How do I process citizen complaints that are filed directly with the court?
Information about processing a citizen complaint is located in Section 3.2.C, Initiation of Criminal Proceedings/Initiation by Citizen's Complaint, of the Manual for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction on the Inside Courts Web site.
A criminal action may be initiated when a complaint is filed by the prosecuting attorney, or when a citizen's complaint is filed following the submission of sworn testimony of a citizen alleging the commission of an offense, or when a law enforcement officer files a citation and notice to appear with the court.
JIS requires the Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) code when filing cases. Some courts have requested a court specific LEA Code be added to JIS to use when filing Citizen Complaint actions. However, there is a statewide LEA code, CZS (Citizen's Complaint - Statewide) that is available for all courts to use. The CZS code will need to be associated with your court's appropriate jurisdiction, if this has not already been done. Use the Organization Association (ORA) screen to create the association.
The charge can then be added as a Probable Cause (PC) case so a hearing can be scheduled. If you wish to notify the parties of the Probable Cause hearing, verify on the Hearing Type/Inquiry Update (HRT) screen that a Hearing Code is available for a PC type case.
Note: In criminal cases, notices will not be printed for the Plaintiff (Complainant), so a notice must be manually mailed from the copies printed.
See also: Answer: Filing a Complaint Against a Judge
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