Joe Suhre | November 18, 2016 | Criminal Law

In Northern Kentucky, there are three counties that I primarily practice in. They are Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties. In this entry, I want to share what a DUI arraignment primarily consists of and how they differ from county to county.

In Kenton County: arraignments are held in Room 1A of the Kenton County Justice Center. They’re typically scheduled for 8:30am for lock-ups or 9:30am for folks that are out on bond. The lock-up arraignment is done via closed circuit video monitor and the in person ones are done on the courtroom before one of the three district court judges. The prosecutor’s office supervisor is who represents the prosecutor’s office – which is different than that attorney who will be handling the case before the trial court.

In Campbell County: arraignments are held before the judge that will be handling the case and are held in that judges assigned courtroom. The prosecutor that handles the arraignment is the same prosecutor that will prosecute the case through conclusion. Campbell County is where we most often see pre-arraignment ‘suspensions’ given out as a condition of bond for clients who’ve taken the breath test. These ‘suspensions’ are addressed at the arraignment and are almost always lifted. Arraignments in Campbell County occur at 9:30am.

In Boone County: arraignments are handled in courtroom 1A of the Boone County Justice Center. Boone is unique in that the judge that is assigned to an upstairs courtroom will often be the same judge handling the arraignments downstairs. This can lead to some long delays in both courtrooms. To alleviate that problem, we’re often able to waive our client’s appearance for the arraignment and simply enter a not guilty plea and set the case for pre-trial before the Judge even takes the bench. If the case involves a refusal and the client needs to request limited privileges they will need to be present so we can petition the court for the order granting the privileges.