Penal Law § 215.58

Failing to respond to an appearance ticket · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 215.58 Failing to respond to an appearance ticket.

1. A person is guilty of failing to respond to an appearance ticket when, having been personally served with an appearance ticket, as defined in subdivision two, based upon his alleged commission of a crime, he does not appear personally in the court in which such appearance ticket is returnable on the return date thereof or voluntarily within thirty days thereafter.

2. As used in this section, an appearance ticket means a written notice, whether referred to as a summons or by any other name, issued by a police officer, peace officer or other non-judicial public servant authorized by law to issue the same, directing a designated person to appear in a designated court at a designated future time in connection with a criminal action to be instituted in such court with respect to his alleged commission of a designated offense.

3. This section does not apply to any case in which an alternative to response to an appearance ticket is authorized by law and the actor complies with such alternative procedure.

Failing to respond to an appearance ticket is a violation.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/215.58

In plain English

(1) A person personally served with an appearance ticket based on an alleged crime commits this violation by failing to appear on the return date or voluntarily within 30 days afterward. ★
(2) An appearance ticket is an authorized officer’s or public servant’s written direction to appear in a named court at a future time for a criminal action over a named offense.
(3) The section does not apply when law authorizes an alternative and the person complies with it.

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 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.