Does this jive, legally speaking? Setup: A detective from California shows up in a small town in Washington to arrest a man for suspected murder back in Los Angeles, and due to the rushed nature of the event, it never goes through any proper channels. He places cuffs on the guy and throws him in the back of his car. I have a sheriff of that Washington town arrive and ask for the warrant and extradition papers. So, is that a reasonable request from the sheriff? Does the detective need some form of judicial request, like a warrant for his arrest and some form of extradition paperwork to take him out of Washington? What kind of power does the sheriff have to keep the man in his custody until the detective can show him the proper paperwork? Also, what should have the detective done, even in a rushed scenario? What I need is for the sheriff to stop the arrest and hold onto the man himself until the detective can prove all of this or provide paperwork. I need him to be able to put the man in this local jail for at least a few days, awaiting the paperwork. Thoughts?
I’m not American but as I understand it if you are wanted for an offence in any state you can be arrested on that warrant where ever you are in America in your scenario the sheriff would just check the warrant is valid and then say adios scumbag that said the California state detective has no authority to arrest the offender outside California ( unless he’s a fed of course) so he should have called the local PD for assistance in the first place
These might help: Criminal Jurisdiction: Where Can the Police Make Arrests? | Lawyers.com Police Jurisdiction: Can a Cop From Another County Arrest You? (scottsdale-duilawyer.com)
I'm pretty sure the police departments would have been on the same page and working together before the arrest was made. If you want your character to spend a few days locked up in Washington, you could have the Washington PD make the arrest and hold the man for the California PD. But even then I think they would hand him over pretty quickly.
The local police would have to make the actual arrest based on the out of state warrant. Then there would be a court hearing on the extradition that could be fought by the suspect.
My understanding is you can't be held for more than 48 hours without some formal charge. So the sheriff could arrest him for vagrancy or some bogus charge if he actually wants to help the detective. You also have issues of whether the suspect could be granted bail for the bogus charge and when the bail hearing might be, etc. This may vary by jurisdiction, maybe ask a legal or law enforcement forum how something like this could plausibly happen.
Normally, the out-of-state warrant has to be validated by a local judge, and then usually, the arrest is carried out local cops. In Texas, that is mandatory, and there are a few cases where out-of-state cops have been convicted of kidnapping for not following those procedures. There are further rules for bounty hunters, like they have to be licensed, in a variety of ways, to operate in Texas. Dog the Bounty Hunter is one who is subject to arrest in Texas upon appearance - warrant issued in El Paso, I believe. It isn't worth it for the county to pursue, but Dog steers clear of Texas.
