Bench warrant

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A bench warrant is a variant of an arrest warrant, which authorizes the immediate on-sight arrest of the individual subject to the bench warrant. Typically, a bench warrant is issued for a person in contempt of court – possibly as a result of that person's failure to appear at the appointed time and date for a mandated court appearance. Bench warrants may issue in either criminal or civil proceedings.

Commonly (but not always), the person who is subject to a bench warrant has intentionally avoided a court appearance to escape the perceived consequences of being found guilty of a crime. If a person was on bail awaiting criminal trial when the non-appearance took place, the court usually forfeits bail and sets a new (usually higher) bail amount to be paid when the subject is re-arrested. If a person is found to have a bench warrant against them when stopped by a law enforcement officer, the person is immediately taken into custody by authorities, rejailed and a hearing is held at which time new bail amount and conditions are set and a new court appearance date is scheduled. Often, if a person is arrested on a bench warrant, that person is held without bail until they can appear in court for whatever incident it was that they failed to appear to address originally. Such a person is referred to as a "flight risk", meaning that there is a high likelihood that they will flee and not appear for their court date (for a second time).

Bench warrants are traditionally issued by sitting judges or magistrates.