Once the grand jury has returned an indictment or presentment against you, the Criminal Court Clerk, and probably your bondsman, will notify you as to when you must appear in court. This first step is called the arraignment. The arraignment is where you are informed of the charges the grand jury has brought against you. Additionally, at your arraignment, the court made an inquiry about your ability to hire your own attorney. The judge placed you under oath and asked you a series of questions about your financial situation. It is very important that you answered those questions truthfully for two reasons: if you answered any question falsely, you can be prosecuted for perjury; but also, this office has a tremendous caseload, and we are not interested in representing someone who has the resources to hire their own lawyer. We are here to represent those individuals who truly can't afford private counsel. If you can afford to hire your own lawyer, you need to do just that.

If the judge determines that you can not afford to hire your own lawyer he will likely appoint this office to represent you. You may be ordered to make a partial payment to defray the costs of providing you with legal representation. Lawyers in this office are committed to represent you to the best of their ability. They are not allowed, nor would they consider, accepting anything of value from you in order to represent you. The partial payment you may be ordered to pay does not go to your attorney or to this office. The money goes to the state's general fund. However, you need to make every effort to pay that partial payment. In the event that you can not afford to make that payment, you need to discuss that with your attorney. There may be some relief the lawyer can obtain for you.

At your arraignment, you will appear in front of the court and your attorney will likely reserve the entry of a plea and waive formal arraignment for you. That tells the court that your attorney has explained the charges to you, and you do not need the court to read the indictment to you in full.

At the arraignment, the court will set your next court date. These dates are not optional - you must attend. The date the court set will be either a date to hear motions in your case or the date to proceed to trial.