2020 US Code
Title 18 - Crimes and Criminal Procedure
Part II - Criminal Procedure
Chapter 208 - Speedy Trial
Sec. 3161 - Time limits and exclusions

(a) In any case involving a defendant charged with an offense, the appropriate judicial officer, at the earliest practicable time, shall, after consultation with the counsel for the defendant and the attorney for the Government, set the case for trial on a day certain, or list it for trial on a weekly or other short-term trial calendar at a place within the judicial district, so as to assure a speedy trial.

(b) Any information or indictment charging an individual with the commission of an offense shall be filed within thirty days from the date on which such individual was arrested or served with a summons in connection with such charges. If an individual has been charged with a felony in a district in which no grand jury has been in session during such thirty-day period, the period of time for filing of the indictment shall be extended an additional thirty days.

(c)(1) In any case in which a plea of not guilty is entered, the trial of a defendant charged in an information or indictment with the commission of an offense shall commence within seventy days from the filing date (and making public) of the information or indictment, or from the date the defendant has appeared before a judicial officer of the court in which such charge is pending, whichever date last occurs. If a defendant consents in writing to be tried before a magistrate judge on a complaint, the trial shall commence within seventy days from the date of such consent.

(2) Unless the defendant consents in writing to the contrary, the trial shall not commence less than thirty days from the date on which the defendant first appears through counsel or expressly waives counsel and elects to proceed pro se.

(d)(1) If any indictment or information is dismissed upon motion of the defendant, or any charge contained in a complaint filed against an individual is dismissed or otherwise dropped, and thereafter a complaint is filed against such defendant or individual charging him with the same offense or an offense based on the same conduct or arising from the same criminal episode, or an information or indictment is filed charging such defendant with the same offense or an offense based on the same conduct or arising from the same criminal episode, the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall be applicable with respect to such subsequent complaint, indictment, or information, as the case may be.

(2) If the defendant is to be tried upon an indictment or information dismissed by a trial court and reinstated following an appeal, the trial shall commence within seventy days from the date the action occasioning the trial becomes final, except that the court retrying the case may extend the period for trial not to exceed one hundred and eighty days from the date the action occasioning the trial becomes final if the unavailability of witnesses or other factors resulting from the passage of time shall make trial within seventy days impractical. The periods of delay enumerated in section 3161(h) are excluded in computing the time limitations specified in this section. The sanctions of section 3162 apply to this subsection.

(e) If the defendant is to be tried again following a declaration by the trial judge of a mistrial or following an order of such judge for a new trial, the trial shall commence within seventy days from the date the action occasioning the retrial becomes final. If the defendant is to be tried again following an appeal or a collateral attack, the trial shall commence within seventy days from the date the action occasioning the retrial becomes final, except that the court retrying the case may extend the period for retrial not to exceed one hundred and eighty days from the date the action occasioning the retrial becomes final if unavailability of witnesses or other factors resulting from passage of time shall make trial within seventy days impractical. The periods of delay enumerated in section 3161(h) are excluded in computing the time limitations specified in this section. The sanctions of section 3162 apply to this subsection.

(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, for the first twelve-calendar-month period following the effective date of this section as set forth in section 3163(a) of this chapter the time limit imposed with respect to the period between arrest and indictment by subsection (b) of this section shall be sixty days, for the second such twelve-month period such time limit shall be forty-five days and for the third such period such time limit shall be thirty-five days.

(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, for the first twelve-calendar-month period following the effective date of this section as set forth in section 3163(b) of this chapter, the time limit with respect to the period between arraignment and trial imposed by subsection (c) of this section shall be one hundred and eighty days, for the second such twelve-month period such time limit shall be one hundred and twenty days, and for the third such period such time limit with respect to the period between arraignment and trial shall be eighty days.

(h) The following periods of delay shall be excluded in computing the time within which an information or an indictment must be filed, or in computing the time within which the trial of any such offense must commence:

(i) If trial did not commence within the time limitation specified in section 3161 because the defendant had entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere subsequently withdrawn to any or all charges in an indictment or information, the defendant shall be deemed indicted with respect to all charges therein contained within the meaning of section 3161, on the day the order permitting withdrawal of the plea becomes final.

(j)(1) If the attorney for the Government knows that a person charged with an offense is serving a term of imprisonment in any penal institution, he shall promptly—

(2) If the person having custody of such prisoner receives a detainer, he shall promptly advise the prisoner of the charge and of the prisoner's right to demand trial. If at any time thereafter the prisoner informs the person having custody that he does demand trial, such person shall cause notice to that effect to be sent promptly to the attorney for the Government who caused the detainer to be filed.

(3) Upon receipt of such notice, the attorney for the Government shall promptly seek to obtain the presence of the prisoner for trial.

(4) When the person having custody of the prisoner receives from the attorney for the Government a properly supported request for temporary custody of such prisoner for trial, the prisoner shall be made available to that attorney for the Government (subject, in cases of interjurisdictional transfer, to any right of the prisoner to contest the legality of his delivery).

(k)(1) If the defendant is absent (as defined by subsection (h)(3)) on the day set for trial, and the defendant's subsequent appearance before the court on a bench warrant or other process or surrender to the court occurs more than 21 days after the day set for trial, the defendant shall be deemed to have first appeared before a judicial officer of the court in which the information or indictment is pending within the meaning of subsection (c) on the date of the defendant's subsequent appearance before the court.

(2) If the defendant is absent (as defined by subsection (h)(3)) on the day set for trial, and the defendant's subsequent appearance before the court on a bench warrant or other process or surrender to the court occurs not more than 21 days after the day set for trial, the time limit required by subsection (c), as extended by subsection (h), shall be further extended by 21 days.

(Added Pub. L. 93–619, title I, §101, Jan. 3, 1975, 88 Stat. 2076; amended Pub. L. 96–43, §§2–5, Aug. 2, 1979, 93 Stat. 327, 328; Pub. L. 98–473, title II, §1219, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2167; Pub. L. 100–690, title VI, §6476, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4380; Pub. L. 101–650, title III, §321, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5117; Pub. L. 110–406, §13, Oct. 13, 2008, 122 Stat. 4294.)

2008—Subsec. (h)(1)(B) to (J). Pub. L. 110–406, §13(1), redesignated subpars. (D) to (J) as (B) to (H), respectively, and struck out former subpars. (B) and (C) which read as follows:

"(B) delay resulting from any proceeding, including any examination of the defendant, pursuant to section 2902 of title 28, United States Code;

"(C) delay resulting from deferral of prosecution pursuant to section 2902 of title 28, United States Code;".

Subsec. (h)(5) to (9). Pub. L. 110–406, §13(2), (3), redesignated pars. (6) to (9) as (5) to (8), respectively, and struck out former par. (5) which read as follows: "Any period of delay resulting from the treatment of the defendant pursuant to section 2902 of title 28, United States Code."

1988—Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 100–690 added subsec. (k).

1984—Subsec. (h)(8)(C). Pub. L. 98–473, §1219(1), substituted "subparagraph (A) of this paragraph" for "paragraph (8)(A) of this subsection".

Subsec. (h)(9). Pub. L. 98–473, §1219(2), added par. (9).

1979—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 96–43, §2, merged the ten day indictment-to-arraignment and the sixty day arraignment-to-trial limits into a single seventy day indictment-to-trial period.

Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 96–43, §2, added par. (2).

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 96–43, §3(a), designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2).

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 96–43, §3(b), substituted "seventy days" for "sixty days" in three places and inserted provisions excluding the periods of delay enumerated in subsec. (h) of this section in computing the time limitations specified in this section and applying the sanctions of section 3162 of this title to this subsection.

Subsec. (h)(1). Pub. L. 96–43, §4, added to the listing of excludable delays, delays resulting from the deferral of prosecution under section 2902 of title 28, delays caused by consideration by the court of proposed plea agreements, and delays resulting from the transportation of a defendant from another district or for the purpose of examination or hospitalization, and expanded provisions relating to exclusions of periods of delay resulting from hearings on pretrial motions, examinations and hearings relating to the mental or physical condition of defendant, or the removal of a defendant from another district under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Subsec. (h)(8)(B)(ii). Pub. L. 96–43, §5(a), expanded provisions authorizing the granting of continuances based on the complexity or unusual nature of a case to include delays in preparation of all phases of a case, including pretrial motion preparation.

Subsec. (h)(8)(B)(iii). Pub. L. 96–43, §5(b), inserted provision authorizing a continuance where the delay in filing the indictment is caused by the arrest taking place at such time that the return and filing of the indictment can not reasonably be expected within the period specified in section 3161(b) of this title.

Subsec. (h)(8)(B)(iv). Pub. L. 96–43, §5(c), added cl. (iv).

Words "magistrate judge" substituted for "magistrate" in subsec. (c)(1) pursuant to section 321 of Pub. L. 101–650, set out as a note under section 631 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

Amendment by Pub. L. 98–473 effective 30 days after Oct. 12, 1984, see section 1220 of Pub. L. 98–473, set out as an Effective Date note under section 3505 of this title.

Pub. L. 96–43, §1, Aug. 2, 1979, 93 Stat. 327, provided: "That this Act [amending this section and sections 3163 to 3168, 3170 and 3174 of this title] may be cited as the 'Speedy Trial Act Amendments Act of 1979'."

Pub. L. 93–619, §1, Jan. 3, 1975, 88 Stat. 2076, provided: "That this Act [enacting this chapter and sections 3153 to 3156 of this title, and amending section 3152 of this title, and section 604 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure] may be cited as the 'Speedy Trial Act of 1974'."