What does mittimus mean?
How do you legally define it?
What are the important elements you should know!
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Table of Contents
Understanding Mittimus
The term “mittimus” in Latin refers to “we send”.
Mittimus is a court warrant ordering a sheriff to legally deliver a person.
In other words, the law sends its legal officers to arrest the person named in the writ and deliver that person to prison who must imprison the person.
You can consider a mittimus to be an arrest warrant where a court or judge orders that a person is arrested and detained by law.
What’s important to note here is that the person being arrested is not considered to be guilty of the charges laid against it.
Mittimus definition
According to The Free Dictionary citing West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, Edition 2, mittimus means:
A court order directing a sheriff or other police officer to escort a convict to a prison.
Whether someone refers to convict mittimus, mittimus warrant, mittimus issued or mittimus papers, we are referring to a court-ordered arrest warrant requiring the county sheriff to find, arrest and imprison a convicted individual.
When is it issued
A warrant can be issued for many reasons.
Here are some of the reasons when a mittimus can be issued:
- On arrest: the person failed to give bail as required
- On conviction: the person has been convicted of an offense and sentenced to serve time in jail
- For violation of probation: the person has violated the conditions of a suspended sentence or probation ordered by the court
- For bind over to grand jury: there is probable cause that the person has committed an offense and the person must be detained to answer to the charges
- For contempt: the person has been convicted of an offense and was ordered to pay a fine and failed to do so
There could be other reasons for a person to be arrested and held in custody until he or she can answer the charges or serve time in jail.
If there is a mittimus charge, the law requires the named convict, felon or individual to be held in custody until the law can take its course.
Expiration
A Mittimus or warrant will not expire with the passing of time.
Essentially, when the court orders the arrest of a person, the court order will remain in full force and effect until the person is effectively arrested and imprisoned.
Takeaways
So, what is mittimus?
What does convict mittimus mean?
Let’s look at a summary of our findings.
Mittimus:
Related legal terms
Arrest warrant
Copias
Convicted person
Criminal attorney
Criminal charge
Mittimus judgment
Mitigation of damages
Mitigating factors
Mixed action
Related legal questions
What does convict mittimus mean
What is a mittimus
Mittimus to county jail
What is convict mittimus
