TITLE TWO — PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS
Rule 6. Summons to Appear; Arrest Warrant
Issuance of Process.
Summons. A defendant not under arrest or otherwise in custody shall, except as provided in subdivision (1)(b) of this rule, be notified of the criminal proceedings against him and of the date of the return day by means of a summons. A copy of the criminal information or indictment shall accompany the summons. Where a misdemeanor complaint is filed before the Superior Court, the judge shall issue a summons instead of a warrant, unless the judge reasonably believes that the defendant will not appear upon a summons, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.004. A summons shall set forth the nature of the offense, shall command the defendant to appear at a stated time and place before the court, and shall carry the presence warning prescribed by Rule 18.1.
Warrant; Authority and Grounds.
An arrest warrant may be issued by any state judge in a court having jurisdiction in the place where the offense occurred, to commit offenders of the law to imprisonment and to recognize them to appear to answer an offense, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.001.
Upon examination of the complaint and the evidence submitted, a judge who is satisfied that probable cause exists for the issuance of an arrest warrant for a crime committed within the court’s jurisdiction shall thereupon issue an arrest warrant signed by the judge, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.002.
Where the offense charged is a misdemeanor, an arrest warrant shall issue only where a complaint charging the misdemeanor has been filed and a summons issued to the defendant has been returned unserved or unanswered, or where the judge reasonably believes upon the record that the defendant will not appear upon a summons.
Upon the return of a criminal information or indictment against a defendant, the Superior Court may authorize the issuance of a warrant. The decision to issue a warrant may be based upon the representation of a prosecutor made to the court that the defendant may not appear unless arrested. If a defendant fails to appear in response to a summons or for any reason is not amenable to service, the prosecutor may request that a warrant issue or may resummon the defendant.
In-Game Filing. The Superior Court, when issuing an arrest warrant in any case, shall place the warrant within the in-game warrants system. When posting this warrant, the court shall provide the charges alleged in the criminal information or affidavit, and format their in-game arrest warrant in the following manner: “MERITS OF OFFENSE; NOTIFY TO ENTER DISCORDCODE; RETURN TO JUDGE”
Both Parts Required. An arrest warrant is not in force until both the signed written warrant and the corresponding entry in the in-game warrants system exist. Where the entry is made without a signed warrant, or a warrant is signed without the entry, no arrest shall be made upon it.
Form.
Warrant. An arrest warrant issued pursuant to this rule shall be signed by the official issuing it and shall contain the username of the defendant or, if his username is unknown, any name or description by which he can be identified with reasonable certainty. The warrant shall recite the substance of the offense charged in the criminal information or indictment. It shall command that the defendant be arrested and brought before the court. The warrant shall further state the court and the case number, the date and time of issuance in Coordinated Universal Time, and the name of the issuing state judge.
Summons. A summons shall be in the same form as a warrant except that it shall summon the defendant to appear before the court at a stated time and place. Every summons issued to a defendant shall set out the presence warning in the form prescribed by Rule 18.1(3), and the clerk shall enter the fact upon the docket as Rule 18.1(5) requires.
Signature. The signature of the issuing state judge may be affixed by electronic signature transmitted with the filing that issues the warrant, which constitutes the judge’s signature for every purpose of this rule.
Service or Execution; Return.
By Whom. A summons may be served in the manner provided by subdivision (3)(c) of this rule by any person authorized by state statutes to serve criminal process. The Sheriff of the county is the executive officer of the Superior Court and is responsible for the service of process upon criminal defendants, as provided by 3 R. Stat. § 131.005. An arrest warrant shall be directed to all sheriffs of the State and shall be executable by any sheriff, sheriff’s deputies, police officers, or other persons authorized by law to execute process, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.003.
Territorial Limits. A summons may be served or a warrant executed at any place within the state or within Discord messaging. An officer executing a warrant outside the officer’s own jurisdiction proceeds as provided by Rule 6.1(5) and 6 R. Stat. § 131.008.
Manner. A summons shall be served upon a defendant by delivering a copy to him personally, and otherwise in the same manner as a summons in a civil action, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.005 and the Ridgeway Rules of Civil Procedure. A warrant shall be executed by the arrest of the defendant. The officer need not have the warrant in his possession at the time of the arrest, but upon request he shall then inform the defendant that a warrant has issued and of the offense charged, but if the officer does not then know of the offense charged, he shall inform the defendant thereof within a reasonable time after arrest.
Return. On or before the return day, the person to whom a summons was delivered for service shall make return thereof to the issuing court. The clerk shall maintain a list of those summonses returned unserved which shall include a statement of the efforts made by the person to whom the summonses were delivered for service to serve them. The officer executing a warrant shall make return thereof to the issuing court through the warrants workflow. At the request of the prosecutor any unexecuted warrant shall be returned to the issuing court and may be cancelled by that court upon its own motion or upon the motion of the prosecutor. This paragraph does not govern the recall of a default warrant, which Rule 18.2(5) governs and which is mandatory upon the defendant’s appearance, without regard to the request of the prosecutor. At the request of the prosecutor made at any time while a criminal information or indictment is pending, a summons returned unserved or a warrant returned unexecuted and not cancelled may be delivered to an authorized person for service or execution.
Warrant Matters; Channel and Confidentiality.
An application for an arrest warrant, the issuance of the warrant, the return of service, and every other paper in a warrant matter move through the warrants workflow of the electronic filing system. They are not filed through the general filing channel and they are never subject to clerk review; a warrant matter is decided by a state judge.
An application may be made by a law enforcement officer or by a prosecutor.
An arrest warrant matter is a sealed matter. Its existence and its documents are withheld from the public docket, and the public window upon it is the register of executed warrants. No party may file a motion or other paper in a warrant matter through the general filing channel; relief respecting a warrant is sought in the matter in which the accusatory instrument is pending, or by application to the issuing judge through the warrants workflow.
Criminal Default.
Entry. Where a defendant who has been summoned or admitted to release fails to appear as ordered, the court may enter a criminal default and issue a default warrant under Rule 18.2 and 6 R. Stat. § 131.501(i), may proceed under Rule 33 upon petition of the government, and may proceed under Rule 18.3 upon the motion of the State or upon its own initiative.
Governing Rule. Rule 18.2 governs the entry of a criminal default, the contents of the order, the issuance, in-game entry, execution, and recall of a default warrant, the notice of default, the tolling of periods of limitation, costs, and the preservation of testimony. This subdivision does not enlarge the grounds upon which a trial may proceed in the defendant’s absence, which Rule 18.3 alone supplies.
No Monetary Consequence of Default. Nothing in this subdivision authorizes the forfeiture of a bond or the collection of money as a condition of release or re-release; no bond or bail exists in this State, as provided by 6 R. Stat. § 131.205 and Rule 7.1(1).