New York statute
N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law § 170.65 — Replacement of misdemeanor complaint by information and waiver thereof
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 § 170.65
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.
170.65 Replacement of misdemeanor complaint by information and waiver
thereof.
1. A defendant against whom a misdemeanor complaint is pending is not
required to enter a plea thereto. For purposes of prosecution, such
instrument must, except as provided in subdivision three, be replaced by
an information, and the defendant must be arraigned thereon. If the
misdemeanor complaint is supplemented by a supporting deposition and
such instruments taken together satisfy the requirements for a valid
information, such misdemeanor complaint is deemed to have been converted
to and to constitute a replacing information.
2. An information which replaces a misdemeanor complaint need not
charge the same offense or offenses, but at least one count thereof must
charge the commission by the defendant of an offense based upon conduct
which was the subject of the misdemeanor complaint. In addition, the
information may, subject to the rules of joinder, charge any other
offense which the factual allegations thereof or of any supporting
depositions accompanying it are legally sufficient to support, even
though such offense is not based upon conduct which was the subject of
the misdemeanor complaint.
3. A defendant who has been arraigned upon a misdemeanor complaint
may waive prosecution by information and consent to be prosecuted upon
the misdemeanor complaint. In such case, the defendant must be
required, either upon the date of the waiver or subsequent thereto, to
enter a plea to the misdemeanor complaint.
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This reference is informational and is not legal advice.