I got an order of mittimus. Is this an arrest warrant?

An arrest warrant is a document issued by political entities, commonly the courts, and sometimes the United States Congress, that calls for a person to be brought to police custody. It is an order by a judge to police enforcers to arrest and jail a person shown to have probable cause that he has committed a specific crime. However, in cases where a police officer witnesses a crime taking place, an arrest warrant would no longer be needed.

A mittimus, on the other hand, is a court-issued document that orders a police officer to commit the person convicted of a crime to imprisonment. It could also be an order to a specific jail to hold and keep safe the convict until such time that he is transferred to prison. It also contains directions for the jailer or other appropriate official to receive and incarcerate the convict. It is called a mittimus because it originated from the Latin “mittere” which means “to send.”

The difference between the two is that an arrest warrant is issued on a probable cause to jail a person awaiting his being presented to court, while a mittimus is issued to bring a convict to prison. Remember that jail and prison are two different things. Jails are not meant to hold people for long periods of time; hence they house people who are awaiting bail or trial date, recently arrested, or convicted of relatively minor crimes (with sentences no longer than 2 years). Conversely, prisons house convicts who serve long sentences, such as when convicted of a federal felony.