Criminal Summons in Maryland

Have you ever just randomly gone onto Maryland Judiciary Case Search (http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us/casesearch/processDisclaimer.jis)  and just plug in your name, your friend, cousin, neighbor, ex-boy/girlfriend’s name(s)  and only to find out, O-M-GEEEEE!  “He/she has a new pending case!”  Some of us have probably done that (on a boring Saturday night or when things are slow at work,,,LOL).

Suppose you found out there’s a summon issued in a criminal case against you, but it has not been served yet.  What does that mean?  It means the police can come knocking on your door to execute the summons at any given moment.  Sometimes, they don’t come at the most convenient time.  Much like serving a search/arrest warrant, there are no rules or etiquettes.  If the police knows where you hang out at, they could come to the restaurant, theater, or your place of employment.  However, they usually start with the most obvious, i.e. your home.

So, how do you prevent the police from coming to knock on your door at some ungodly hours or in the middle of your kid’s birthday parties when the entire world is there.  The answer is much simpler than you think. Believe it or not, the police has a lot of other important stuff to do, like arresting drunk drivers, solving murder cases, catching robbers, issuing parking tickets (maybe not parking tickets, only the DC police do that – to me once because I didn’t move my car fast enough from the bus stop on a Sunday when I was checking my GPS, but I digress).  They prefer that you present yourself at the County Sheriff’s Office to be served.  Best way to stop the police from coming to your house to serve you with a criminal summon is to call your local County Sheriff’s office.  Provide them with your case number.  Arrange a time to appear at their office to be served.  Certain counties in Maryland set a Preliminary Inquiry date.  A preliminary inquiry is a pretrial hearing conducted by a judicial officer.  At this hearing, you will be advised of your rights, the charges against you and penalties.  However, this hearing will be cancelled if an attorney enters an appearance to represent you.