Add Defined Offense to Criminal Summons

The act of adding a Defined Offense is identical for Warrants, Orders, and Summons (excluding specialized processes e.g. Worthless Check Criminal Warrant/Summons). First, a search for the Offense is initiated. Once the Offense is retrieved from the search, a series of screens guides the user through entering the Charging Text that is unique to the Offense. Once completed, the Offense is attached to the process. The steps are then repeated for any additional Offenses.

Before you start:

  • When adding Offenses, a Criminal Summons can contain a maximum of three (3) Offenses.

  • A misdemeanor Offense can be added to a Criminal Summons for either a person or business Defendant. A felony Offense can only be added for a business Defendant.

  • Infraction offenses cannot be the sole Offense(s) on a Criminal Summons.

  • Additional Offenses cannot be added once a Criminal Summons has been issued (status = Unserved or Served).

 

  1. Perform the initial steps to add a Criminal Summons, or search for and retrieve an existing Criminal Summons from the PROCESS SEARCH RESULTS screen.

  2. Once the Criminal Summons has been initially added or retrieved from a search, click on the OFFENSES tab.

  3. The OFFENSES tab displays. Click the Add Offense button.

  4. The OFFENSE SEARCH screen displays. Perform a search for an Offense.

  5. The OFFENSE SEARCH RESULTS screen displays listing the Offense (Titles) returned from the search. Select the radio button of an Offense and click the Select button.

Note: If a particular Local (99) Offense does not return from a search, this may indicate the Offense has not yet been defined by an Administrator. See Add a Newly Created Local (99) Offense to a Process to add it manually.

  1. Depending on the Offense selected, one of the screens listed below will display. These screens are referred to as Offense Entry Screens and will guide you through the process of entering Charging Text for the selected Offense. Click on a screen name for details and button explanations of that screen:

Enter (or select) the Offense data requested by the first screen and click the Next button.

Note:

  • If the first screen is the OFFENSE FULL TEXT SCREEN with defaulted Charging Text, then no user-entered data is required. Simply review the Offense text and click the Add button. The Offense will then be attached to the process.

  • If the first screen is the OFFENSE FREE TEXT SCREEN, then enter the Charging Text in the free text field and click the Add button. The Offense will then be attached to the process.  

  1. Once the first entry screen is completed and the Next button is clicked, the second screen in the sequence displays. Complete this screen and click the Next button.

  2. Repeat Step #7 until the OFFENSE FULL TEXT SCREEN displays. This screen contains all Charging Text entered on the previous screens, an Add button in place of a Next button, and is the final screen in the sequence. Review the entered Offense text, make any edits if necessary, and then click the Add button.

Note: If your county participates in the NIBR program, the NIBR Code dropdown will display. Depending on the county, this field may be required. If there is only a single NIBR association, the value will default and be view-only.

 

Note: If the Charging Text required single or multiple selections from lists, then edits to these cannot be performed from the OFFENSE FULL TEXT SCREEN. The Charging Text must be reentered. Click the Start Over button to begin this process.

 

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The OFFENSES tab returns displaying the newly added Offense. Repeat Steps #3-8 for any additional Offenses.

 
 

For a listing of associated rules for this topic, click here.

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