At the preliminary hearing, the District Justice gives you written notice of the date, place and time of the arraignment. Arraignment is the point in your criminal prosecution when you appear before the Court to hear the charges alleged by the prosecutor and to enter your plea.

In York County, arraignments are held at the new courthouse in downtown York on Friday mornings each week. You will need to wait around until they call your name and ask you to come up to a table staffed by assistant district attorneys. They will fill out a form after asking you basic information about your identity and address. You will sign the form, get a notice of your possible pretrial conference date and you can then leave. If you are incarcerated, the arraignment will generally be done by video from the prison.

You will be advised of the charges against you and some basic rights. Your rights are generally explained to you by a member of the York County Court Administration staff. You will not see a judge unless your case is exceptional. In capital cases, York County procedure will generally require to be arraigned by a judge.

You are required to appear at the arraignment unless you are represented by an attorney and that attorney has entered an appearance in the matter and you have filed a written waiver of the arraignment, signed by your attorney, with the Clerk of Courts and the District Attorney’s office prior to the arraignment date.

You should be aware that a warrant for your arrest will be issued if you do not appear at arraignment or if you fail to waive arraignment according to the rules. If you fail to appear for any scheduled appearance in Court you put yourself in a position to be hit with fines and/or other penalties including forfeiture of bail.

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