How to Check for a Warrant in Caraway
A Caraway warrant check starts with the docket itself. The 19th District administrative plan routes Caraway traffic and misdemeanor matters to the Lake City District Court department. Search by participant details or a case number. Note the court and the docket wording. Then ask the Lake City clerk by phone to confirm whether the process is still open. Caraway Police is the local contact for service questions, but the department cannot recall a District Court warrant.
- Use Arkansas CaseInfo for newer court records, searching with accurate participant details or a known case number.
- For traffic or misdemeanor records through July 31, 2018, check the legacy Craighead District Court Ticket Search.
- Call Lake City District Court at 870-237-4142 and ask about warrant status, appearance, recall, payment, or a plan.
- Call Caraway Police at 870-482-3434 for local police or service questions, or the Eastern Sheriff at 870-237-4511 for county service.
- Use an attorney for advice about surrender, bond, another jurisdiction, or a court motion; no public statewide warrant lookup exists.
CaseInfo warns its data may be incomplete. A blank result does not prove that no Caraway warrant exists.
Verify the Caraway Warrant Address
The city's official Caraway Police Department page lists 102 E. State Street and 870-482-3434. The county directory prints 102 W. State Street instead. Both are official versions. Rather than pick one, call before you drive out. It saves a wasted trip. The city's government page adds an administration and non-emergency contact at 870-482-3274 and office hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Staff there can confirm a city office location. City administration is not the Lake City District Court clerk,
Address Check: Call 870-482-3434 before a Caraway Police visit because official sources disagree on whether the State Street address is east or west.
This address mix-up matters when you need the right public office. It does not change which court department holds the Caraway case.
The Caraway Police Department and Municipal Court
Caraway has its own Police Department. It posts no municipal-court warrant channel, though. The county's former city courts were consolidated into District Court departments effective January 1, 2012. Caraway cases now land elsewhere. The Lake City department holds the traffic, misdemeanor, ordinance, preliminary-felony, bond, and failure-to-appear docket work you might expect a municipal court to handle.
Caraway Police Department
Local police and service contact at 870-482-3434. The department page lists 102 E. State Street; call to verify before visiting.
Lake City District Court
Issuing-court record and recall route. Chief Clerk Linda Holland can be reached at 870-237-4142.
Eastern Sheriff
County service contact at 107 Cobean Boulevard in Lake City and 870-237-4511.
Police serve the process. The District Court dockets it and sets what resolves it. Keeping those roles straight keeps a Caraway resident from asking the city office to change a court record.
Caraway Warrants Route to Lake City
The 19th District's administrative plan assigns Caraway to the Lake City department, alongside Monette and Lake City. Linda Holland is that department's chief District Court clerk. Call her office at 870-237-4142. The state court directory also lists fax 870-237-8174. For a traffic, misdemeanor, ordinance, or FTA docket, that clerk is the core Caraway warrant contact. One wrinkle remains: the address. County court and Sheriff pages give 107 Cobean Boulevard for the Lake City court and Eastern Sheriff. A county location page prints 113 Cobean instead. Call before you drive over. The clerk can confirm the public counter location and what the court requires. Ask for the exact docket status, too. "FTA warrant issued" and "FTA warrant recalled" are different events. So are an open case, a payment line, and a disposition. An appearance can still be due after a payment or bond, and the clerk should say so. Note: Caraway has local police, but Lake City District Court is the documented court-record route.
Types of Caraway Warrants
Caraway residents can meet several kinds of process. Each one ties to a real docket and issuing court. The supported terms are arrest warrant, bench warrant, Failure-to-Appear Warrant, search warrant, summons, and body attachment, each in its proper setting. Calling every unpaid matter a capias pro fine is not supported.
| Process | How It Can Arise | Caraway Route |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic or FTA warrant | A missed required traffic setting or related court obligation | Lake City District Court docket and clerk |
| Bench warrant | A missed appearance or failure to comply with a court order | The court shown on the Caraway case |
| Arrest warrant | Judicial process based on the applicable charging and probable-cause review | District or Circuit Court, then assigned police or Sheriff service |
| Search warrant | Particularized court approval for a search | Separate search-warrant docket; not a person-arrest record by itself |
| Summons | A command to appear without immediate arrest | Follow the stated Lake City court date and instructions |
The label alone doesn't say whether Caraway process is still active. Later recall, service, appearance, bond, or disposition entries control that.
Caraway Traffic Warrant Search Timeline
Caraway traffic and misdemeanor records split at a clear date. Everything turns on when the case was filed. Through July 31, 2018, the legacy Craighead District Court Ticket Search covers the Western and Eastern divisions, reaching back to September 1994. Its public landing page sits behind an "AGREE & PROCEED" screen. The next screen's fields aren't listed there. Don't guess what it asks. From August 1, 2018 forward, CaseInfo is the public starting point. Its participant search takes first, middle, and last name, organization, or case description. A public case may show the case number, filing date, court, type, status, participants, docket events, charge or offense, documents, and bond-stage entries. Filed records feed it, and results can lag. When you spot a likely Caraway record, check that it names the Lake City department. Then read past the first warrant entry. A payment or active-case label doesn't prove an FTA warrant was recalled. Call 870-237-4142 for that confirmation.
What a Caraway Warrant Record Shows
A Caraway warrant record usually lives in the official District Court or Circuit Court docket. Fields vary by case type and what is public. Craighead's District Court retention policy also grounds the Caraway traffic record, with citation, violation, court, judgment, payment, and bond-refund fields. Read the last relevant event. The case heading alone does not tell the story.
| Case or Citation Number | The court identifier, including a traffic pattern such as JOS-YY-NNN where the portal displays that format. |
|---|---|
| Court Department | Lake City for ordinary Caraway District Court matters, unless the docket identifies Circuit or another court. |
| Case Type and Status | The filed category and overall case state, which may differ from warrant status. |
| Charge or Violation | The allegation or citation entry, not a final finding by itself. |
| Warrant Events | Issuance, service, return, recall, bond, appearance, or later court action when public. |
| Fine or Bond | An amount only when set in the record; no universal Caraway schedule was found. |
Sealed, juvenile, newly entered, and law-enforcement-only records may stay out of view. A public field list is no promise that every Caraway case shows each field.
Caraway Warrant Police and Court Roles
Police serve, and courts docket. That rule sorts most confusion. Caraway Police can answer agency questions and may act on process assigned to the department. Lake City District Court controls the court date, payment direction, plan request, warrant recall, and docket record for a Caraway District Court case. The Eastern Sheriff handles county service questions. The Craighead Detention Center handles custody and bond. City administration is a separate office. A public contact for Caraway government does not become the court clerk just because the event happened inside city limits. Paying through an official court route does not let the Police Department mark the warrant recalled; only the issuing court can confirm a recall.
- FTA
- Failure to appear at a required court date.
- Recall
- The court’s action withdrawing a warrant.
- Service
- Law-enforcement execution or delivery of court process.
- Docket
- The dated court record of filings, orders, hearings, and events.
The city and court contacts work together, but their authority is not interchangeable.
Where Caraway Warrants Fit With Craighead County
Caraway Police is the city-level contact, Lake City District Court holds the local court docket, and the Sheriff serves county process or handles custody when assigned. Circuit Court handles felony proceedings, and Arkansas has no public statewide warrant lookup because ACIC and NCIC access is restricted. Warrant flow: Caraway Police → Lake City District Court clerk → Eastern Sheriff or county jail when service, custody, or bond applies. The broader Craighead County warrant records overview covers the county and state branches in full.
What to Ask About Caraway Warrants
A clear clerk call starts with the case or citation number, the full name as filed, the court department, and the exact event you saw online. Ask if the Caraway warrant is still outstanding. Ask if the judge requires an appearance. Ask whether counsel may appear, whether payment or a plan is offered, and what act actually places a recall on the docket. Answers differ by case type.
- Confirm that the record belongs to the Lake City department and matches the correct case.
- Ask whether the warrant is active, served, recalled, quashed, or otherwise closed.
- Ask whether a court date, payment plan, bond, proof of compliance, or attorney action is required.
- Verify accepted payment methods and whether a separate appearance remains due.
- After acting, request confirmation that the court docket shows the intended status change.
The official Arkansas ePay court list names Linda Holland as the Lake City payment contact. Paying online alone does not clear a Caraway FTA warrant.
Public Access to Caraway Warrant Records
Caraway administrative records and court records sit in different hands. A city request can seek a releasable Caraway police or administrative record. A warrant docket belongs to its court. Access still bends to exemptions, court rules, sealing, and juvenile confidentiality. ACIC and NCIC are restricted systems.
Key Rules:
Arkansas Freedom of Information Act of 1967 generally opens public records for inspection or copying, subject to exemptions and custodian procedure.
Ark. Code §9-27-309 gives juvenile records distinct confidentiality protections.
ACIC access rules keep ACIC and NCIC data from serving as a public Caraway warrant search.
A focused request names the department, date range, record type, and format. It cannot force out exempt material.
Caraway Warrant Forms and Bond
The county's adult misdemeanor affidavit form lists Caraway in its city-of-incident routing. The form requires affiant identity and contact details, potential-defendant information, an acknowledgment, a signature, identification, and an evidence upload. A prosecutor reviews the submission. The clerk then decides whether summons or arrest-warrant process will issue. It can start charges in a Caraway case. It does not clear an existing Caraway warrant. If the Lake City clerk says bond is authorized, call the Craighead Detention Center at 901 Willett Road in Jonesboro, 870-933-4556. The current jail page lists online bond, a lobby kiosk, a card terminal, money order, and cashier's check. The kiosk takes only exact listed denominations. The card service fee is 7 percent. Not every warrant is bondable. Keep the receipt. Then confirm the docket with the Lake City clerk. Bond settles release, not the outcome of the traffic, ordinance, or criminal case, and a Caraway resident may still owe an appearance or another act after release. Note: No separate Caraway warrant portal, universal recall form, or local warrant amnesty exists at any county office.