Legal Question in Criminal Law in Wisconsin

If i have a arrest warrant in one county, How many counties do i have to be away for it to be out of there jurisdiction to get me on that? Im in wisconsin and the warrant is for bad checks.. misd. A's


Asked on 8/07/09, 12:38 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

JAY Nixon nixon law offices

Being in a distant county within the same state will not prevent a warrant from a far away county from being executed. This means that any county in the state (as well as counties in some other states) would arrest you and hold you in jail until the other county feels like coming to pick you up. It is also common for people to sit in jail for weeks only to have the other county or state ultimately decide not to pick them up. The "jurisdiction" of any WI court therefore extends throughout the entire state. Out of state, the interstate compact on extradition even allows a WI court to exercise powers in other states which are members of the compact, subject to review by the governor of the foreign state. Even most foreign countries will hold and extradite suspects based upon arrest warrants of the United States under various international treaties. In short, mere distance will not solve your problem. Instead, you need to retain an experience criminal lawyer to arrange for a voluntary surrender date for you (who also may be able to negotiate a "prepackaged" resolution of the charges before you even come to court). If you report to court voluntarily in this fashion (rather than being brought in wearing handcuffs after a traffic stop or other random police contact) you will be more likely to receive reciprocal favors fro(m the court, such as a signature bond rather than a high cash bond), since cooperation often breads cooperation, at least for minor offenses. My comments here are not intended as legal advice unless you subsequently retain me and revisit this issue with me.

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Answered on 8/12/09, 2:24 pm
Jeffrey Murrell Law Office of Jeffrey L. Murrell

I agree with Attorney Nixon's comments - you're not going to be able to get far enough away to escape arrest if you're stopped anywhere in this state or most others, and they run a warrants check on you. Do the right thing (especially for yourself) and go turn yourself in. They're just misdemeanor charges, so you won't have to post much, if any bail to get out of jail.

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Answered on 8/13/09, 3:31 pm


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