Warrant for Your Arrest in Scottsdale? How to Turn Yourself In

Bench Warrant vs. Arrest Warrant: What’s the Difference?

Every week, someone calls our office after finding out — from a family member, a routine traffic stop, or a background check for a new job — that a warrant has been sitting open in Scottsdale for months. The panic is understandable. A warrant means any officer who runs your name can take you into custody on the spot, at your house, at work, or at a stoplight on Scottsdale Road. But panic is exactly what leads people to make it worse: they ignore it and hope it disappears, or they walk into a police station alone and start explaining themselves before they understand what they are dealing with.

This guide covers how Scottsdale warrants actually work, how to confirm one exists, how a bench warrant gets quashed, and why turning yourself in with a lawyer is almost always the safer path than waiting to be found. For the mechanics of what happens once you are in custody, see our guide to what happens after an arrest in Scottsdale and our Scottsdale City Jail guide. If you just need to check your name right now, start with our Scottsdale warrant search page.

These two terms get used interchangeably, but they come from very different situations — and that difference shapes how you should respond.

Bench warrant

A bench warrant is issued directly by a judge, “from the bench,” when you fail to appear for a scheduled court date or violate another order in a case that already exists — a pending citation, a probation check-in, or a hearing you missed. It is not based on a new investigation; it exists because the court needs you back in front of it. Bench warrants are the most common warrant type tied to Scottsdale City Court cases, and they are also the type most often resolved without an arrest, through a motion to quash.

Arrest warrant

An arrest warrant is issued when police or a prosecutor present a judge or magistrate with probable cause that you committed a new crime, even if no case has been filed against you yet. You may not know one exists until an officer runs your name. Because an arrest warrant is tied to a new allegation rather than a missed date, it generally cannot be “quashed” the way a bench warrant can — the underlying allegation still has to be addressed, typically through an initial appearance after you are taken into custody or, with counsel, a negotiated surrender.

Either way, the warrant itself does not go away on its own. Something has to happen in front of a judge — whether that is a quash hearing, a bond, or an initial appearance — before it is resolved.

How Do I Check If I Have a Warrant in Scottsdale?

Before you do anything else, confirm the warrant is real, current, and understand exactly what it is for. Guessing, or acting on a rumor from a friend, leads people to either panic unnecessarily or ignore something serious.

• Scottsdale City Court’s online case lookup at eservices.scottsdaleaz.gov/Court/Case lets you search by name, case number, or citation number for city misdemeanor matters.
• Call Scottsdale City Court directly at 480-312-2442 (Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.) and ask the clerk whether a warrant is on file for your name or case number.
• Felony warrants tied to a Maricopa County Superior Court case may not show up in the city system at all — they live with the county court and law enforcement records instead.
• Have a lawyer check first. An attorney can confirm a warrant through the court and law enforcement systems without you having to appear anywhere in person, which matters because showing up at a police window to ask “do I have a warrant?” can end with you in handcuffs before you have had a chance to plan anything.

Do not call 911 or a non-emergency police line and give your name to ask if you are wanted — that is effectively turning yourself in blind, with no plan for bond, no lawyer present, and no chance to get a bench warrant quashed first. Confirm quietly, then decide your next move with counsel.

How Do I Quash a Warrant in Scottsdale?

“Quashing” a bench warrant means asking a judge to recall it — cancel the arrest order — and reset your case with a new hearing date, often without ever taking you into custody. Scottsdale City Court has a specific process for this:

• Motions to quash a warrant can be brought as a walk-in during set court hours: Monday–Friday, 8:30–11:30 a.m. and 1:30–4:30 p.m.
• If an attorney is bringing the motion, you must be present with your lawyer to be seen on a walk-in basis.
• The court can satisfy or resolve the warrant by having you appear before a judge and/or post a bond.
• A $100 warrant fee is assessed per issued warrant, separate from any bond amount.
• If you had a payment agreement on a prior case, a warrant voids it — you will need to make a new arrangement if you remain eligible.

The outcome is not automatic. A judge decides whether to quash the warrant outright and reset the hearing, quash it conditioned on bond, or, in a smaller number of cases, decline to quash and require the person to remain in custody until arraignment. This is exactly the decision point where having a lawyer present makes the biggest difference: an attorney can explain the reason for the missed date, show up prepared with documentation, and, in many cases, coordinate with the court and prosecutor before the walk-in so the judge already has context. Walking in alone, unprepared, with no explanation on the record, is the version of this process most likely to end in custody.

Turning Yourself In: Walk-In vs. Surprise Arrest

There are really only two ways a warrant gets resolved: you address it on your terms, or law enforcement finds you on theirs. The difference between those two paths is significant.

A surprise arrest

If a warrant sits open, it can be executed at any time — a traffic stop, a call to your home, a workplace visit, or an unrelated police contact. You are typically taken into custody immediately, transported and booked, and held until you can be brought in front of a judge, which may not happen until the next business day. Family and employers are blindsided, and you have no opportunity to prepare bond, documentation, or an explanation in advance.

Turning yourself in on your own terms

Turning yourself in does not mean walking into a lobby and hoping for the best — it means your attorney confirms the warrant, determines whether it can be addressed through a quash motion instead of custody, and if custody is unavoidable, arranges the timing so you know what to expect, have bond ready, and are not sitting in a cell longer than necessary. For city misdemeanor warrants, that process runs through Scottsdale City Court and the co-located Scottsdale City Jail at 3700 N. 75th Street. For felony warrants tied to a Maricopa County Superior Court case, the process runs through the county system and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office rather than the city court, and the logistics are different — another reason to have counsel confirm which system your warrant lives in before you show up anywhere.

In short: being arrested is something that happens to you. Turning yourself in with a lawyer is something you do, on a schedule, with a plan.

What to Do — and What NOT to Do — Right Now

Do:

• Call a lawyer before you call the court, the police, or a bail bondsman on your own.
• Get the exact case number, charge, and court the warrant is tied to.
• Gather documentation for why you missed the date, if that is what caused it — medical records, mail issues, a changed address, work schedules, proof you were never properly served.
• Let your attorney decide, case by case, whether a quash motion, a scheduled turn-in, or an immediate bond arrangement fits your situation.
• Tell your lawyer about any other open matters — a second warrant, a probation issue, an out-of-state charge — so nothing surprises anyone at the courthouse.

Do NOT:

• Ignore it. Bench warrants in Arizona generally do not expire; they remain active until resolved, and every day increases the chance of a public arrest.
• Walk into a police station or the courthouse alone and start explaining the underlying case — that is a statement that can be used against you before you have any legal advice.
• Post about the warrant, the underlying case, or your plans on social media.
• Assume that leaving Maricopa County, or Arizona, makes the warrant go away. It does not, and it can complicate matters if you are later stopped elsewhere.
• Pay a bondsman or a court “fixer” before confirming, through counsel, exactly what is owed and to whom.

Which Court Handles Your Warrant?

Jurisdiction depends entirely on the level of the underlying charge:

• Misdemeanor charges arising within Scottsdale city limits — including most first-time DUI, assault, theft, and disorderly conduct cases — are handled by the Scottsdale City Court and prosecuted by the Scottsdale City Prosecutor. Bench warrants from these cases are resolved in that courthouse.
• Felony charges are handled by Maricopa County Superior Court and prosecuted by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. A felony arrest warrant is not something Scottsdale City Court can quash; it moves through the county system, typically with an initial appearance shortly after custody begins.
• If your situation spans both — for example, a Scottsdale misdemeanor bench warrant alongside a separate county felony matter — each has to be resolved in its own court, and the strategy for one can affect the other. This is a case where coordinated counsel matters most.

Not sure which bucket your warrant falls into? Our Scottsdale criminal defense team handles both city and county matters and can tell you within a phone call which court you are actually dealing with.

How Is Failure to Appear Classified Under Arizona Law?

Missing a court date is not just an administrative problem — depending on the facts, Arizona law treats it as its own separate offense, on top of whatever case you already had.

Evidence and First Steps Once You Have a Lawyer

The strength of a quash motion, or the terms of a scheduled turn-in, usually comes down to documentation and timing. Once you have counsel, expect the process to move quickly:

• Pulling the court file to confirm exactly what date was missed, what notice (if any) was mailed or given, and whether that notice actually reached the right address.
• Gathering proof for the missed date — medical documentation, employer records, travel records, or evidence of a mailing or address problem — that supports asking the judge to quash rather than hold you.
• Confirming bond exposure in advance, so there are no surprises about what it takes to resolve the warrant that day.
• Contacting the court or prosecutor ahead of a walk-in, when appropriate, so the person deciding your warrant already has context before you arrive.
• Checking for a second warrant or hold on other matters, so a turn-in on one case does not turn into an unexpected extended custody on another.

How Tamou Law Group Handles Scottsdale Warrant Turn-Ins

When a client calls us with a warrant, the first hour is about facts, not fear: we confirm whether it is a bench warrant or an arrest warrant, which court it lives in, and what caused it. If it is a bench warrant tied to a Scottsdale City Court case, we look immediately at whether a walk-in motion to quash is realistic, gather the documentation that supports it, and, where appropriate, reach out to the court or prosecutor before you ever set foot in the building. If custody cannot be avoided, we plan the turn-in on a schedule, with bond arranged in advance, so you know exactly what happens and when.

Our team includes former prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and public defenders who have handled warrant matters from every side of the courtroom, working from our offices at 9375 E Shea Blvd in Scottsdale and 2390 E Camelback Rd in Phoenix. Call 623-321-4699 for a confidential consultation, or read more about what comes next in our guide to being arrested in Scottsdale.