Summons; when issuable · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 130.30 Summons; when issuable.
A local criminal court or youth part of the superior court may issue a summons in any case in which, pursuant to section 120.20, it is authorized to issue a warrant of arrest based upon an information, a prosecutor's information, a felony complaint or a misdemeanor complaint. If such information, prosecutor's information, felony complaint or misdemeanor complaint is not sufficient on its face as prescribed in section 100.40, and if the court is satisfied that on the basis of the available facts or evidence it would be impossible to draw and file an authorized accusatory instrument that is sufficient on its face, the court must dismiss the accusatory instrument. A superior court may issue a summons in any case in which, pursuant to section 210.10, it is authorized to issue a warrant of arrest based upon an indictment.
A local criminal court or superior-court youth part may issue a summons whenever § 120.20 would allow an arrest warrant based on the listed accusatory instruments. If the instrument is facially insufficient under § 100.40 and no facially sufficient authorized instrument can be drawn and filed from the available facts, the court must dismiss it. ★ A superior court may issue a summons whenever § 210.10 permits an arrest warrant based on an indictment.
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 2 — The Court Officer: Criminal Procedure Law; Volume 2 — Your Career: Criminal Procedure in Plain English.