Can you leave country temporarily with DUI arrest warrant?

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I have a friend (no! really!) who wants to go on a 9 day trip with us to the Dominican Republic. He's concerned that he may have a warrant issued for his arrest, however. Evidently he's had two DUIs, and had a court-appointed date he did not go to for his second DUI, and now believes he has a warrant for his arrest. This was four years ago. All of this is in California.

We have the trip planned for late March. He's getting his passport now, but a quick google search suggests he might get detained at the airport. He has almost no money (others would be paying for his trip), so I don't think he can afford a lawyer.

What is his best course of action? Is there any way he can leave the country, or will he be held at the airport?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

If the warrant shows up in an NCIC check, he won't be getting a passport.

Thanks for the response. So...he only got his passport application in on Monday. What should he do now (is there any way to find out if his warrant will show up in an NCIC check)? Should he try to contact a law-enforcement agency to try and clear this up, and if so, what would be the best way? If his passport application is rejected, how soon would he likely know?

If he does get his passport, can we assume he would be able to leave the country? Do all DUI warrants for this kind of thing go into the NCIC...?

What would be the best way for him to ultimately clear this up? He needs to take care of this anyway, since there's no statute of limitations on them, is there?

You are planning a trip out of the country with this fellow in about 6-7 weeks and he just applied for a passport 2 days ago? Luckily the backlog on passports is down to an average of 3 weeks, but that still doesn't leave a lot of time to make arrangements after he hears back from them. I would definitely not buy a non-refundable plane ticket until the finished document is in his hands.

You may be able to see the status of the application online and save a few days of wondering.

Checking the Status of Your Application

I know, it's silly - he's not the most organized person I know. Thanks for the link, I'll have him check that out.

Any one else know about the other stuff?

I dunno... walk into a police station and give his name? I would think you'd find out quick if he had a warrant for his arrest.

Yeah, I know effectively turning himself in is the quickest and surest way. I just want to find out if there is any better way to go about it, just in case.

bovinda said:

Yeah, I know effectively turning himself in is the quickest and surest way. I just want to find out if there is any better way to go about it, just in case.

Click to expand...

People have been stopped at the border with an outstanding warrant.

How does your friend feel about a body cavity search?

Tell him to wear something exciting... customs agents deserve a break in their routine too...

cyjeff said:

People have been stopped at the border with an outstanding warrant.

How does your friend feel about a body cavity search?

Tell him to wear something exciting... customs agents deserve a break in their routine too...

Click to expand...

Ha! That would be funny. Except if I tell him I think he won't try to go on the trip. I'd rather him risk it.

So after doing some thorough, in-depth research (aka googling), it sounds like the kind of warrant he has would be a "bench" warrant, for failing to show for his court appearance. It sounds like these have no statute of limitations, huh?

Are bench warrants serious enough that they would go into the NCIC database? I don't know anything about the different kinds of warrants...

Input to the NCIC is a matter of police department policy and severity of the offense. I have seen some things on the net which say that CA's TCIS warrants database is automatically tied into the NCIC, but don't have first hand knowledge of that.

Thanks Guy, I guess we should assume the worst. I'll really have to get on him about clearing this up.

Anyone know if it's true about the statute of limitations not expiring on this kind of warrant?

Warrants don't expire until they are executed or the suspect is =)

HuAi said:

Warrants don't expire until they are executed or the suspect is =)

Click to expand...

Thanks. He'll need to get this cleared up then. I guess we'll check the status of his passport and see how it goes. Appreciate the feedback, everyone.

I am an NCIC and CLETS instructor in CA. Whether this warrant is entered into NCIC or not will depend on the policies of the issuing agency and court, and whether they seek extradition. I do not know the depth to which passport applicants are researched but if a state criminal history is run, they will find that he has been arrested (assuming he was booked for the DUI). That may lead them to make further inquiry as to the status of the matter and may then result in the discovery of the warrant even if it is not yet in NCIC.

It is best for him to assume that it IS in the system.

- Carl

Thanks Carl, good to know. I don't know if he was ever actually arrested for it or not, but I guess if he had a court date, then he was? Either way, we'll assume the worst and go from there. Appreciate the info!