warrant officer

plural warrant officers

1. governmentAn officer holding rank by virtue of a warrant rather than a commission.
2. governmentAn officer assigned to execute warrants and other writs.

   1 more example

   The bailiff does not like to see himself as the brutal oppressor of the poor or as the agent of malicious creditors... This distinction between warrant officer and process server is not at all dissimilar to the gulf that divides the law officer and the peace officer in the police force... Warrant officers execute warrants whilst process servers distribute court summonses and cajole debtors.

   1973, Paul Rock, Making People Pay, page 162

   Synonyms: pursuivant, bailiff, beadle