Criminal procedure: the grand jury and the indictment

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Library edition words from Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

The key parts of Rule 6, and Rule 7: who sits and who may be present, secrecy, when an indictment is needed, and what it must say.

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Words from
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (as amended to Dec. 1, 2025). Enacted law, free to use.
Edition
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, as amended to Dec. 1, 2025 (House Judiciary Committee print)
Checked
Word for word against the source, on 17 October 2026.
How it was made
Each card is a rule’s own words, under its number and heading; a list becomes the card’s items.Words split across lines are joined, an item’s closing “; and” is dropped, and the print’s two single quotation marks are set as one double mark.
Edited by
Aheadso chose the cards and set them out.Every word on them is the source’s.
On the shelf
Law, Criminal procedure · 16 cards · 2 topics

The cards

  1. FRCrP 6The Grand Jury
  2. FRCrP 6(a)(1): In GeneralWhen the public interest so requires, the court must order that one or more grand juries be summoned. A grand jury must have 16 to 23 members, and the court must order that enough legally qualified persons be summoned to meet this requirement.
  3. FRCrP 6(b)(1): ChallengesEither the government or a defendant may challenge the grand jury on the ground that it was not lawfully drawn, summoned, or selected, and may challenge an individual juror on the ground that the juror is not legally qualified.
  4. FRCrP 6(d)(1): While the Grand Jury Is in SessionThe following persons may be present while the grand jury is in session: attorneys for the government, the witness being questioned, interpreters when needed, and a court reporter or an operator of a recording device.
  5. FRCrP 6(d)(2): During Deliberations and VotingNo person other than the jurors, and any interpreter needed to assist a hearing-impaired or speech-impaired juror, may be present while the grand jury is deliberating or voting.
  6. FRCrP 6(e)(2): Secrecy
    1. 1No obligation of secrecy may be imposed on any person except in accordance with Rule 6(e)(2)(B)
    2. 2Unless these rules provide otherwise, the following persons must not disclose a matter occurring before the grand jury: (i) a grand juror; (ii) an interpreter; (iii) a court reporter; (iv) an operator of a recording device; (v) a person who transcribes recorded testimony; (vi) an attorney for the government; or (vii) a person to whom disclosure is made under Rule 6(e)(3)(A)(ii) or (iii)
  7. FRCrP 6(f): Indictment and ReturnA grand jury may indict only if at least 12 jurors concur. The grand jury—or its foreperson or deputy foreperson—must return the indictment to a magistrate judge in open court. To avoid unnecessary cost or delay, the magistrate judge may take the return by video teleconference from the court where the grand jury sits. If a complaint or information is pending against the defendant and 12 jurors do not concur in the indictment, the foreperson must promptly and in writing report the lack of concurrence to the magistrate judge.
  8. FRCrP 7The Indictment and the Information
  9. FRCrP 7(a)(1): An offense (other than criminal contempt) must be prosecuted by an indictment if it is punishable
    1. 1by death
    2. 2by imprisonment for more than one year
  10. FRCrP 7(a)(2): MisdemeanorAn offense punishable by imprisonment for one year or less may be prosecuted in accordance with Rule 58(b)(1).
  11. FRCrP 7(b): Waiving IndictmentAn offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year may be prosecuted by information if the defendant—in open court and after being advised of the nature of the charge and of the defendant’s rights—waives prosecution by indictment.
  12. FRCrP 7(c)(1): In GeneralThe indictment or information must be a plain, concise, and definite written statement of the essential facts constituting the offense charged and must be signed by an attorney for the government. It need not contain a formal introduction or conclusion. A count may incorporate by reference an allegation made in another count. A count may allege that the means by which the defendant committed the offense are unknown or that the defendant committed it by one or more specified means. For each count, the indictment or information must give the official or customary citation of the statute, rule, regulation, or other provision of law that the defendant is alleged to have violated. For purposes of an indictment referred to in section 3282 of title 18, United States Code, for which the identity of the defendant is unknown, it shall be sufficient for the indictment to describe the defendant as an individual whose name is unknown, but who has a particular DNA profile, as that term is defined in section 3282.
All 16 cards
  1. FRCrP 7(c)(2): Citation ErrorUnless the defendant was misled and thereby prejudiced, neither an error in a citation nor a citation’s omission is a ground to dismiss the indictment or information or to reverse a conviction.
  2. FRCrP 7(d): SurplusageUpon the defendant’s motion, the court may strike surplusage from the indictment or information.
  3. FRCrP 7(e): Amending an InformationUnless an additional or different offense is charged or a substantial right of the defendant is prejudiced, the court may permit an information to be amended at any time before the verdict or finding.
  4. FRCrP 7(f): Bill of ParticularsThe court may direct the government to file a bill of particulars. The defendant may move for a bill of particulars before or within 14 days after arraignment or at a later time if the court permits. The government may amend a bill of particulars subject to such conditions as justice requires.

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