Assembly BillIntroduced
A 6859: Precludes a local criminal court from issuing a warrant of arrest based on any simplified information when the defendant has not been arraigned and has not come under the control of the court with respect to the charges in the simplified information; provides that this formerly applied only to simplified traffic information.
What A 6859 does, verified January 9, 2026
The bill aims to modify the process for issuing warrants of arrest in local criminal courts. When a criminal case is initiated in a local court by filing an accusatory instrument, the court can issue a warrant for the defendant's arrest if the instrument is sufficient on its face. However, if the accusatory instrument is not sufficient, the court must dismiss it if it's impossible to create a sufficient one based on available facts or evidence. This change is intended to improve the efficiency and fairness of the justice system.
Bill journey
1IntroducedCurrent
2In CommitteePending
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: referred to codes (2026-01-07)Alert me
Quick answers about A 6859
- What is the current status of A 6859?
- As of January 9, 2026, A 6859 is recorded as "Introduced": it has been introduced and is waiting for its first committee hearing or floor vote. The last recorded action, on January 7, 2026, was "referred to codes".
- Did A 6859 pass?
- Not yet. A 6859 has been introduced and has not passed either house.
- Who wrote A 6859, and where is it now?
- A 6859 was authored by Asm. James Pretlow. Its committee of record is Assembly Codes.
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions2 total · showing 2
| Jan. 07, 2026 | referred to codes |
| Mar. 14, 2025 | referred to codes |
Latest bill textIntroduced version, March 14, 2025 · 341 words
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6859 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY March 14, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Codes AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to issuance of a warrant of arrest when a criminal action has been commenced in a local criminal court by the filing of a simplified information The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 120.20 of the criminal procedure 2 law, as amended by chapter 506 of the laws of 2000, the opening para- 3 graph as amended by section 12 of part WWW of chapter 59 of the laws of 4 2017, is amended to read as follows: 5 1. When a criminal action has been commenced in a local criminal court 6 or youth part of the superior court by the filing therewith of an accu- 7 satory instrument, other than a simplified [traffic] information, 8 against a defendant who has not been arraigned upon such accusatory 9 instrument and has not come under the control of the court with respect 10 thereto: 11 (a) such court may, if such accusatory instrument is sufficient on its 12 face, issue a warrant for such defendant's arrest; or 13 (b) if such accusatory instrument is not sufficient on its face as 14 prescribed in section 100.40, and if the court is satisfied that on the 15 basis of the available facts or evidence it would be impossible to draw 16 and file an accusatory instrument that is sufficient on its face, the 17 court must dismiss the accusatory instrument. 18 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed- 19 ing the date on which it shall have become a law. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01526-01-5
Text of A 6859 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions