Criminal procedure: information

Beginning with preliminary hearings held on or after January 1, 2027, the law limits prosecutors’ ability to refile certain dismissed charges through an information. It creates a direct pretrial review route for defendants when a court permits reinstatement.

What the law does ​

• Requires a district attorney to seek leave from the court before including in an information a charge dismissed at a preliminary hearing for lack of reasonable or probable cause, when the defendant was held to answer on at least one felony count.
• Allows the court to approve reinstatement only if it finds the offense was committed and there is sufficient reasonable or probable cause to believe the defendant committed it.
• Requires the prosecutor to seek that approval within the existing 15-day deadline for filing an information after a commitment order.
• Bars a separate trial-court motion to set aside a reinstated charge for lack of probable cause after the court grants reinstatement.
• Allows a defendant to petition an appellate court within 15 days after reinstatement is granted and seek pretrial review within 60 days after arraignment, subject to exceptions when the issue was unknown or could not have been raised.

Who it affects ​

• Defendants held to answer on at least one felony charge after a preliminary hearing.
• County district attorneys seeking to restore charges dismissed at a preliminary hearing for lack of probable cause.
• Trial and appellate courts reviewing requests to reinstate and challenge those charges.

Context ​

The act applies only when the preliminary hearing occurs on or after January 1, 2027.