CPL § 140.35

Arrest without a warrant; by person acting other than as a police officer or a peace officer; when and how made · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 140.35 Arrest without a warrant; by person acting other than as a

police officer or a peace officer; when and how made.

1. A person may arrest another person for an offense pursuant to section 140.30 at any hour of any day or night.

2. Such person must inform the person whom he is arresting of the reason for such arrest unless he encounters physical resistance, flight or other factors rendering such procedure impractical.

3. In order to effect such an arrest, such person may use such physical force as is justifiable pursuant to subdivision four of section 35.30 of the penal law.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CPL/140.35

In plain English

(1) A person acting outside police or peace-officer authority may make an arrest allowed by § 140.30 at any hour of any day or night. ★
(2) The person must tell the arrested person the reason for the arrest, unless resistance, flight, or another circumstance makes that impractical.
(3) The person may use only the physical force justified by Penal Law § 35.30(4) to make the arrest.

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.

In print

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.