TO EXTRADITE OR NOT TO EXTRADITE...

A lot of criminals commit crimes in states and then flee to other states believing that they have gotten away from justice, this isn’t the case and majority of the time those criminals are arrested without issues. That fact being stated, the topic of discussion today will be centered on Extradition, specifically what it is and when does it apply in Law enforcement.

Extradition is the act of transferring custody of someone wanted in reference to a crime or someone convicted of a crime to another jurisdiction or state. When a criminal commits a crime and a warrant or court order is issued against that person they can potentially be extradited back to that jurisdiction if they are caught in another jurisdiction or state. 

The charges against the person and type of charges against the person come into play when establishing whether or not the jurisdiction will allow for extradition. Majority of the time, if the offense is on the Misdemeanor Level it will not be extraditable. However, I have seen Misdemeanor warrants that are extraditable. Again, it depends on the charge against the accused. 

Felony charges will be majority of extraditable offenses, and even those can have restrictions attached to them when filing for extradition. Those restrictions can be based off of distance, specifically referencing a situation where the wanting state doesn’t want to pay to go get the accused unless they are arrested in specific states.

When an offender is wanted, that status is entered into the national database so every agency that has access to said database will be able to see that the offender is wanted out of a specific jurisdiction. When Law Enforcement Officers outside the wanted agencies encounter the wanted subject, they don’t just arrest them immediately…they detain them, and determine whether the jurisdiction that wants the subject has authorized extradition or not. If not, the subject will not be taken into custody because they haven’t broken any laws in the state they would be in at that point. 

Now if they go back to the state or jurisdiction that wants them and encounters LEOs, they will be promptly arrested referencing the offense charged.

That is quick and dirty explanation of Extradition, it can be from state to state or even country to country, and there are many aspects that govern extradition criteria when it comes to it happening. The point is that an offender can be arrested in another jurisdiction or state if wanted and then extradited back to the originating agency that wants them referencing the crime committed.

To Extradite or Not to Extradite…