Unless an individual has been arrested when he/she was actually committing a criminal act or from the crime scene right after, a detention by the police is only considered legal if an active arrest warrant has been issued in the case. In fact, any unlawful arrest can be challenged in a court of law and may even lead to a case’s dismissal.
For the procurement of arrest warrants in Henrico, VA, the local police have to entirely rely on the judiciary. To begin with, a formal complaint is presented before the tribunal in the form of an affidavit. The sitting judge carefully evaluates this to ascertain the probable cause that made police suspect the person in question. Once the judiciary is convinced that there is ample evidence against the individual, the arrest order is issued almost immediately.
The court maintains all records about active and outstanding warrants and the original affidavits filed in the matters. For the magistrate’s office, go to 4301 E Parham Rd, Richmond, VA 23228
Apart from this, the clerk of court’s office maintains information on warrant trial proceedings in the court dockets. In fact, records are available from the clerk of court’s office not only on criminal but also on civil matters. To visit them, go to the courthouse address given above.
Finally, these detention decrees are sent to the sheriff’s department from where they are routed into county, state, and national level crime databases that house arrest records from Henrico, VA, and all other parts of the country.
To contact the sheriff’s office, drive to 4301 E Parham Rd, Richmond, Virginia 23228 or call on 804-501-5860. When you visit the law enforcement agency office for a warrant search, you can also take a look at the “most wanted” list for Henrico.
While at the justice center, you can use the public service terminals to browse through the court dockets, a service offered by the county clerk’s office.
The magistrate’s court, which is also located at the address given above, will offer help on information about arrest warrants and other legal instruments like search orders, bench warrants, summons, etc.
How do you get information on Henrico arrests and active warrants over the phone? (2021-update)
- The Sheriff’s Office: For general inquiries call 804-501-4800 and for filing a non-emergency complaint, call 804-501-4810
- Criminal Records Division: To learn more about the process for conducting arrest records and warrant search, call 804-501-4809
- The Henrico County Jail: To reach the East Wing, call 804-652-1266 and for the West Wing dial 804-501-5542. Call these phone numbers for information on recent arrests and release on bond.
- The Magistrate’s Office: To get information on active warrants and release on bail bond, call 804-501-5285.
- Metro Richmond Crime Stoppers: To give a crime tip, call (804) 780-1000
- The Circuit Court Clerk: To access information on Circuit Court cases (felony related judicial records), call 804-501-5448
- The Clerk of the District Court (Criminal and Traffic Division): For information on misdemeanor and traffic violation cases, call 804-501-4723.
Crime statistics for Henrico County, Virginia
In 2019, the annual total crime rate gained around 300 incidents over the average of the previous year to reach 8350 incidents. Over 450 of the complaints filed were against violent crimes while property crimes brought in an estimated 7900 complaints. Larceny thefts accounted for more than 6800 of all property crimes while assault and robbery had the highest occurrence rate in the violent crime category.
Over 24 criminal complaints are filed in Henrico County, VA, every day. While most of these are theft-related with an annual incident rate of 4800 incidents, violent crime also forms a part of the total yearly crime figures at almost 3%. Over the 5 year period starting in 2004 and ending in 2008, the overall rate of crime and the number of violent criminal acts fell by almost 17%.