§ 11-28-113. Commencement of prosecution - Style – Procedure – Schedule of fines.

A.  All prosecutions commenced in a municipal criminal court of record shall be by information, pursuant to Section 16-108 of Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes, for traffic offenses and by information as in the district courts in other cases, which shall be subscribed by the person making complaint and shall be verified before a judge, the court clerk, or a deputy court clerk.  All prosecutions for the violation of municipal ordinances shall be styled, "The City of _______ (naming the municipality) vs. __________ (naming the person or persons charged)".

B.  Upon receipt of a traffic ticket or complaint by the court clerk, other than a traffic ticket which has been signed by the arrested person as a plea of guilty, the court clerk shall either prepare a copy of the ticket or complaint and deliver the original or duplicate original to the municipal attorney, or record the ticket on a list maintained in the clerk's office and deliver the ticket to the municipal attorney for his disposition.  After disposition of the ticket by the municipal attorney, the name shall be removed from the list by the court clerk.  A traffic ticket or complaint that is certified by the arresting officer, the complainant, or the municipal attorney, shall constitute an information against the person arrested and served with the traffic ticket or complaint.  The ticket or complaint shall be endorsed by the municipal attorney before it is filed with the court clerk; except if the person arrested and served with a traffic ticket or complaint either at the time he is arrested or at a subsequent time shall indicate in writing on the ticket or complaint, above his signature, that he elects to plead guilty to the violation charged, the traffic ticket or complaint shall be filed with the court clerk, as an information, without the endorsement of the municipal attorney, and it shall be the duty of the court clerk to notify the municipal attorney as to the fact of such filing.

C.  The municipal governing body, by ordinance, may prescribe a schedule of fines for nonjury cases which a defendant may pay in lieu of an appearance before the municipal court, and such payment shall constitute a final determination of the cause against the defendant; provided, however, this subsection shall not apply to those offenses for which the penalty is a fine of more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).

Added by Laws 1977, c. 256, § 28-113, eff. July 1, 1978.  Amended by Laws 1984, c. 126, § 59, eff. Nov. 1, 1984; Laws 1999, c. 217, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 1999; Laws 2006, c. 38, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2006.