3.12Execution of Arrest Warrants

For a summary of the arrest warrant process, including execution, see the Michigan Judicial Institute’s checklist describing the process for issuing an arrest warrant and the checklist describing the process for electronically issuing an arrest warrant.

A.Executing an Arrest Warrant

Unless the accused is already in custody after a warrantless arrest, MCL 764.1b directs that an arrest warrant “command the peace officer immediately to arrest the person accused and to take that person, without unnecessary delay^[1], before a magistrate of the judicial district in which the offense is charged to have been committed . . . .” MCR 6.102(G) clarifies that “[o]nly a peace officer or other person authorized by law may execute an arrest warrant.” It is not necessary for the arresting officer to personally possess the arrest warrant. MCL 764.18. Rather, it is sufficient for the officer to inform the arrestee of an outstanding warrant for his or her arrest. Id. However, the officer must show the arrest warrant to the arrestee as soon as practicable after the arrest. Id.

B.Return on an Arrest Warrant

The return on an arrest warrant is a certification by the executing officer that states the manner in which the warrant was executed. The warrant itself should direct the executing officer to note “a proper return” and to deliver the warrant “to the magistrate before whom the arrested person is to be taken.” MCL 764.1b. MCR 6.102(G) (applicable only to offenses not cognizable by the district court, MCR 6.001(A)-(B)) similarly provides that “[o]n execution or attempted execution of the warrant, the officer must make a return on the warrant and deliver it to the court before which the arrested person is to be taken.”

The warrant, along with the proper return noted on it, should be delivered to the magistrate before whom the arrested person is taken. MCL 764.1b.

When an officer makes a warrantless arrest, “[t]he return of the officer making the arrest, endorsed upon the warrant upon which the accused shall be subsequently held, affirming compliance with the provisions herein, shall be prima facie evidence of the fact in the trial of any criminal cause.” MCL 764.19.

C.Execution of Warrant by Electronic Device

“The person or department receiving an electronically or electromagnetically issued arrest warrant . . . must receive proof that the issuing judge or district court magistrate has signed the warrant . . . before the warrant . . . is executed. Proof that the issuing judge or district court magistrate has signed the warrant . . . may consist of an electronically or electromagnetically transmitted facsimile of the signed warrant[.]” MCL 764.1(4).