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Warrant with county clerk but not with warrant division..your advice what to do?

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taz2012

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

I applied for a job and was denied because of a warrant that came up for a misdemeanor class A that happened back in 2009. I went to the county warrant division to turn myself in and was told they have nothing in their file and they said I should go to the city police department. I went there and they also had no record of a warrant for my arrest. I did some research and found that the county clerk had it in their files but it was never processed through the system, I guess this is why I never was informed prior about a warrant. They said they would have to process it through the system...on a warrant that was made out 3 years ago...then i could turn myself in. I waited 3 hours at the county clerks office and was finally told that they was missing some file number and could not process the warrant through the system until they get this number. They told me they would call with an update. Some time passed and they never called so I called them back and they are now telling me they are waiting reply from the police officer who filed made the charges. I was wondering if this would be cause to have this misdemeanor dismissed and if so, how can I expedite this so I do not miss out on my dream job because they are only giving me a couple of days to clear this up. I do not have money to pay a lawyer so is there a way I can do this for free? :confused:
 


CavemanLawyer

Senior Member
As far as the charges are concerned it sounds like you already might have beaten them. The statute of limitations for any misdemeanor in Texas is two years. Unless there is evidence to charge this as a felony (in which case the statute of limitations would be longer) or unless you left the State for any amount of time since the alleged incident (and they can prove it), then the statute of limitations has run and you cannot now be charged. This of course is assuming that DA's office never formally charged you while the warrant was out, but if that had happened it seems like you would have known about it.

As far as the warrant or the record of it, I'm a little confused by the Clerk's office's answer since I'd think just about anything could be looked up by the defendant's name... but in any case they are suggesting the PO is the holdup so.... I'd go to his police department. Make an inquiry there. If enough time passes with no resolution file a complaint with the PD.
 

taz2012

Junior Member
Thank you for your fast reply. The county clerk office says that the statue of limitations has not expired. They still are not able to process the warrant through the channels because they are still waiting for a reply from the police officer to provide them with information they need.

They said I can see a Judge on monday but I am scared I may do or say something to ruin stuff. What do you think my chances are to have this case dismissed or dropped? How can I hire a lawyer that is cheap or offers no bono to do this for me?
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Thank you for your fast reply. The county clerk office says that the statue of limitations has not expired. They still are not able to process the warrant through the channels because they are still waiting for a reply from the police officer to provide them with information they need.

They said I can see a Judge on monday but I am scared I may do or say something to ruin stuff. What do you think my chances are to have this case dismissed or dropped? How can I hire a lawyer that is cheap or offers no bono to do this for me?
Have you tried the phone book (or its online equivalent)? And, don't expect to get this for free. Lawyers gotta eat too!
 

CavemanLawyer

Senior Member
There is really no way to answer your question without knowing more about your case and without looking at any filings that may have been made. A county clerk or their employee is not going to know the first thing about whether the statute of limitations has run on an offense or not. They very well may have been talking about the warrant when they said that, because there is no statute of limitations for a warrant.

If the offense occurred over three years ago, is only chargeable as a misdemeanor and has never been formally filed (DA's office filed a complaint and information with the County Clerk), and you have not left the state for at least one of those past three years, then I can assure you that the statute of limitations has indeed run.
 

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