What Happens If There’s No Indictment After 180 Days in NY?

If you were charged with a felony in New York and no indictment has come down after 180 days, you can ask the court to dismiss the case under Criminal Procedure Law Section 30.30. A dismissal on those grounds is permanent: the prosecution cannot refile the same charges. And if you have been sitting in jail during that delay, separate rules let you out on your own recognizance well before the six-month mark.

One wrinkle before anything else. The statute measures the window in six calendar months, not a flat 180 days, so the exact day count depends on which months fell inside it.¹ For a case filed in a stretch of 31-day months, six months is slightly longer than 180 days; in shorter months, slightly less. Most defense attorneys still speak in terms of six months because that is what the law says.

Why No Indictment Means No Trial Readiness

A felony trial in New York cannot go forward without either a grand jury indictment or a superior court information. Once a felony complaint is filed, the prosecution has six months to announce it is ready for trial. If neither an indictment nor a superior court information exists at the end of that window, the District Attorney cannot truthfully declare readiness, and the clock keeps running against them.¹

When the chargeable time crosses the statutory limit, dismissal is not discretionary. The court must grant a properly supported motion to dismiss.

Getting Out of Jail Before the Six Months Run

If you are in custody while the prosecution stalls, you do not have to wait 180 days to see daylight. Three separate release provisions kick in at different points.

120 Hours After Arrest

Under CPL 180.80, a defendant arrested on a felony complaint and held in custody must either have the complaint disposed of or a preliminary hearing started within 120 hours. If a weekend or legal holiday falls inside that window, the limit extends to 144 hours. If the deadline passes, the court must release you on your own recognizance, unless the District Attorney files a written certification that a grand jury has already voted an indictment or shows a compelling reason to keep you held.²

45 Days Without Grand Jury Action

CPL 190.80 runs on its own track. If you have been held by a local criminal court for grand jury action and remain confined for more than 45 days without an indictment or other grand jury disposition, the superior court must release you on your own recognizance. For juvenile and adolescent offenders, the period shortens to 30 days.³

90 Days With No Readiness Declaration

CPL 30.30(2) adds another layer. If the prosecution has not declared readiness within 90 days of a felony defendant’s commitment to custody, the court must release the defendant on bail or recognizance.¹

Release under any of these provisions is not the same as dismissal. The case continues, and the prosecution can still seek an indictment after you get out. What release does is stop the jail time while the six-month dismissal clock keeps ticking in the background.

Why 180 Calendar Days Isn’t the Real Deadline

The six-month figure is not a straight calendar countdown. CPL 30.30(4) lists categories of excludable time that pause the clock, and in practice the real question is how many days are chargeable to the prosecution.¹

Adjournments the defense requested or consented to. This is the single most common exclusion. Agreeing to an adjournment “for all purposes” hands free time to the prosecution.
Pre-trial motion practice. The time the court takes to consider motions filed by either side, including the defense’s preparation and the prosecution’s response, does not count.
Exceptional circumstances, such as a key witness suddenly unavailable because of a medical emergency, provided the prosecution shows due diligence.
Periods when the defendant cannot be located or is otherwise unavailable.

Because of these exclusions, a case can sit on a docket for a year or more and still fall short of six months of chargeable time. The reverse also happens: a case barely past the half-year mark on the calendar can already be dismissable if the delay all sits with the prosecution.

When a “Ready for Trial” Announcement Doesn’t Count

A prosecutor’s statement that the People are ready does not automatically stop the clock. Two issues come up again and again.

First, discovery compliance. Under CPL 245.50, the prosecution cannot be deemed ready for trial until it files a valid certificate of compliance confirming it has turned over all required discovery and exercised due diligence in doing so.⁴ A readiness declaration made without a valid certificate does not stop the clock. If a court later finds the certificate invalid, every day from that false declaration forward counts against the prosecution.

Second, illusory readiness. CPL 30.30(5) requires the court to inquire on the record whenever the prosecution announces ready, confirming that it is actually prepared to go to trial.¹ A statement of readiness followed immediately by a request for an adjournment, or made before an indictment exists, can be found illusory. When a prosecution that previously declared ready later says it is not, the court must conduct a separate inquiry into why.

Filing the Motion To Dismiss

The defendant moves first. The motion papers need sworn allegations showing that the unexcused delay exceeded the statutory maximum, which means walking through every court appearance and categorizing each adjournment as chargeable or excludable. Once that initial showing is made, the prosecution must respond with specific dates it claims should be excluded and the factual and legal basis for each. Vague assertions do not satisfy that burden.¹

Building the motion starts with the date the felony complaint was filed. From there, the defense needs transcripts of every appearance, because those transcripts show who asked for each adjournment and how the court marked the time. Statements of readiness and certificates of compliance filed by the District Attorney get compared against the transcript record. Most 30.30 motions are won or lost in that comparison.

For a felony case that has reached superior court, the motion is filed under CPL 210.20(1)(g), which authorizes dismissal of an indictment on speedy trial grounds.⁵ If genuine factual disputes exist about what happened on specific dates, the court may hold a 30.30 hearing where both sides present evidence. A few miscalculated days can sink the motion, so precision matters.

What a Successful Dismissal Means

A dismissal on speedy trial grounds is permanent. CPL 210.20(4) only allows resubmission to a grand jury for certain narrow grounds, such as a defective indictment or improper grand jury proceedings. Speedy trial is not on that list. When the dismissal rests on the prosecution’s failure to be ready within the statutory period, the order bars any further prosecution of those charges by indictment or otherwise within the county.⁵

That finality is the point. A dismissal for a technical defect in the indictment is something the prosecution can fix and try again. A 30.30 dismissal ends the case. The prosecution had its six months and missed the window.

1
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law CPL 30.30 – Speedy Trial; Time Limitations
2
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law CPL 180.80 – Proceedings Upon Felony Complaint; Release of Defendant From Custody
3
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law CPL 190.80 – Grand Jury; Release of Defendant Upon Failure of Timely Grand Jury Action
4
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law CPL 245.50 – Certificates of Compliance
5
New York State Senate. New York Criminal Procedure Law CPL 210.20 – Motion to Dismiss or Reduce Indictment