…[A] complaint is a sworn allegation charging the accused with the commission of an offense.
-Article 45.018(a), Code of Criminal Procedure
Article 45.019 of the Code of Criminal Procedure lays out the requirements for a complaint. But for those who have tried, drafting a complaint is a fine art and a sometimes daunting task. The TMCEC Forms Book has always included sample complaints for a variety of state law offenses. However, we are aware that every day courts need complaints for the over one thousand fine-only misdemeanors under state law and limitless city ordinance violations.
The Complaint Bank is a portal for prosecutors and courts to submit their complaints for use by those cities in need. Existing sample complaints from the TMCEC Forms Book are now available online here rather than in the printed Forms Book, and consist of a series of Microsoft Word documents with suggested language for selected fine-only state law violations.
We invite prosecutors and courts to submit model complaints for common charges, uncommon charges, city ordinance violations, or just for those offenses that are so complex you hate for someone else to have to recreate the wheel. Please keep in mind that the TMCEC website is public, so any complaints submitted should be model complaints and not specific to any one case. The submitted complaints can then be downloaded as Microsoft Word documents by other prosecutors and courts, and can be edited carefully so as to include the information required for specific case(s).
Submissions to the Complaint Bank are welcome, and should be directed to tmcec@tmcec.com.
