Seeing prisoners on the weekend to tell them what they are charged with and set their fines because the judge is on vacation is proper or improper?

• A. Proper
• B. Improper
• C. Not specified
• D. Cannot be determined

Answer: (B)

The important point is that deciding what someone is charged with and setting their fines are judicial actions that must be done by a judge or an officially designated magistrate, and those actions must occur in proper court proceedings. Doing this on the weekend, outside of a formal arraignment or court hearing, bypasses the rights of the defendant and the safeguards of due process.

If the judge is on vacation, the court should have a designated substitute—like a judge pro tempore or an on-call magistrate—to handle arraignments, inform defendants of charges, and set bonds or fines. Court staff or anyone else cannot perform these judicial acts on their own or outside the proper process. Allowing weekend visits that automatically determine charges and fines risks ex parte communications, lack of notice, and lack of opportunity for the defendant to have counsel or to challenge the charges in court.

So, doing this on the weekend is improper because it bypasses the formal procedures and the authority required to adjudicate charges and impose fines. The correct approach is to use a properly designated authority or wait for the regular proceedings to resume.