Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas

hello, I have a question concerning statues of limitation on a warrant.

My story began over 20 years ago, around the same dates and time, I had several checks returned for non sufficient funds all under amounts of $50, all written in the same Texas county. I was dumb and didnt take care of it right away, and long story short the checks ended up with warrants. I eventually turned myself in and while in custody all checks and warrants, fees, restitution, etc. had to be taken care of upon release. Which I did that very day. Finally I was free from looking over my shoulder, and no more worries. It was all finally in the past, I could finally breath again, and realized I had learned from my DUMB mistake, never ever getting into legal troubles again. Not even as much as a traffic violation.

Okay, now fast forward to 2013, I was pulled over by Tx Highway Patrol for going 5 miles over the speed limit. I was given a warning, but the officer ran my DL before giving me the warning. I was shocked, and in tears when the officer returned to my vehicle, and told me I had a warrant for a check written over 20 years ago. As the officer was about to arrest me. I told them that over 10 years prior I thought everything had been taken care of before leaving jail. And I knew I hadnt wrote a check, or even had a checking account for 10 years, and never having had a checking account since that ordeal. I was then handcuffed and put in the officers car, the officer very nice and understanding, and wanted to check again on the details of the warrant after I explained everything. She told me apparently the check was not in the same county as the others or maybe it wasnt recorded as paid. So the officer calls the issuing county directly to further inquire, all the while im still sitting in backseat just silently praying. The county couldnt verify the warrant paper-wise. The term the officer used was that they couldnt find the "hard copy" of the warrant. The Officer was a bit confused by the whole thing, considering I still lived at the same address as the other cases, and the fact the check was written over 20 years ago, and the fact the case was documented 20 years ago, but apparently the warrant wasnt put out or processed until December 2012. By then the officer was unsure if she wanted to arrest me for fear the case may have already been cleared, but just not documented. The officer was confused as to why it took the county 20 yrs to put the warrant out, even after the check was documented 20 yrs prior. The officer also couldnt understand why the issuing county couldnt find or verify the paper work or actual check. So, at that time, the officer then decided to uncuff me, (thank God), and I was then allowed to get back in my car and go home. But, before leaving I got my warning for speeding, and I did promise the officer I would check into the situation. That was a few weeks ago. I've been too scared to call for fear of being arrested. But in the meantime rather true or not, I had learned that the statues of limitations in Texas on a check for under $100 (my actual check amount was less than $50) is only 2-3 years once a check has been processed into a case, then there is a separate statue of limitations on how much time they have to process a warrant on said case. I do understand there is NO statue of limitations rule that is applied on any warrants in the state of Texas once processed. But to my understanding there IS a statue of limitations on how long they have to place a warrant on a case once it has been initially processed.

...So finally on to my question, If that is true about the statues of limitations on the time frame period of placing the warrant, would the statue of limitations rule apply in either the case of the check itself or the warrant? Since it did take the county 20 years to put the warrant out wouldnt it have already passed the statues of limitations time frame since it been longer than the 2-3 yrs?

It would seem to me that If the case was opened 20 years ago, the statue of limitation had already run out on the check after 2-3 years, then 17 years after that the warrant was then placed which was well after the statues of limitations on the check ran out.

I am so scared, and want to clear this up, but Im afraid I would be arrested regardless even if just inquiring. It may not be necessary for me to even be arrested if the statue had already run out prior to the warrant ever being placed. If so, I would still want to, and feel obligated to make restitution on the check if I had not already done so when in custody 10 years ago.

Im feeling scared, and dont want this to drag on any longer. I would appreciate any help you can offer me at this time. Thank you for taking the time to read my long story, I apologize for it being so lengthy.

I look forward to receiving your answer.

Much Peace & Kindness,

"Running scared"

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