CPL 100.05 · Article 100. Commencement of Action In Local Criminal Court or Youth Part of a Superior Court--accusatory Instruments
Commencement of action; in general
Text — Law content up to date as of October 2, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
§ 100.05 Commencement of action; in general.
A criminal action is commenced by the filing of an accusatory instrument with a criminal court, or, in the case of a juvenile offender or adolescent offender, other than an adolescent offender charged with only a violation or traffic infraction, the youth part of the superior court, and if more than one such instrument is filed in the course of the same criminal action, such action commences when the first of such instruments is filed. The only way in which a criminal action can be commenced in a superior court, other than a criminal action against a juvenile offender or adolescent offender is by the filing therewith by a grand jury of an indictment against a defendant who has never been held by a local criminal court for the action of such grand jury with respect to any charge contained in such indictment. Otherwise, a criminal action can be commenced only in a local criminal court, by the filing therewith of a local criminal court accusatory instrument, namely:
1. An information; or
2. A simplified information; or
3. A prosecutor's information; or
4. A misdemeanor complaint; or
5. A felony complaint.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Law content up to date as of October 2, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
- Official file
- https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/CPL100.05
- Text hash
- sha256 6b225b839f403f5e156a7b3723e6db5e5668e1039ca471fe03c04c8219ef1c6d
- Composed by
- gen_ny_statutes.py 2026-11-10: the Senate's Open Legislation law tree (GET /api/3/laws/<ID>?full=true) read in document order; the Senate's PDF of the whole law (GET /pdf/laws/<ID>?full=true), read with PDFium, prints the same words in the same order
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.