Summons or Warrant Upon Complaint
The procedure after a complaint is filed depends on who is
making the complaint and whether a complaint-summons or
complaint-warrant is being sought. If a private citizen is
making the complaint or if a law enforcement officer is seeking
an arrest warrant once a complaint is filed, a judicial officer will
make a determination about whether there is probable cause to
believe an offense has been committed and that the defendant
has committed it. If probable cause is not found, the complaint
is dismissed.3 If probable cause is found, a judicial officer must
determine whether a summons or warrant will issue. A
summons will issue unless a judicial officer finds that one of
the conditions set forth in R. 3:3-1(d) exists. Basically the
conditions for issuing a warrant are: (1) the accused is charged
with a serious crime; (2) the accused has previously failed to
respond to a summons; (3) the accused is dangerous; (4) there
are outstanding warrants against the accused; (5) the
whereabouts of the accused are unknown or (6) there is reason
to believe the accused will not respond to a summons. If one or
more of these conditions exist, the judicial officer must issue a
warrant pursuant to R. 3:3-1(c).
If the law enforcement officer decides to issue a summons, that
officer may do so without a prior determination of probable
cause.
2
The process can also begin with an arrest without a warrant, see N.J.S.A. 2C:104-5, or by the return of an
indictment.
3
This assumes a judge is making the probable cause determination. If another judicial official is making the
determination, the procedure contained in R. 3:3-1(d) is utilized to dismiss the complaint.
