Criminal Indictments

2013 Bicentennial Celebration

 

A Sample Criminal Indictment - No Bill
Record Series Criminal Indictments - No Bill
Dates 1896-1969 (Bulk Dates 1929-1969)
Location Warren County Records Storage & Archives.
Format Pre-printed legal-sized documents with hand-written entries, double sided, originally tri-folded they have been re-boxed into acid-free enclosures.
Arranged Chronological by File Date
Volume 1 cubic ft
Department County Clerk
Legal Restrictions None
Use Restrictions Staff will access all records and must approve all requests for copies
Historical Background The grand jury's failure to find sufficient evidence to bring an accused to trial resulted in a dismissal of the charge. The documents were often referred to as "No Bills" and for a period of time were filed in the Office of County Clerk independent of Criminal Indictments ("True Bills"). The collection is fragmented with gaps suggesting that filing practice was not particularly well-established or followed, with some records possibly filed with other documents of the criminal court system.
Description of Record Series Consists of legal-sized, pre-printed with handwritten entries, double-sided, documents reboxed into acid-free enclosures and including: offense with description of events; names of defendant, District Attorney, Jury Foreman, witnesses; findings of the jury being a "no bill", some with handwritten list containing the vote of the jury; court and filing information. Considerable gaps occur in the series: 1896-1897; 1929-1969. May be filed with Predecessor Court Actions & Court Actions-Mixed/Post-Predecessor. OCA Schedule # 30300.
Purpose of Record Defined as being a record of the grand jury's deliberation for which no sufficient cause was found to bring the accused to trial; a "no bill."
Other Formats None
Finding Aids Series location on inventory database.
Related Series Criminal Indictments, Minutes of the Courts of Oyer & Terminer and Sessions, Predecessor Court Actions, Court Actions-Mixed/Post-Predecessor.