The police cannot detain a person indefinitely even if the arrest is made through a court-issued warrant. An arrest order issued by a judicial entity has particular limitations. When issued in a criminal matter, the person arrested must be presented in court at the earliest (usually within 48 hours) for a bail hearing.
A few rounds of questioning will be undertaken before the arrestee is presented before the court for bail in criminal matters. However, in case of bench warrants, the person detained is marched to the court within a few hours of detention.
Skagit county arrest warrants in criminal cases are exclusively issued by a judiciary branch that hears such cases. The court never issues unlawful arrest warrants on its own; these documents are only released when a complaint is filed with the county clerk requesting a warrant.
According to the statute of limitations for arrest warrants, an order for arrest cannot be issued unless the sitting judge ascertains that probable cause does exist in the matter. However, once the warrant has been issued, it is not recalled, nor does it lapse over time.
Active warrants merely go through a “name change” and are called outstanding arrest warrants when they are not executed shortly after issue.
All information about arrest records in Skagit County, WA, is available from the Sheriff’s Department located at 600 S 3rd St Rm 100, Mount Vernon, Washington 98273.
How do you get information on Skagit County active warrants and arrests over the phone? (2021- Update)
- Questions on recent arrests and inmate records: (360) 416-1960
- Arrest records and police reports-related inquiries: (360) 416-1911
- General questions for the Sheriff’s Office: (360) 428-3211.
- Questions pertaining to victim/witness assistance: (360) 416-1600
- Judicial records-related inquiries: (360) 416-1800.
Crime Statistics of Skagit County, Washington
The annual crime rate of Skagit County decreased by nearly 15% in 2019. The local police received approximately 960 complaints in 2018 while they registered 830 criminal cases in 2019. The drop resulted from a significant plunge in property crimes, which went from bringing in around 890 complaints/annum to well over 760 complaints in 2019. The violent crime rate increased by 5%, going from 70 complaints in 2018 to 74 cases in 2019.
From 1999 to 2008, over 55,000 criminal cases were filed in Skagit; this figure includes violent and property crimes. The number of violent crime incidents was found to be at just over 3% of the total crime rate.
Every year nearly 5500 crimes are reported in the area, of which over 170 are violent; this figure includes rapes and homicides, which have an annual average of almost 50 and 2 incidents, respectively.
In the ten years mentioned above, crime has increased by almost 70% in the county, and incidents of theft and robbery, with nearly 4500 cases each year, are among the most worrisome criminal category. A crime occurs in the county around every 45 minutes, and in most cases, people are victimized when they are in close vicinity of their home/office.