Does a Warrant for a Traffic Ticket Appear in a Background Check?

There are a number of reasons an individual might have a warrant for his or her arrest issued by a court or judge. If the individual is needed for questioning in a serious matter, or is actually the suspect in a serious crime, the court may issue a “seek and arrest” warrant for the individual. However, one of the most common reasons for an arrest warrant issuance is the issue of unpaid traffic tickets, or traffic tickets that have resulted in a criminal charge against the individual. When you have a series of unpaid traffic tickets, this means the judge may issue a traffic ticket warrant.

Understanding a Traffic Ticket Warrant

Failure to pay a traffic ticket and/or appear in court to resolve a ticket most often results in the issuance of an arrest warrant. The biggest reason for this is that a lot of people forget about minor traffic offenses because of the length of time they are given to either pay the citation or appear to fight it. Unfortunately this excuse simply doesn’t work for a judge in a courtroom, and you will most likely be either issued the full penalty for the ticket and/or ordered to jail time, according to your particular offense.

Does a Warrant Appear on a Background Check?

When you have an open warrant, the issuance of the warrant is considered public record.

• This means that if you aren’t aware of the warrant being issued and are applying for jobs, you may be getting no response or turned down for a position you are otherwise qualified for due to the fact that when a company runs your background check, they will discovered that there is an open arrest warrant issued for you. 
• Generally a prospective employer won’t act on the warrant by contacting local law enforcement, but you should know they do have the right. Most employers simply don’t wish to be as involved in those types of issues.

If your warrant is resolved and no criminal charges are pressed, then the fact that you had an arrest warrant issued at one time usually won't show up on a background check, as you will not have a criminal record once the warrant is resolved. However, if a company is very thorough in a background check, they may be able to uncover a record of your warrant.

Getting Help

If you believe that you may have a warrant issued, you should resolve the issue in a proactive manner. You can contact the court that issued your warrant and speak with the court clerk, who can tell you if there is any way you can resolve the warrant issue without being arrested. Most court systems have processes in place to allow people to take care of arrest warrants without actually being arrested. You will have to initiate this process though, because it isn’t the court’s responsibility to let you know what your options are. You may also wish to get the help of a qualified lawyer who can help you to deal with the warrant and to make arrangements to resolve the underlying traffic issues that caused the traffic ticket warrant to be issued in the first place.