Desk Appearance Tickets (DATs)

A DAT is a pink summons ticket that a person is issued in lieu of being immediately arraigned in NYC criminal court. It is typically issued for misdemeanors and lower-level violations. If issued a DAT, the accused can pay a fine, accepting the charge, or appear in court to contest it.

If the participant you are working with has a DAT, do the following:

  1. Take a picture of the DAT. Request the DAT so it can be stored in the participant's file at WHCP.

    1. If the participant does not have the DAT present, set up a date/time when you can get the DAT.

  2. Determine the borough in which the incident took place.

  3. Connect the participant to a public defender office.

A sample DAT.