I’m not ready for arraignment. What should I do?

If you plan on securing your own lawyer and haven’t been able to yet, typically you can ask the judge to postpone arraignment for a week or so. If you are otherwise ill and can’t make the arraignment, you can usually call your attorney or the court clerk and have them reschedule arraignment later in the day, or postpone it for a few days until you are able to make it. If you don’t call ahead and fail to appear, however, then you risk having your bail revoked and an arrest warrant taken out on you.

If you ask for a continuance (postponement), you may have to “waive time,” which means that you give up the right to be arraigned within the prescribed time limits.