Contrary to popular belief, an arrest warrant is not a legal mandate in all cases of detention. In fact, in Tippecanoe County, IN, a person can be taken into custody in six scenarios:
- An individual is stopped in the streets for routine questioning and is found to have illicit substances or illegal ammunition.
- A person is arrested from the scene of the crime right after it takes place.
- The suspect turns himself/herself and confesses to the crime.
- The crime is committed in front of a police officer.
- A law enforcement officer has reason to believe that an individual will commit a crime very soon.
- A warrant has been procured from the criminal court for the arrest of a person.
As you can see, a warrant is needed in only about 25% of the cases. Usually, these are matters where an investigation takes place before the suspect is detained.
A signed order for arrest issued by the local criminal court is known as an active arrest warrant, while a charge that is backlogged in the system is called an outstanding warrant. A person can be detained even years after a warrant has been issued in his/her name.
So, to find out if a person you know has a warrant out in his/her name, get in touch with the county Sheriff’s Office in Lafayette, 2640 Duncan Rd, Lafayette, Indiana 47904.
If you want to do a warrant search from the comforts of your home, fill in the form above, and you will gain access to a national database of arrest records.
How do access arrest records and details on warrants from Tippecanoe County over the phone? (Valid in 2021)
- You can use the non-emergency dispatch phone line- 765-423-9388 for general inquiries and filing non-emergency reports.
- You can call the Tippecanoe County jail at for an inmate search and details pertaining to inmate services
- You can connect with the Sheriff’s Office at 765-423-9388 ext. 3250 for information on arrests
- You can contact the Records Division at 765-423-9388, ext. 3209 to obtain arrest records, incident and accident reports.
- You can reach the Warrants Clerk via phone at 765-423-9388 ext. 3216 for information on outstanding warrants.
- You can connect with the Clerk of Court’s Office at 765-423-9326 for judicial records.
- You can contact the County Prosecutor’s Office at 765-423-9305 for victim/witness assistance
Crime statistics of Tippecanoe County
Due to the increased of 6% in Tippecanoe County’s yearly crime average, around 541 criminal complaints were submitted in 2019, compared to 510 in 2018. Nearly 500 of these reports were submitted for property offences, while the rest were for violent offences.
Around 120 burglaries and 344 larceny-thefts were reported as property offences. The violent offenses reported included 22 assault instances and 12 complaints against rape.
In terms of crime, Tippecanoe County, IN is in the middle of the state-wide scale, with some counties figuring higher and others lower. Over the ten year duration from 1999 to 2008, an estimated 40,000 cases were filed in the area of which nearly 4000 were lodged annually. The rate of violent crime is about 5% of the total crime figure, yet an incident is recorded every 2 hours in the area.
A closer look at the crime data reveals that theft and robbery instances are rampant, with a whopping average of almost 30,000 cases, while rape and murder are lower down the chain with 20 and 350 cases recorded. Over the decade, crime has gone up by nearly 50% in Tippecanoe.