Rule 20 — Transfer for Plea and Sentence

Fed. R. Crim. P. 20

• Source: Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
• Rule: 20
• TITLE V: VENUE
• Citation: Fed. R. Crim. P. 20

Text

(a) Consent to Transfer. A prosecution may be transferred from
the district where the indictment or information is pending, or
from which a warrant on a complaint has been issued, to the dis-
trict where the defendant is arrested, held, or present if:
(1) the defendant states in writing a wish to plead guilty or
nolo contendere and to waive trial in the district where the in-
dictment, information, or complaint is pending, consents in
writing to the court’s disposing of the case in the transferee
district, and files the statement in the transferee district; and
(2) the United States attorneys in both districts approve the
transfer in writing.
(b) Clerk’s Duties. After receiving the defendant’s statement and
the required approvals, the clerk where the indictment, informa-
tion, or complaint is pending must send the file, or a certified
copy, to the clerk in the transferee district.
(c) Effect of a Not Guilty Plea. If the defendant pleads not guilty
after the case has been transferred under Rule 20(a), the clerk
must return the papers to the court where the prosecution began,
and that court must restore the proceeding to its docket. The de-
fendant’s statement that the defendant wished to plead guilty or
nolo contendere is not, in any civil or criminal proceeding, admis-
sible against the defendant.

(d) Juveniles.
(1) Consent to Transfer. A juvenile, as defined in 18 U.S.C.
§5031, may be proceeded against as a juvenile delinquent in the
district where the juvenile is arrested, held, or present if:
(A) the alleged offense that occurred in the other district
is not punishable by death or life imprisonment;
(B) an attorney has advised the juvenile;
(C) the court has informed the juvenile of the juvenile’s
rights—including the right to be returned to the district
where the offense allegedly occurred—and the conse-
quences of waiving those rights;
(D) the juvenile, after receiving the court’s information
about rights, consents in writing to be proceeded against
in the transferee district, and files the consent in the
transferee district;
(E) the United States attorneys for both districts ap-
prove the transfer in writing; and
(F) the transferee court approves the transfer.
(2) Clerk’s Duties. After receiving the juvenile’s written con-
sent and the required approvals, the clerk where the indict-
ment, information, or complaint is pending or where the al-
leged offense occurred must send the file, or a certified copy,
to the clerk in the transferee district.

Advisory Committee Notes

(As amended Feb. 28, 1966, eff. July 1, 1966; Apr. 22, 1974, eff. Dec. 1, 1975; Pub. L. 94–64, §3(30), July 31, 1975, 89 Stat. 375, eff. Dec. 1, 1975; Apr. 28, 1982, eff. Aug. 1, 1982; Mar. 9, 1987, eff. Aug. 1, 1987; Apr. 29, 2002, eff. Dec. 1, 2002.)