Rule text
a. Issuance and Service. A summons may be issued on a complaint if the law enforcement officer who made the complaint issues the complaint-summons upon the law enforcement officer’s finding of probable cause. This shall be done without the necessity of a judicial officer making the probable cause finding to issue the complaint. Once the complaint-summons is filed with the court, a law enforcement officer shall within five days of filing of the complaint-summons personally serve the complaint- summons on the juvenile and the parent, guardian, or custodian without taking the juvenile into custody. After expeditious review of the complaint-summons by the court intake service, a notice of proceeding date and time shall issue to the juvenile and the juvenile's parent, guardian or custodian. b. Form. The summons shall be signed by the judge, or by the clerk of the court if authorized by the judge and shall have affixed thereto a copy of the complaint. It shall set forth the name of the juvenile and the names of the parents, guardian, or custodian of the juvenile; shall command the juvenile and the juvenile's parents, guardian, or custodian to appear before the court at a stated time and place; shall advise that the juvenile and the juvenile's parents, guardian, or custodian have the right to be represented by counsel at every stage of the proceeding and that if unable to afford counsel, upon application to the court counsel will be assigned if in the opinion of the court the proceedings may result in the institutional commitment of the juvenile or other consequences of magnitude; and shall advise the juvenile and the juvenile's parents that all witnesses reasonably necessary for the defense of the juvenile will be subpoenaed by the court on request. In lieu of summons the judge may issue a warrant if the nature of the case requires the immediate custody of the juvenile. The warrant shall be substantially in the same form as the summons except that it shall command that the person or persons named therein be taken into custody and placed in detention or shelter care, or brought before the court.
Notes
Note: Source-R.R. (1969) 5:8-4(a)(b)(c); 5:8-5(a)(b). Adopted December 20, 1983, to be effective December 31, 1983; paragraph (b) amended November 7, 1988 to be effective January 2, 1989; paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) amended July 13, 1994 to be effective September 1, 1994; paragraph (a) amended July 30, 2021 to be effective September 1, 2021; paragraph (a) caption amended and paragraph (c) deleted April 27, 2026 to be effective immediately.