Information –Bench Warrant Instructions
L1166 (Rev. May 13, 2011)
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF ORANGE
www.occourts.org
BENCH WARRANT INSTRUCTIONS
A Bench Warrant is an order of the Court directing a Sheriff within the State of California to
arrest a person and bring him or her to the Court.
If a Bench Warrant has been authorized by the court on your case and you want to proceed
with the warrant, please do the following:
Complete the Bench Warrant (#L525) and the Sheriff Service Instructions (#OCSD2).
Identifying information must be entered on the Bench Warrant or it may not be entered
into the Sheriff’s warrant system. Please include as much information on the Service
Instructions as possible. For example, is there more than one address at which the
person can be found? Is there a particular time of the day when the party can most
likely be reached at a particular address? Do you know what kind of car the person
drives? Does he or she have any unique characteristics? If the Sheriff (or other
peace officer) is not given enough information, it may be impossible to serve the
warrant.
Please submit the appropriate fees, if applicable, with the warrant. Go to the Sheriff’s
website of the county where your warrant will be served to obtain current fees.
If your warrant is for an out-of-county Sheriff, please provide address for Sheriff and
return this page along with documents noted below:
Address: ________________________________________________________
City: _________________________________ Zip code: __________________
Hand deliver or mail the completed Bench Warrant, Sheriff Service Instructions, and
any required fee to the Clerk’s Office at the Justice Center where your case is filed.
The Clerk’s Office will issue the warrant as appropriate and forward the completed
Bench Warrant and fee to the Sheriff’s Department.
Should an agreement be reached between you and the party the warrant was issued
against, or if the judgment is paid in full, you must immediately submit written notice
to the Clerk’s Office at the Justice Center where your case is filed so the warrant can
be recalled. Failure to do so may result in a wrongful arrest and possible legal action
against you.
