An Alaska warrant check usually starts in two free places: the Alaska Court System’s CourtView case search and the Alaska State Troopers’ daily active warrants list. Neither is complete on its own, so a careful check often ends with a phone call to law enforcement or a formal criminal history report from the Department of Public Safety.
Search CourtView for Court Case Records
CourtView is the Alaska Court System’s public portal for District and Superior Court case records statewide. You can search by name, case number, or ticket and citation number.1Alaska Court System. CourtView Online Information For a name search, enter last name and first name; a date of birth or middle initial narrows things when the name is common.
Open each case in the results and look for warrant notations, such as a bench warrant for failure to appear or a warrant tied to new charges. The court system is explicit that a CourtView search is not a criminal history records check. Some cases never appear on CourtView, and others are removed after a set time under court rules or court orders.2Alaska Court System. Search Cases For a definitive answer about a person’s record, the court system points people to the Department of Public Safety.
Check the Alaska State Troopers Warrant List
The Department of Public Safety publishes a separate list of active warrants tied specifically to Alaska State Trooper investigations. It updates daily, identifies people by name and age, and is available in both CSV and PDF so you can download it and search for a name.3Department of Public Safety. Active Warrants
This list only covers cases where the Troopers are the responsible agency. Warrants from municipal police departments, village public safety officers, or other jurisdictions won’t show up. If someone you’re searching for appears on the list, the Troopers ask that you contact local law enforcement rather than act yourself.
Call Law Enforcement to Confirm
If the online searches come up empty, or you want real-time confirmation, calling a law enforcement agency is the most direct option. The Alaska State Troopers, local police dispatch, or a municipal jail can check the Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN), the statewide law enforcement database for warrants, arrests, and criminal histories. APSIN also connects to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center and to other states through the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, so it can flag warrants that originated outside Alaska.4Alaska Department of Public Safety. Division of Statewide Services
Have the person’s full legal name and date of birth ready when you call. APSIN is a law enforcement tool, not a public database, so you can’t log in yourself. Dispatchers and officers can run the check and tell you whether an active warrant exists. This is where most people get their definitive answer.
Request a Criminal History Report From DPS
For a formal, authoritative record, request an Alaska criminal history report from the Department of Public Safety’s Records and Identification unit. This is the route the court system recommends when CourtView isn’t enough. A name-based check costs $20, and a fingerprint-based check costs $35. The fingerprint option is more reliable because a name search can miss records filed under aliases.5Alaska Department of Public Safety. Background Check Requests
Results from a name-based check can be mailed or faxed. Extra copies cost $5 if ordered at the same time, or $20 if requested later.5Alaska Department of Public Safety. Background Check Requests The report draws from the Central Repository and is far more complete than any free online search.
Federal Warrants Are Separate
Warrants issued by federal courts, including the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, do not appear in CourtView or in APSIN. Federal case records live in the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system, which charges $0.10 per page with a $3.00 cap per document; if your charges are $30 or less in a calendar quarter, the fees are waived.6PACER. Public Access to Court Electronic Records
PACER is a case document system, not a warrant search tool. You can look up docket information for the District of Alaska, but federal warrants are not searchable there in the way state warrants are on CourtView. If you suspect a federal warrant may be outstanding, contacting a criminal defense attorney or the U.S. Marshals Service is more productive than trying to work through PACER.
Why No Single Search Catches Everything
Each resource has blind spots worth knowing:
- Newly issued warrants may not appear on CourtView immediately, and certain categories of cases never appear on the site at all under court rules or court orders.2Alaska Court System. Search Cases
- The DPS warrant list covers only Trooper cases, not municipal police, village public safety officer, or other agency warrants.3Department of Public Safety. Active Warrants
- Smaller police departments and local jails may keep their own warrant records that don’t feed into statewide systems promptly, especially in remote communities.
- Federal warrants live in an entirely different system and won’t surface in any state-level search.
Combining a CourtView search with the Trooper list and a phone call to local law enforcement covers most bases. A formal DPS criminal history report adds another layer of confidence.
If a Warrant Turns Up
The most important step after finding an active warrant is talking to a criminal defense attorney before walking into a police station or courthouse. An attorney can pull the warrant’s details, including the bail amount and underlying charges, and advise on how to handle it with the least disruption.
Voluntary Surrender
An attorney can often arrange a scheduled surrender rather than leaving you to be picked up unexpectedly. Under Alaska Criminal Rule 41(g), a defendant may surrender personally to a peace officer, and sureties on an existing bond can also surrender the defendant at any time before forfeiture of the bond.7Alaska Court System. Alaska Rules of Criminal Procedure Turning yourself in voluntarily can influence how a judge handles bail or release conditions at the next hearing.
Getting the Warrant Quashed
In some cases, an attorney can get the warrant quashed without you being taken into custody. Alaska Criminal Rule 43.1 authorizes court clerks to quash or recall warrants in specific circumstances: when the defendant has paid the fine or restitution that triggered the warrant, when the defendant has posted the bail listed on the warrant, or when the underlying charges have been dismissed or withdrawn.7Alaska Court System. Alaska Rules of Criminal Procedure Beyond those situations, any court can quash a warrant through a judicial order, which is then communicated to the law enforcement agency holding the original.8Alaska Court System. Administrative Bulletin 80 The court system provides form CR-701 for filing a motion to quash and request a new hearing date.
What Ignoring a Warrant Costs
Failing to appear for a required court date is itself a separate criminal offense in Alaska, on top of the original charge:
- If the underlying charge is a felony, failure to appear is a felony carrying up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
- If the underlying charge is a misdemeanor, failure to appear is a misdemeanor carrying up to one year in jail and a fine capped at the maximum for the original misdemeanor.
- Failing to appear when released as a material witness is a misdemeanor carrying up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
Any bail or security posted is also forfeited.9Justia. Alaska Code Title 12 – Sec. 12.30.060 Penalties for Failure to Appear You lose whatever money or property was put up for release and still face prosecution for both the original charge and the new failure-to-appear charge.