Appearance ticket; where returnable; how and where served

§ 150.40 Appearance ticket; where returnable; how and where served.

1. An appearance ticket must be made returnable at a date as soon as possible, but in no event later than twenty days from the date of issuance; or at the next scheduled session of the appropriate local criminal court if such session is scheduled to occur more than twenty days from the date of issuance; or at a later date, with the court's permission due to enrollment in a pre-arraignment diversion program. The appearance ticket shall be made returnable in a local criminal court designated in section 100.55 of this title as one with which an information for the offense in question may be filed.

2. An appearance ticket, other than one issued for a traffic infraction relating to parking, must be served personally, except that an appearance ticket issued for the violation of a local zoning ordinance or local zoning law, or of a building or sanitation code may be served in any manner authorized for service under section three hundred eight of the civil practice law and rules.

3. An appearance ticket may be served anywhere in the county in which the designated offense was allegedly committed or in any adjoining county, and may be served elsewhere as prescribed in subdivision four.

4. A police officer may, for the purpose of serving an appearance ticket upon a person, follow him in continuous close pursuit, commencing either in the county in which the alleged offense was committed or in an adjoining county, in and through any county of the state, and may serve such appearance ticket upon him in any county in which he overtakes him.