How can I find out what happened to my ticket for shoplifting? 16 Answers as of December 01, 2011

Most court systems in California have a web page where you can go to see if you have any pending charges and warrants.

Did the police arrest/cite you? If not then no charges can be brought without a letter re: appearance from the police.

Have an attorney call the DA office or the court clerk's office to see if there are any outstanding warrants or case filings concerning you.

I don't know what you mean by "the store gave me a ticket." Typically with regards to a shoplifting incident the information is turned over to the District Attorneys office. If the DA determines the case to be solid they will write you a letter indicating when to show up in court for your arraignment. If the DA feels the case is weak, or for any other reason, they might decline to press charges. If you do not appear for the arraignment the court will typically issue an arrest warrant. If you are concerned the letter was sent but did not get to you, you could always check with the criminal clerks office in the county where the shoplifting was to have occurred. They should be able to let you know if a warrant has been issued for your arrest. Please speak with an attorney before making any appearance in court.

You have to go to the calendaring department in the county where you were cited and ask them if charges have been filed. Something doesn't sound right though. A store wouldn't give you a ticket, a member of law enforcement would have to give you a ticket. If you did not speak to a police officer or sheriff then you may have been 'trespassed' off the property. That is the process of notifying a person that they cannot return to a privately owned public place.

You may want to go to your local Court and ask them to do a warrant check. If there is a case, or a bench warrant out for you, then you NEED to know that. If you have no prior record and there was no violence/injury involved in your getting the "ticket" at the store, then you might be able to handle this yourself. Otherwise (& if you are worried) then get an experienced Attorney to help you weave through the legal process.

The easiest way is to contact an attorney. However I have a few questions; where the police ever at the store? Did you get a ticket from the police? If you never had contact with the police on this matter it is very unlikely that criminal charges were filed or will ever be filed against you. You can always call the court and see the status.

Go to the Criminal Clerk window at the courthouse near where the incident happened and ask if there has been a case filed and if so, when is or was the court date.

You can go to the court clerk or try to call to see if a case has been filed yet. If you are too ashamed, you can have an attorney inquire on your behalf. Shoplifting can be filed as a misdemeanor, which means it can carry jail time, so you need to take this seriously. You need to find out if a case has been filed yet and keep checking with the court every week or two until you find out what happened with the case. Typically, the prosecution has up to 1 year to file charges. In some jurisdictions, both the District Attorney's office (first) and then the City Attorneys office (if the DA does not file) will have a chance to file charges. If a case is filed and you don't show up for the court date they set, you could end up with a warrant and be arrested on the warrant. Calling the court until you identify your court date will allow you to avoid that. If you show up for court on a shoplifting case, as long as you are walking in voluntarily, you will very likely be released on your own recognizance unless you have past warrants or failures to appear for court.

If you have not received notice of a charge and a court date there is not a charge against you. This does not mean that you will not be charged however. Before you are charged the prosecuting agency that agency would evaluate the evidence against you. If the evidence is not there the will not charge you. Do not think that you are free of this as the prosecution has one year to file charges. To find out if the incident is being reviewed you would contact the prosecuting agency. Do not worry about being ashamed the office gets this type of question all the time and will not remember you.