NOTICE OF PROCESS FROM CITATION TO ARRAIGNMENT

Cause No(s). _____________________________

The State of Texas                            §           IN THE _________________________ COURT

                                                            §            

VS.                                                      §          ________________________________________                                                               §                    

____________________________   §           __________________ COUNTY, TEXAS

NOTICE OF PROCESS FROM CITATION TO ARRAIGNMENT

Notice is hereby given of the process prescribed by Texas Transportation Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, and Constitution relevant to this case and summarized:

1. Notice to appear/citation issued must show the time and place where the person arrested is to appear before a magistrate. TC Sec. 543.006; CCP Art. 14.06.
2. The magistrate is to inform the person appearing of rights, give warnings, perform other duties related to the person appearing, make and sign an order giving the time, date, and place where the accused is ordered to appear for arraignment in the applicable justice court or municipal court.  CCP Art. 15.17.
3. Upon completion of examining the accused the magistrate shall certify the proceedings, seal them up, and have them delivered to the clerk of the proper court, without delay.  CCP Art. 17.30.
4. Clerks authorized to receive such proceedings are the district clerk or county clerk.  The district clerk shall deliver them to the next grand jury.  The county clerk shall immediately deliver them to the district or county attorney.  CCP Art. 17.31.
5.  Upon receiving a complaint, attorney for the State shall prepare an information and file it in the court having jurisdiction.  CCP Art. 2.05; Tex. Const. Art. 5, Sec. 17.
6. Upon the filing of an indictment in the district court which charges an offense over which such court has no jurisdiction, the judge of such court shall make an order transferring the same to such inferior court as may have jurisdiction, stating in such order the cause transferred and to what court transferred.  CCP Art. 21.26; Tex. Const. Art. 5, Sec. 17.
7. If the cause is one to be tried before a justice of the peace, the district judge has discretion concerning which justice court receives the indictment.  CCP Art. 21.27; Tex. Const. Art. 5, Sec. 17.
8. The presentment of an indictment or information to a court invests the court with jurisdiction of the cause.  Tex. Const. Art. 5, Sec. 12(b).
9. An indictment is considered as "presented" when it has been duly acted upon by the grand jury and received by the court.  CCP Art. 12.06.
10. An information is considered as "presented," when it has been filed by the proper officer in the proper court.  CCP Art. 12.06; Tex. Const. Art. 5, Sec. 17.
11. If a misdemeanor indictment is quashed in the trial court and probable gilt is found for the person charged, the person shall not be discharged but may be held to answer an information or complaint.  Tex. Const. Art. 5, Sec. 17.

Respectfully submitted,

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the forgoing has been delivered to the following party or counsel of record via delivery conformation, hand delivery or fax on this ______  day of ________________________, 201__.

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INSTRUCTIONS

This document can be filed as soon as you can get the Clerk of the Court to give you the Cause Number of your case. You may have to wait until after the arraignment, but the law states that you should have a copy of the complaint before arraignment. That does not seem to stop them from preceding anyway. If you cannot get it filed 10 days before the arraignment, then it needs to be filed at least 10 days before the pretrial. If you do not get a copy of the primary charging instrument, the court should not have subject matter jurisdiction. This issue can be appealed.

Line 1: Where you put the cause numbers of the case.

Line 2: Put either ‘Municipal’, ‘Justice of the Peace’ or County.

Line 3: Put  either ‘In the City of (whatever City)”, “Precinct (whatever number)” or “(whatever county Court it is – like – At Law #11)

Line 4: Put your name in Upper and Lower Caps.

Line 5: Put whatever county the court is in – like – “Galveston”.

Line 6: Sign your name on the line, then below that print your name in Upper and Lower Caps then below that print your address.

Line 7: Put the numbered date.

Line 8: Put the Month.

Line 9: Put  the number to create the current year like 2013.

Line 10: Put prosecutor of the Court that is assigned to the case.

Line 11: Put the address of the prosecutor.

Line 12: Put the City, state and zipcode of the location of the prosecutor.

Line 13: Sign your name on the line, then below that print your name in Upper and Lower Caps then below that print your address.

Original goes to the clerk of the court, one copy to the Prosecutor and one copy for you to keep and have stamped by the clerk. Be sure and NOT include the instruction sheets.