Arresting & Charging
Rules & Guidelines
 
When arresting & charging someone, the following guidelines must be followed by the Law Enforcement Personnel performing the arrest. This will act as a barrier for protection and failure to follow these rules may result in administrative punishment.
 
The following only applies to Not Guilty pleas;
If they are eligible for bail as outlined by the outlined conditions, the defendant must be presented with the option to bail out of prison. They must pay the bail in full prior to being released. If they do not wish to take bail, are unable to pay it or do not meet conditions for bail, they are to be imprisoned for 9999 days. The District Attorney's Office must be informed (via the Post Arrest Submission system) that the defendant has pled Not Guilty and the bail conditions must be relayed to the District Attorney's Office.  
The following only applies to No Contest and Guilty pleas;
No arrest can exceed 20 days. This is the maximum arrest length. Do not impound vehicles for longer then 14 days. This is the maximum impound length. Do not suspend licenses for longer then 14 days. This is the maximum suspension length.  
The following only applies to No Contest pleas;
The defendant must be charged with the maximum sentence for each of the charges brought against them. The District Attorney's Office must be informed (via the Post Arrest Submission system) that the defendant has pled No Contest.  
The following only applies to Guilty pleas;
The defendant must be charged with the minimum sentence for each of the charges brought against them.  
 
 
 
 
Your Rights & Responsibilities
During this process, you do have some OOC rights in regards to this on top of your general standard legal IC rights. The OOC rights are going to be laid out here and how they apply to your case;
 
You have the right for the arresting officer/deputy/trooper to explain this system ingame.  You have the right for the arresting officer/deputy/trooper to not press you into accepting an option that you do not wish to take. Nor can the coerce you into an option, by telling you what will happen outside of what is stated in this document.  You have the right to be able to accept a plea most comfortable to you, in order to accommodate your roleplay best.  You have the right to a speedy trial. And not just an IC right, but an OOC right. If your paperwork is taking longer then three days to be processed to even be brought into court for any reason, you have the right to bring these problems up to the Judiciary in order to get it resolved. You have the right to opt out of the system at any point (Excluding instances mandated by the Penal Code charge), if you feel it is hindering or providing a nuisance to your roleplay.  A player forfeits their right to a trial if they don't actively post on their courtcase. The system does not revolve around one or two players, but the entirety of the community — and if someone can't respect the time of everyone that's involved in the process, they should not expect their case to go for months on end due to their lack of response.  
In short, you have rights during this process that extend into the OOC realm. This system is not here to make you sit longer then you wish, and stifle your roleplay, more so to enhance it for the betterment of the server and for you as a roleplayer. And thus, if you feel that is not the case, you may take appropriate action to resolve it in accordance with these rights. Exceptions may be made to these rights in areas of specific charges being mandated to go through the system, but otherwise they mostly stand.
 
If you have any questions about this system in regards to anything, including even how an officer/deputy/trooper handled the system, do not be afraid to message @T. McGaw | DHS 1101 with any concerns.

Judiciary of San Andreas
Introduction
The San Andreas Penal Code has received a new aspect that will need to be thoroughly explained to the community in order to understand how it works, the effects it's going to have on characters, and the intentions of the change. This new aspect is referred to as the "points based system," which is limited to non-mandatory felony charges. This system is based on the three-strike system present in some states including California, modified to suit our purpose. The idea of the system, is to make felonies on the server actually have real repercussions to characters and aren't just simply upgraded misdemeanor offenses. Felonies are huge deals in life, and getting them should be no simple matter to just laugh at unless you are going for a truly serious criminal character engaged in that lifestyle. And thus, the point system is intended to ensure that idea becomes a reality as characters that are subjected to it after a certain point will receive a life imprisonment/death penalty sentence. It is our hope, that this will encourage more concealment of higher level crimes, and actually induce more fear into habitual offenders who commit felonies in order to make for a more realistic atmosphere. 
Point System Details & Practical Application
In order to understand how the system works, you must first understand how it applies on a single charge. For an example, we will take the felony non-mandatory court charge of Discharging a Firearm in Public, which is classed as a A, B, or C level crime. Each classification of that crime will have it's own number of points assigned to it which is what will be charged. Here is an example:
 
Discharging a Firearm in Public
Class A - 4 Class B - 3 Class C - 2  
This means that if you receive a Class C Discharging a Firearm in Public charge, you will only get two points added onto your overall record and will go through normal arrest procedure. And if you receive another felony non-mandatory court charge, the same principle will apply. 
 
The maximum amount of points you will allowed to get to, is going to be set at 35. Meaning if you get 35 points, you will receive a mandatory court trial, and may be sentenced to life imprisonment/death. If you receive a life imprisonment, there may be options made in the Dept of Corrections parole system to possibly allow your character back out on the streets at a certain point if that is what you desire to roleplay. 
 
Points will be allowed to be seen via criminal record requests submitted to the Department of Justice on their forums if asked, so that you may keep track of these points, however once you receive these points unless you are declared to be not guilty in a court trial on what you are accused of the points will remain on your record permanently just as the felony charges do as of current.
Conclusion
For the first month or so of this implementation, it will serve as a trial run. If you have any questions or concerns with the system you are welcome to message @T. McGaw | DHS 1101 in order to provide more thorough explanations.  Thank you for reading.