There is hereby established a uniform complaint and summons which may be used in cases involving violations of this chapter. Whenever the complaint and summons established by this    section is used, the provisions of the North Dakota Rules of Criminal Procedure relating to arrests without warrants do not apply, and the magistrates or state‘s attorneys are not required to make another complaint of the offense charged in the uniform complaint and summons. The uniform complaint and summons must be of a form prescribed by the director and approved by the attorney general. The time of court appearance to be specified in the summons must be at least five days after the issuance of such summons unless the defendant demands an earlier hearing. Upon receipt from the defendant of written promise to appear at the time and place specified in the summons, the defendant must be released from custody. After signing a promise to appear, the defendant must be given a copy of the uniform complaint and summons. Any person refusing to give such written promise to appear may be arrested if proper cause exists, or proceeded against by complaint and warrant of arrest issued as provided in the North Dakota Rules of Criminal Procedure. Defendant‘s failure to appear at the time and place designated after signing a promise to appear is a class B misdemeanor. The uniform summons and complaint may not be used if the officer, acting within the officer’s discretion, has reason to believe the defendant will not be subject to arrest upon a warrant issued by a magistrate. The halting officer shall immediately take any person not released upon the person’s promise to appear before the nearest or most accessible magistrate.

Attorney's Note

Under the North Dakota Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Class B misdemeanorup to 30 daysup to $1,500
For details, see § 12.1-32-01

Terms Used In North Dakota Code 55-08-16

  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Person: means an individual, organization, government, political subdivision, or government agency or instrumentality. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • written: include "typewriting" and "typewritten" and "printing" and "printed" except in the case of signatures and when the words are used by way of contrast to typewriting and printing. See North Dakota Code 1-01-37