.S. Marshal, claims you missed jury duty or have an active warrant, and demands immediate payment by gift card, wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or a payment app like Zelle or Cash App to avoid arrest. Caller ID can be spoofed to look like a real Pennsylvania courthouse or Sheriff's Office number, and scammers sometimes already know your name and address, which can make the call sound more convincing than it should.
Real law enforcement in Pennsylvania does not call demanding immediate payment to cancel a warrant, and it does not text or email you an arrest warrant. If a warrant is genuinely active, officers typically make contact in person or by mail. If you get a call like this, hang up and independently look up the phone number for your county Clerk of Courts or Sheriff's Office yourself to verify.
Paid commercial background-check and "people search" websites are generally legal, but they're not necessary just to check your own warrant status. In 2023 the FTC took enforcement action against two major background-check companies, resulting in a $5.8 million penalty, for marketing their reports as highly accurate while doing little to verify the underlying data. The UJS Portal's Case Search is free, official, and more current than anything those sites are reselling.
What to Do If You Have a Warrant
If you learn you have an active warrant in Pennsylvania, talk to a criminal defense attorney before doing anything else. Walking into a courthouse or Sheriff's Office unrepresented is rarely the smartest first move.
An attorney can often file a motion to quash or recall the warrant, particularly for a bench warrant tied to a missed court date, if there's a documentable reason like illness or a scheduling breakdown. In many cases, an attorney can handle that filing without you needing to appear in person right away. When a warrant can't simply be quashed, attorneys frequently coordinate a scheduled, voluntary surrender with the court, treated more favorably by judges than an unplanned arrest.
Warrants also generally don't expire. A Pennsylvania arrest or bench warrant typically remains active indefinitely until you're arrested, you surrender, or a judge formally quashes it. Ignoring it rarely improves the situation and can lead to the warrant surfacing unexpectedly during a routine traffic stop or a background check for a new job.
Frequently asked questions
Related articles
Disclaimer
This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws, court systems, and warrant-search tools can change without notice. If you believe you have an active warrant in Pennsylvania, consult a licensed Pennsylvania criminal defense attorney about your specific situation before taking any action.
Last updated: 2026-07-15.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I search Pennsylvania's Statewide Warrants system myself?
No. The UJS Web Portal's Statewide Warrants feature is restricted to court personnel with special access permissions. The public tool to use instead is the UJS Portal's ordinary Case Search, which is free and requires no login.
Is there a free way to check for a warrant in Pennsylvania?
Yes. The UJS Portal Case Search at ujsportal.pacourts.us is free, requires no account, and lets you search Pennsylvania court dockets statewide by participant name. It covers Common Pleas courts in all 67 counties, Magisterial District Courts, Philadelphia Municipal Court, and the appellate courts.
Will a warrant show up if I search my name on the UJS Portal?
If you're a party to a case that's findable in Case Search, a bench or arrest warrant connected to that case will typically appear as a docket entry. There's no dedicated public 'show me my warrants' button, but the docket history usually reveals it.
What is PATCH and is it the same as a warrant search?
PATCH (Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History) is a Pennsylvania State Police system that lets you request your own criminal history record for a fee, generally around $22. It's a background-check tool, not a warrant search, and it's a separate system from the UJS Portal.
Do warrants in Pennsylvania expire?
No. Arrest and bench warrants in Pennsylvania generally remain active indefinitely until you're arrested, you surrender, or a judge formally quashes or recalls the warrant.
Someone called saying I have a warrant and demanded payment to cancel it. Is that real?
Almost certainly not. This matches a well-documented scam pattern the FTC and federal courts have repeatedly warned about. Real law enforcement does not call demanding immediate payment to cancel a warrant. Hang up and verify independently using a phone number you look up yourself.
What should I do first if I find out I have a warrant in Pennsylvania?
Contact a criminal defense attorney before contacting law enforcement yourself. An attorney can evaluate whether a motion to quash or recall the warrant is realistic and can often arrange a scheduled surrender instead of risking an unplanned arrest.
Can I use the UJS Portal to check on someone else's warrant status?
This guide is written for checking your own warrant status. Using court search tools to screen another person, such as a tenant or employee, raises separate legal considerations under federal background-check law, and is a different use case from a personal check.
Facing a warrant, DUI, or criminal charge in Pennsylvania? Get a free case review
An active warrant or a criminal charge like DUI puts your freedom, license, and record at risk, and deadlines to act, like challenging a license suspension or resolving a warrant before an arrest, can be just days away. Get a free, confidential review from a Pennsylvania criminal defense attorney. Acting quickly protects your options.
Sources and References
- Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System Web Portal, Case Search(pacourts.us)
- UJS Web Portal Help: Statewide Warrants (public-access restriction)(pacourts.us)
- Pennsylvania Courts: Public Records, Court Case Information(pacourts.us)
- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Request a Criminal History Background Check (PATCH)(pa.gov).gov
- FTC Consumer Alert: Ignore calls, texts, and emails threatening to arrest you for missing jury duty(ftc.gov).gov