An arraignment is a court hearing where a judge reads the formal charges to a defendant, explains the right to counsel, and takes the defendant's plea — not guilty, guilty, or, in some jurisdictions, no contest. It is usually the defendant's first appearance before the court after charges are filed, and in routine misdemeanor cases across most US jurisdictions it often lasts only a few minutes. In 2022 US attorneys' offices filed charges in roughly 56,000 federal criminal cases, per the Justice Department's statistical tables — nearly all of which passed through an arraignment. Daily Detective News publishes information about process, not legal advice; readers with a real case should consult qualified counsel.
Despite its brevity, the hearing sets the tracks the case will run on: the plea entered, the lawyers of record, and, in many courts, the first conversation about release conditions. What the arraignment does not include is a trial of the facts. No evidence is weighed there, and no one is found guilty at one who has not already agreed to plead.
What actually happens at the hearing?
The sequence is similar across state and federal courts, though local rules vary the order. The judge or clerk reads the charging document — a complaint, information, or indictment. The court confirms the defendant has a lawyer or appoints one for those who cannot afford counsel, a right established under the Supreme Court's 1963 decision in Gideon v. Wainwright. The court asks for a plea. In most arraignments on serious charges the plea entered is not guilty, which defense lawyers routinely describe as a procedural step that preserves all options rather than a statement about the facts.
The judge then addresses release: bail or other conditions, or release on the defendant's promise to return. A date is set for the next step, usually a preliminary hearing or a status conference. The defendant leaves the courtroom with a written schedule and, in custody cases, a decision about whether they go home that night.
What is the difference between charged, pleaded, and convicted?
The distinction matters more than any single hearing. Charged means a prosecutor has formally accused — an allegation, nothing more, and the law presumes the defendant innocent. Pleaded means the defendant has formally responded to the charge in court; a guilty plea is a conviction by admission, but a not-guilty plea is not a claim of innocence proven or disproven, only a demand that the state prove its case. Convicted means a court or jury has found guilt, by verdict or by accepted plea. Acquitted means found not guilty.
These words are not interchangeable, and court records are built on the differences. A person standing at an arraignment is accused. What they are later depends on what the process finds, and the process is long.
How soon after arrest does an arraignment happen?
It depends on the jurisdiction and whether the person is in custody. The federal rule requires a prompt appearance: under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, an arrested person must be taken before a magistrate judge without unnecessary delay, and in practice within hours or by the next business day, with the arraignment itself following promptly after indictment or information. States set their own clocks — many require appearance within 24 to 72 hours of arrest, per each state's rules of criminal procedure. Weekends and holidays stretch every version of the clock.
Courts schedule differently by charge severity. Misdemeanor arraignments are often batched — a afternoon calendar with dozens of cases, each called in turn. Felony arraignments get more time, because the release decision is more consequential.
What happens after an arraignment?
The case moves into preparation, on a path that mostly runs this way:
- Discovery: the prosecution turns over the evidence it is required to share with the defense, per each jurisdiction's rules.
- Preliminary hearing or grand jury review in felony cases, testing whether there is enough evidence to proceed.
- Motions: requests to suppress evidence, dismiss counts, or transfer the case.
- Plea negotiation or trial: the overwhelming majority of state felony convictions come from guilty pleas, not trial verdicts — about 95 percent of felony convictions in large urban counties in 2009, per the Bureau of Justice Statistics' study of state court prosecution.
- Sentencing, if the case ends in conviction by plea or verdict.
Most cases never reach step four's trial. That statistic is the single most important fact about what an arraignment begins: a process built to end in negotiation, with the trial as the exception the negotiation is priced against.
What can a defendant do — and not do — at an arraignment?
Enter a plea, request appointed counsel if eligible, hear the charges read, and in many jurisdictions address release conditions. What a defendant generally cannot do there: argue the facts, challenge the evidence, or resolve the case unless entering a guilty plea at the first hearing, which some jurisdictions permit for minor charges and most defense counsel discourage doing before seeing discovery.
What the records establish is what the hearing is: a short, formal beginning. What no hearing can establish is how any individual case will end — that depends on evidence the arraignment never touches, and on decisions weeks or months away from the courtroom where it started.