Rule 9 Plea proceedings

When you go to court to enter a plea, the process is pretty straightforward. The judge will either read the complaint against you out loud or explain the basic charge you're facing, and this can happen in person or through video conferencing. You'll then be asked to enter your plea. Before any of this happens, you must be given a copy of the written complaint so you know exactly what you're being charged with.

You do have the option to skip having the complaint read aloud if you want to waive that step. This waiver can happen whether you're in the courtroom or appearing by video. However, even if you waive the reading, you still get to keep your copy of the complaint so you have it for reference.

There's one exception to how this works, which is covered under a different rule (Rule 7(b)). That rule applies to specific situations that change how the plea proceeding happens, so if that exception applies to your case, these standard steps may look a bit different.