At least on this end of the country, many counties have searchable databases for legal infractions within that county. I don't know what the chances are of someplace in 'Bama being online with that information, but it would certainly be worth the effort to check into it.
That's right. You can go online and search the persons name. From there, you can find out about traffic tickets for sure, and probably outstanding warrants. Anyway a simple phone call to motor vehicle will tell him if it's a traffic ticket. Pretty strange if he doesn't know whether it's a traffic or criminal warrant. Something sounds "fishy".