New York statute
N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law § 170.20 — Divestiture of jurisdiction by indictment; removal of case to superior court at district attorney's instance
Current through 2026 legislative session (LBDC text via OpenLegislation as of 2026-07-17)
Part of Article 170: Proceedings Upon Information, Simplified Traffic Information, Prosecutor's Information and Misdemeanor Complaint From Arraignment to Plea, New York Criminal Procedure Law.
Full text of N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law § 170.20
Statutory text current through the 2026 legislative session (LBDC text via OpenLegislation as of 2026-07-17). This publication reproduces the text of the Consolidated Laws of New York as provided by the New York State Senate's Open Legislation service (Legislative Bill Drafting Commission statutory text); it is not the official statutes of the State of New York.
170.20 Divestiture of jurisdiction by indictment; removal of case to
superior court at district attorney's instance.
1. If at any time before entry of a plea of guilty to or commencement
of a trial of a local criminal court accusatory instrument containing a
charge of misdemeanor, an indictment charging the defendant with such
misdemeanor is filed in a superior court, the local criminal court is
thereby divested of jurisdiction of such misdemeanor charge and all
proceedings therein with respect thereto are terminated.
2. At any time before entry of a plea of guilty to or commencement of
a trial of an accusatory instrument specified in subdivision one, the
district attorney may apply for an adjournment of the proceedings in the
local criminal court upon the ground that he intends to present the
misdemeanor charge in question to a grand jury with a view to
prosecuting it by indictment in a superior court. In such case, the
local criminal court must adjourn the proceedings to a date which
affords the district attorney reasonable opportunity to pursue such
action, and may subsequently grant such further adjournments for that
purpose as are reasonable under the circumstances. Following the
granting of such adjournment or adjournments, the proceedings must be as
follows:
(a) If such charge is presented to a grand jury within the designated
period and either an indictment or a dismissal of such charge results,
the local criminal court is thereby divested of jurisdiction of such
charge, and all proceedings in the local criminal court with respect
thereto are terminated.
(b) If the misdemeanor charge is not presented to a grand jury within
the designated period, the proceedings in the local criminal court must
continue.
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