What is an appearance ticket

An appearance ticket is a written notice that’s issued and subscribed by a police officer that directs a designated person to appear in a local criminal court at some future time in connection with their alleged commission of a crime. In essence, if you committed a less serious offense, instead of bringing you to Central Booking, police will simply give you a summons to come to court at a later day. A notice that conforms to this definition actually constitutes an appearance ticket regardless of whether it’s referred to in some other provision of the law as a summons, or else by any other name.

How do desk appearance tickets work?

When an appearance ticket is issued to a person in conjunction with a crime that’s been charged, this appearance ticket needs to contain language notifying the defendant of their right to receive a supporting deposition.

When is an appearance ticket issued, and by whom?

Whenever a police officer is authorized to arrest a person without a warrant for a crime other than a class A, B, C or D felony, they may instead issue such a person with an appearance ticket. Whenever a police officer has arrested someone without a warrant for a crime other than a class A, B, C or D felony, or whenever a peace officer who’s not authorized by law to issue an appearance ticket, has arrested someone for a crime other than a class A, B, C or D felony, and has requested a police officer to issue and serve the arrested person with an appearance ticket , and whenever a person has been arrested for an offense other than a class A, B, C or D felony or and has been delivered to the custody of an appropriate police officer, said police officer may, instead of bringing the person before a local criminal court and promptly filing a local criminal court accusatory instrument, issue to and serve the person with an appearance ticket.
The issuing and serving of the appearance ticket under these circumstances can be conditioned on a deposit of pre-arraignment bail. A public servant other than a police officer who’s specially authorized by state law or local law to issue and serve appearance tickets with respect to designated crimes other than class A, B, C or D felonies may in such cases issue and serve a person with an appearance ticket when he has reasonable cause to believe that the person has committed a crime, or has committed a petty offense in their presence.

How is an appearance ticket served after arrest on posting pre-arraignment bail?

The issuing and serving of an appearance ticket by a police officer following an arrest without a warrant can be made conditional on the posting of a sum of money, known as pre-arraignment bail. In this case, the bail is forfeited on failure of the person to comply with the directions of the appearance ticket. The person posting bail must complete and sign a form that states the name, residential address, and occupation of each person posting cash bail, the title of the crime involved, the crime or crimes that are the subjects of the action involved, the status of the action, the name of the principal and the nature of their involvement in or connection with the action, the date of the principal`s next appearance in court, an acknowledgement that cash bail will be forfeited if the principal doesn’t comply with the directions of the appearance ticket, and lastly the amount of money that’s been posted as cash bail. Such pre-arraignment bail can be posted as provided.

How does arrest without a warrant work in general?

A person who’s committed or is believed to have committed a crime and who’s at liberty in the state is able to, under certain circumstances, be arrested for such a crime even if no arrest warrant has been issued and even if no criminal action has yet been commenced in any criminal court.

When and where is an arrest without a warrant authorized?

A police officer is allowed to arrest a person for any offense when they have reasonable cause to believe that this person has committed such a crime in their presence, and a crime when they have reasonable cause to believe that this person has committed such a crime, whether in their presence or otherwise. A police officer is allowed to arrest a person for a petty offense only when the crime was committed or believed by the officer to have been committed within the geographical area of where the police officer is employed or within one hundred yards of this area, and this arrest is made in the county where the offense was committed or believed to have been committed or in an adjoining county. Except that the police officer might follow this person in continuous close pursuit, starting either in the county where the offense was or is believed to have been committed or in an adjoining county, in and through any county in the state, and may arrest them in any county where they are apprehended. A police officer is allowed to arrest a person for a crime whether or not the crime was committed within the geographical area of the police officer’s employment, and they are allowed to make this arrest within the state, regardless of where the crime was committed. In addition, they are allowed to, if necessary, pursue this person outside the state and are allowed to arrest them in any state where the laws contain provisions equivalent to those of section 140.55 of the state of New York’s penal code.
A police officer must arrest a person, and must not attempt to reconcile the parties or mediate, where the officer has reasonable cause to believe that a felony has been committed by this person against a member of the same family or household, or a duly served order of protection or else a special order of conditions is in effect, or an order which the defendant has knowledge of because they were present in court when the order was issued, where the order appears to have been issued by a court of competent jurisdiction of this or any other state, territorial or tribal jurisdiction.
As you can see, it’s important to understand that while in general it’s required to have an arrest warrant prior to going ahead and arresting a suspect in a crime, this is not only not always the case, but the exceptions are such that not properly understanding the law can easily end with you in jail. That’s why it’s important to note both how an arrest without a warrant works in general, as well as when and where such arrests without warrants are in fact authorized. Since these arrests aren’t authorized in all cases and in all areas, it’s imperative to understand the intricacies of the penal code in the state of New York.