ARRAIGNMENTS
The purpose of the arraignment is to advise the defendant of all the charges in a specific case and to allow the defendant enter a plea as to each charge.

All criminal cases in the State Court originate in one of several Chatham County jurisdictions. Upon arrival in the State Court, each case is reviewed by the District Attorney who prepares an accusation specifying each charge. The accusation is then filed with the Clerk and the case is scheduled for arraignment.

If, at the arraignment, the defendant chooses to enter a "GUILTY" plea, the case may be disposed of then. If the defendant enters a plea of "NOT GUILTY" the defendant will then be required to indicate a preference for trial by jury or trial by judge alone. Based on that preference, the Clerk will schedule the case for the next available docket and issue a subpoena to the defendant.

In cases where the defendant intends to enter a "NOT GUILTY" plea, the defendant may do so prior to the arraignment docket and thereby avoid having to appear in Court for the arraignment. Please see the PRE-ARRAIGNMENT & ENTRY OF APPEARANCE section for more information.