Connecticut General Statutes

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 54-46 (2026)

Prosecution on complaint or information

✓ current as of May 2026

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For all crimes charged by the state on or after May 26, 1983, the prosecution may be by complaint or information. For all crimes punishable by death or imprisonment for life charged by the state before May 26, 1983, the prosecution shall be by indictment.

(1949 Rev., S. 8775; P.A. 75-376; P.A. 76-336, S. 15; 76-436, S. 537, 681; P.A. 79-157; P.A. 80-313, S. 7; P.A. 83-210, S. 4, 5.)

History: P.A. 75-376 added provisions re trial on nolle prosequi; P.A. 76-336 clarified nolle provisions, substituting “At any stage in such prosecution” for “In any such prosecution”; P.A. 76-436 removed from exception cases involving nolle entered in common pleas court on matter bound over to superior court or upon recommendation of prosecutor that bench warrant is being requested or issued by superior court for arrest for same transaction, reflecting transfer of all trial jurisdiction to superior court, effective July 1, 1978; P.A. 79-157 designated previous provisions as Subsecs. (a) and (b) and added Subsec. (c) re effect of not guilty plea on privilege with respect to assignment for trial; P.A. 80-313 specified prosecution by indictment required for all crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment and deleted former Subsecs. (b) and (c) re nolle prosequi and assignment for trial; P.A. 83-210 amended the section to reflect the establishment of a probable cause hearing to replace a grand jury proceeding by providing that prosecution by complaint or information would apply to all crimes “charged by the state on or after May 26, 1983” and prosecution by indictment would only apply to persons accused of crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment “charged by the state before May 26, 1983”.

See Sec. 54-56b re right to dismissal or trial on nolle.

See Sec. 54-56c re request for privileged trial status.

Section is constitutional. 60 C. 94; 135 C. 262. Information may be amended after evidence has been offered. 35 C. 319. As to particularity required. 39 C. 230; 93 C. 646. Must charge all essential elements of crime; 72 C. 606; 73 C. 407; thus, specific intent must be charged. 66 C. 250; 80 C. 614; 81 C. 699. Charging offense in words of statute. 66 C. 9; Id., 657; 72 C. 606; 73 C. 18; 80 C. 321; 81 C. 696; 83 C. 304; 97 C. 730, 735; 99 C. 117; or of city ordinance. 60 C. 106; 88 C. 715; 91 C. 68. If effect is to include acts not in purview of statute, it is not sufficient; 82 C. 321; 93 C. 646; a more particular description may limit proof. 80 C. 321. Necessity of negativing exception. 69 C. 198; 88 C. 353. Old rules as to strictness relaxed; 81 C. 696; general rule as to certainty. 85 C. 322. Aider by verdict; 68 C. 512; 81 C. 696; amendable defect not ground for new trial. 80 C. 614. Necessity of identifying person with reference to whom crime is committed; 66 C. 558; of correctly alleging date of crime. 81 C. 98. Alleging matters by legal effect; act of principal as act of agent. 69 C. 86. Allegation of former conviction. 68 C. 512; 94 C. 701; 96 C. 172. Against one as accessory. 82 C. 213. Conspiracy and acts done in pursuance of it may be alleged in one count; 75 C. 206; so keeping disorderly house and one where lewd persons resort, 66 C. 8; so keeping place for registering bets and selling pools. 66 C. 250. Merger defined; is a doctrine of very limited application. 99 C. 114; 108 C. 215. Identity of offenses. Id., 214. Cited. 151 C. 524; 153 C. 325; Id., 451. There is no federal constitutional impediment to dispensing entirely with grand jury in state prosecutions. 155 C. 367. Prosecution by information for infamous crime was not violation of defendant's rights under U.S. Constitution. 156 C. 391. Cited. 159 C. 264; 184 C. 597; 192 C. 671; 202 C. 443; 229 C. 691.

Cited. 22 CS 7. Not a denial of equal protection clause of fourteenth amendment of federal constitution to indict person by an information in larceny case. 25 CS 509.

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Notes of Decisions

Cited in 24 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1956–2021 · leading case: State v. Estrella, 893 A.2d 348 (Conn. 2006).

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State v. Estrella, 893 A.2d 348 (Conn. 2006). · cites it 4× “I, § 8; General Statutes § 54-46. [10] The cases pending against Rivers when he first provided his statement to the police in February, 2001, included a charge of robbery in the first degree that was unrelated to the events surrounding Disla's death.”

Negron v. Warden, 429 A.2d 841 (Conn. 1980). · cites it 4× “The plaintiff specifically contended that the state’s entry of a nolle prosequi to the fugitive from justice charge, at a time when the plaintiff was involuntarily absent from the courtroom, followed by a more than thirteen month period before the reinstitution of the fugitive…”

State v. Curcio, 463 A.2d 566 (Conn. 1983). · cites it 2× “In Lloyd , General Statutes § 54-46 (now § 54-56b) gave the accused an express right to demand either trial or dismissal, with narrow limitations, when the state proposed to nolle pending charges.”

Blakeney v. Comm'r of Corr., 706 A.2d 989 (Conn. App. Ct. 1998). · cites it 4× “In contrast, General Statutes § 54-46 7 does not require that an information be signed and our case law, contrary to the petitioner’s claim, does not make the signature a jurisdictional prerequisite.”

State v. Lloyd, 440 A.2d 867 (Conn. 1981). · cites it 3× “Until the enactment of General Statutes § 54-46 (now § 54-56b) in 1975, 1 and the promulgation of Practice Book § 2137 (now § 726) in 1976, the power to enter a nolle prosequi was discretionary with the state’s attorney; neither the approval of the court nor the consent of the…”

United States v. Defabian C. Shannon, 110 F.3d 382 (7th Cir. 1997). · cites it 2× “) (Conn.Gen.Stat.Ann. § 54-46 (1994)); 11 Hawaii (9th Cir.”

State v. Crawford, 521 A.2d 1034 (Conn. 1987). · cites it 2× “General Statutes § 54-46 previously required an indictment for crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment.”

State v. Nicholson, 803 A.2d 391 (Conn. App. Ct. 2002). · cites it 2× “I, § 8; General Statutes § 54-46. Furthermore, the defendant had ample notice of the more serious information and was later advised on the less serious second part of the information.”

In re Prudencio O., 643 A.2d 265 (Conn. 1994). · cites it 4× “To rebut this plain reading of the applicable statutes, the juvenile urges us to read the term “complaint” in § 54-46a broadly to include a police referral or a delinquency petition initiating an action in Juvenile Matters.”

State v. McMillan, 725 A.2d 342 (Conn. App. Ct. 1999). · cites it 4× “B The trial court also maintained that there was a lack of jurisdiction over the defendant due to the failure of the prosecutor to sign the information pursuant to § 36-12. The trial court presumed that the prosecutor did not find probable cause to continue the action against…”

State v. Menillo, 268 A.2d 667 (Conn. 1970). · cites it 2× “See also § 54-46. Thus, the defendant here was required to be, as he was, indicted by a grand jury before he could be held to answer on a trial for the crime of murder in the first degree.”

McBrien v. Warden, 216 A.2d 432 (Conn. 1966). · cites it 4× “Section 8 of title 45 of the 1821 Statutes, page 261, now General Statutes § 54-46, however, provided that all crimes not punishable by death or life imprisonment could be prosecuted on an information without the intervention of a grand jury.”

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