What is a Blue Warrant in the State of Texas?
When it comes to legal warrants, there are several different types of warrants in Texas. Each warrant serves a specific legal purpose and has distinct implications.
Texas law recognizes multiple forms that authorize law enforcement actions, from arrest warrants to bench warrants to search warrants.
But what is a blue warrant?
A blue warrant is a warrant issued by the state of Texas when the state files a motion to revoke a person’s parole.
It sometimes may be referred to as a motion to revoke probation, but that is not correct. That’s because a blue warrant concerns revoking parole, not probation.
Parole involves community supervision for a person who was convicted of a crime and then served at least part of their prison sentence before being released from prison on parole. Such parole means a person gains early release from prison, before their sentence is completed, under the condition that certain procedures and behaviors are followed.
By contrast, probation involves community supervision when the offender has not been required to serve any time in jail or in prison. Probation may be ordered upon sentencing after a person is found guilty of a crime, but such sentencing would not involve jail time.
In Texas, a blue warrant, which initiates the process to revoke parole, is issued by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles as part of its parole revocation process. This occurs when a parolee’s parole officer, who monitors their conduct after release from prison, files a parole violation report with the board.
A list of common parole violations includes:
- Failure to Report to Parole Officer: Missing scheduled meetings or check-ins with a parole officer is a direct violation of parole terms.
- Committing new offenses: Being arrested or charged with a new crime while on parole can lead to immediate revocation.
- Positive drug or alcohol tests: Failing mandatory drug or alcohol screenings, which are often part of parole conditions.
- Possession of prohibited items: Carrying weapons, illegal drugs, or other items explicitly forbidden under parole conditions.
- Traveling without permission: Leaving the designated area, such as the county or state, without prior approval from the parole officer.
- Failure to maintain employment or attend programs: Not securing or keeping a job, or failing to attend required educational, vocational, or counseling programs.
- Associating with known criminals: Interacting with individuals involved in criminal activities or with known felony convictions without permission.
- Electronic monitoring violations: Tampering with or failing to comply with electronic monitoring devices like ankle bracelets.
- Curfew violations: Being out past a mandated curfew without a valid exemption.
- Failure to pay fines or restitution: Not making court-ordered payments such as fines, fees, or victim restitution.
- Failure to register as a sex offender: For those required, not registering or updating registration information as mandated by law.
- Unauthorized contact with victims: Contacting victims or their families when such contact is prohibited.
- Failure to comply with special conditions: Ignoring specific conditions imposed by the parole board, such as attending substance abuse treatment, anger management classes, or mental health counseling.
- Change of residence without notification: Moving to a new address without informing the parole officer in advance.
- Violating protective or restraining orders: Disobeying court-issued orders intended to protect others.
Law enforcement officers who receive a blue warrant will find in it instructions on arresting and jailing the warrant’s subject upon contact with him or her. In Houston, the offender would be placed in the Harris County Jail.
What happens after a blue warrant arrest?
After a blue warrant arrest, the warrant’s subject (the offender) is placed in jail prior to a preliminary hearing on its revocation.
The result of that hearing depends on a majority of a three-member parole panel consisting of parole commissioners and members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Texas has seven such parole panels. The closest one to Houston is in Huntsville.
There’s a chance that the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles may withdraw its revocation warrant before a hearing. The result would be that the board instructs the offender to resume and continue supervision while on parole.
Otherwise, after the proper hearings, the offender may lose parole and be ordered to prison for the first time.
What kinds of blue warrant hearings are held?
As for the types or kinds of blue warrant hearings, these include:
Preliminary hearings: These hearings determine whether there is probable cause to proceed onward to a parole revocation hearing. Only offenders who have unfiled charges or pending criminal charges are allowed to have a preliminary hearing.
Revocation hearings: These hearings determine whether there’s a preponderance of credible evidence to believe that the offender violated one or more conditions of their release on parole. Such a preponderance of credible evidence means that there is more than a 50 percent likelihood that the offender had a parole violation.
Mitigation hearings: These are essentially the same as revocation hearings. They determine if a felony offender with a term of incarceration in prison remaining should have their parole from prison revoked and be returned to prison. A mitigation hearing gives the offender a chance to express why their parole should not be revoked.
Can I bond out from a blue warrant?
In some cases it may be possible for an offender to bond out after a blue warrant. This can occur if the board sets bond and the offender is able to make (pay) bond.
But it can occur only if the offender’s parole violations were technical or administrative, such as being late for a meeting with their parole officer. By contrast, an offender who violates parole by breaking court-ordered curfews or by failing a urine test for alcohol may not be allowed to bond out.
Why is it called a ‘blue’ warrant?
As for why a blue warrant has that name, it’s believed that such warrants may have been issued on blue paper or within a blue jacket cover years ago, and the term “blue warrant” was applied and stuck.
What about arrest warrants, bench warrants and search warrants?
An arrest warrant, issued by a judge, may be the best known and most widely understood kind of warrant. It allows the arrest of a person on site, provided there is probable cause for the arrest. A law enforcement officer will submit an affidavit before the judge issues an arrest warrant.
Keep in mind that police may not actively be looking for someone even if they have a warrant for their arrest. But police probably would detain that person if they encountered them after they were stopped for another violation, such as a traffic violation.
A bench warrant provides police with the right to arrest a person on sight. This kind of warrant customarily is issued when the person has committed a criminal offense, but it also may be issued for civil matters, contempt of court or failure to appear at hearings.
A search warrant gives police legal authority to search a person’s property and belongings. Though the warrant does not call for an arrest, a search that’s made after the warrant was issued may give police cause to arrest a person based on evidence found during the search, such as a cache of illegal drugs.
No one can search your home or vehicle without a search warrant, thanks to your Constitutionally guaranteed rights in the Fourth Amendment. The only exception would be if the law officers had “probable cause” to believe a crime was committed or was about to be committed.
Texas court process for criminal charges
Learn about the criminal court process in Texas, from pre-trial hearings to appeals, to understand how Texas criminal cases proceed and what to expect throughout the judicial process.
Get a skilled criminal defense lawyer
If you face a charge, an arrest or a post-trial parole violation in the Houston area, you should engage an experienced and skilled Houston criminal defense attorney.
We can help you even if you only suspect that an arrest warrant has been issued for you. Our knowledgeable defense attorneys can determine whether such an arrest warrant or blue warrant has been issued in your name.
You also may need legal help if you were subjected to an unlawful search or an unlawful arrest, or if a warrant against you was illegally obtained.
Contact us at the award-winning Neal Davis Law Firm today to arrange a consultation about your blue warrant, arrest warrant, criminal charge or criminal defense needs.
