How to Check Lake County Warrant Information
Warrants in Lake County come from circuit and county judges in the Fifth Judicial Circuit. The Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller dockets the order. The Lake County Sheriff's Office serves it. There is no live, public, county-run warrant board, so the practical route uses two official tools. The first is the Clerk ShowCase court records portal. The second is the LCSO inmate search.
The image below shows the Clerk ShowCase system, hosted at courtrecords.lakecountyclerk.org.
The portal exposes Case Search, Court Events, Set Court Date, and a registered-user login. The hasOpenWarrant flag rides on the regular case result, so the same screen used for a court records check drives a warrant check.
- Open the Clerk gateway page and click Accept and Search Court Records.
- Search by last name in ShowCase. Use Exact, SoundEx, or Starts With.
- Filter Court Type to Felony, Misdemeanor, Criminal Traffic, Municipal Ordinance, or County Ordinance.
- Open each case result and read the hasOpenWarrant flag.
- Review the docket for capias, failure to appear, bond forfeiture, or recall.
- Cross-check the name in the LCSO inmate search to see if the person is in jail now.
- Call the Clerk at 352-742-4100 or the Sheriff info desk at 352-343-9500 to confirm.
Why Lake County Has No Standalone Active Warrant List
Some Florida counties publish a public list of active warrants. Lake County does not. The Sheriff's site at lcso.org does not host a warrant roster. The Clerk does not list pending warrants either. The reason is part policy and part safety. A live, name-keyed warrant list can tip off the subject before service. It can also publish names tied to sealed counts or juvenile matters that the law shields.
Florida courts treat warrant material as part of the case file. Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.420 sets the public-access standard. The flag is public on the case page. The full warrant image and the affidavit behind it may not be. ShowCase ships the flag, but a sealed status can hide more detail until a clerk reviews the request.
Note: An empty result on ShowCase does not mean the person has no warrant. Federal, out-of-county, and sealed warrants will not show on a Lake County name search.
Using the ShowCase hasOpenWarrant Flag
The Clerk ShowCase API returns a field called hasOpenWarrant on every case it hands back. The field is a simple true or false. It rides next to the case number, the party name, the case status, the offense date, and the arrest date. When the flag is true, the case has an active warrant tied to it. When the flag is false, the case is either resolved on the warrant or never carried one.
To read the flag in context, open the case detail screen. Look for a docket entry that says Capias, Bench Warrant, Order to Show Cause, Failure to Appear, or Bond Forfeiture. A line that says Capias Recalled, Quash Warrant, or Warrant Recalled means the warrant is closed. The capiasIssuedDate field gives the date a capias was cut. A Lake County case number opens with the prefix 35, like 35-2026-CF-000553-AXXX-01. CF is felony. MM is misdemeanor. TR is traffic.
Types of Warrants in Florida
Florida courts use a few common warrant labels. Each one means a different thing on a Lake County docket. Knowing which type sits on a case helps a person choose the next step.
- Arrest warrant
- Issued on probable cause after a sworn complaint or grand jury action. Police may take the person into custody on sight.
- Bench warrant
- Issued by a judge from the bench. The usual trigger is a failure to appear, a missed hearing, or a failure to comply with a court order.
- Capias
- A Florida court order directing law enforcement to take a named person into custody. A capias often follows a missed court date or a probation violation.
- Capias pro fine
- A warrant tied to unpaid fines, costs, or financial sentence terms. Local Florida practice varies, so check the docket wording.
- Search warrant
- Authorizes a search of a place, a vehicle, or a device. These are not public before service and rarely appear on a name search.
- Sealed warrant
- Restricted by court order. The case will not appear in public search results while the seal stands.
- Juvenile warrant
- Tied to a delinquency or dependency case. Florida Statute 985.04 shields most juvenile records from public view.
Warrant-Related Fields in a Lake County Court Record
A ShowCase case page does not have a single warrant tab. Warrant data is spread across the result header, the docket entries, and the charge lines. The field map below shows where to look.
| Field | Where It Shows | What It Tells You |
|---|---|---|
| hasOpenWarrant | Case result header | True or false flag indicating an active warrant on the case. |
| capiasIssuedDate | Case result header | Date a capias was cut by the court. |
| caseNumber | Case result header | Lake County prefix 35, year, court type code, and sequence. |
| caseStatus | Case result header | OPEN, REOPEN, REOPEN VOP, STAY, and similar labels. |
| courtType | Case result header | Felony, Misdemeanor, Criminal Traffic, County or Municipal Ordinance. |
| arrestDate / incidentNumber | Arrest panel | Booking date and agency case number tied to the arrest. |
| Docket: Capias / Bench Warrant | Docket list | Entry showing a warrant was ordered or issued. |
| Docket: Bond Forfeiture | Docket list | Order forfeiting bond, often paired with a fresh warrant. |
| Docket: Warrant Recalled / Quash | Docket list | Entry closing or recalling a prior warrant. |
| feeBalance | Case header | Open court fees, which can trigger a capias pro fine in some matters. |
| isSealedCase / isExpungedCase | Case flags | Marks a case the public cannot see. Sealed warrants live here. |
Note: The Clerk does not place a dollar bond figure in the hasOpenWarrant field. Bond data comes from the docket order or the LCSO inmate profile.
What to Do If You Have an Outstanding Warrant in Lake County
A person who sees an open warrant flag on a Lake County case has a short list of safe moves. Run from it and the warrant follows. The better path is to plan the surrender, line up bond, and have a lawyer in place.
- Print or screenshot the ShowCase case page, including the case number, the charge, and the hasOpenWarrant flag.
- Call the Clerk at 352-742-4100 to confirm the warrant is still open and to ask the bond amount on file.
- Call a Florida-licensed criminal defense lawyer, or call the Public Defender at 352-742-4270 if the person may qualify as indigent.
- Decide whether to walk in to the Lake County Detention Center at 551 W. Main St., Tavares, or to wait for counsel to file a motion to recall the warrant.
- If bond is set, plan how to post it before surrender, so booking and release happen the same day.
- Appear at the next scheduled hearing, then watch the Clerk docket for the Warrant Recalled or Quash Warrant entry.
Important: Talk to a Florida criminal defense lawyer before turning yourself in. A quick call can change bond, charge level, or surrender timing in your favor.
Posting Bond on a Lake County Warrant
The Lake County Detention Center at 551 W. Main St., Tavares, handles bond intake for warrants served by LCSO. The Sheriff's bond page lists two main ways to bond a person out. The first is to hire a licensed bonding agency. The second is to bring cash, a cashier's or certified check, or a money order for the full bond amount to the detention center lobby. Checks or money orders for local Lake County charges must be made payable to the Clerk of Courts. For out-of-county charges, the payee is the Lake County Sheriff. Always call ahead to verify the exact amount and payee.
The verification number for bond is 352-742-4024. If the inmate has enough in a commissary account, the inmate can post bond from that account.
Note: Bond amounts can change at the first appearance hearing. Confirm the figure shown on ShowCase against what the jail and the judge say before paying.
Resolving a Warrant with an Attorney or Public Defender
A Florida defense attorney can file a motion to recall the warrant, set a surrender date, and negotiate bond before the client walks into the jail. In some cases, the lawyer can ask the judge to convert a no-bond warrant to a cash or surety bond. Each result depends on the charge, the prior record, and the reason for the warrant.
People who cannot afford a private lawyer may qualify for the Office of the Public Defender for the Fifth Judicial Circuit. The Public Defender for Lake County sits at 123 N. Sinclair Ave., Tavares, FL 32778. The phone number is 352-742-4270. The office covers Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion, and Sumter Counties. More information is at pdo5.org/home. An Affidavit of Indigent Status drives the eligibility check.
For broader access details, see the Lake County court records page or the court dockets page. Linked criminal case data is on the arrest records page.
Scam Warning About Bond and Warrant Phone Calls
The image below shows the LCSO inmate search page, which carries the official Sheriff fraud warning.
The notice on the page is direct. LCSO says scammers pretend to be bondsmen or Sheriff's Office employees. They call loved ones and demand money to make a warrant go away, or to bail a relative out. Common methods are gift cards, prepaid cards, and wire transfers. The Sheriff's Office states clearly that neither a bond representative nor a Sheriff's Office official will solicit bond payments this way.
Important: Hang up on any caller asking for gift cards, wire transfers, or prepaid cards to clear a Lake County warrant. Call LCSO at 352-343-2101 to report the call.
Confirming Warrant Information With the Clerk or Sheriff
Online data lags. A capias may be recalled in court but show as open on ShowCase for several hours. Two phone calls help. The first goes to the Clerk for case file status. The second goes to the Sheriff for service status.
- Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, 550 W. Main St., Tavares, FL 32778, phone 352-742-4100.
- Lake County Sheriff's Office, 360 W. Ruby St., Tavares, FL 32778, non-emergency 352-343-2101, info desk 352-343-9500.
- Lake County Detention Center, 551 W. Main St., Tavares, FL 32778, phone 352-742-4000.
- Bond verification line, 352-742-4024.
For people researching a warrant for a job or a family matter, Florida Statute Chapter 119 sets the public-records baseline. Section 119.0714 covers court files and lists the redactions that apply. Sealed and expunged matter falls under Florida Statute 943.059 and Florida Statute 943.0585.
For broader help, the FAQ page covers common questions, and the Clerk of Court page lists branch offices. Linked inmate data lives on the inmate records page.