PRE-ARRAIGNMENT / ENTRY OF APPEARANCE
Any State Court case may be pre-arraigned with a NOT GUILTY plea up to the close of business on the day prior to the scheduled arraignment. This is done by completing SECTION I of the PRE-ARRAIGNMENT / ENTRY OF APPEARANCE form and filing it with the Clerk. If the form is filed by counsel, on behalf of a defendant, the form will also serve as counsel’s entry of appearance in the case.

The Clerk will complete SECTION II of the form, file the original and then provide copies to the defendant and/or counsel. With the completed form, the defendant is excused from that arraignment and put on notice of the next scheduled hearing. Any defendant who fails to appear at arraignment docket without having received a completed PRE-ARRAIGNMENT form, or some other release by the court, is subject to an arrest warrant being issued.

Pre-Arraignment requests must be filled out completely and filed with the Clerk's office no later than 5:00 PM on the day prior to the scheduled arraignment docket.

The official clock is the Clerk’s fax machine, document receipt stamp, or e-filing server, depending on the method of delivery. In all cases, the form will be processed only if it is received by the Clerk’s office prior to 5:01 PM on the day specified. Any forms received at 5:01 PM or later will not be filed and the defendant must appear as scheduled.