A summons and complaint issued by a peace officer shall contain the name of the defendant, shall identify the offense charged, including a citation of the statute alleged to have been violated, shall contain a brief statement or description of the offense charged, including the date and approximate location thereof, and shall direct the defendant to appear before a specified county court at a stated date, time, and place.
Source: L. 72: R&RE, p. 193, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 39-2-106.
ANNOTATION
Annotator's note. Since § 16-2-106 is similar to repealed § 37-17-7, C.R.S. 1963, relevant cases construing that provision have been included in the annotations to this section.
The contents of a summons and complaint are those things enumerated in this section, nothing more, nothing less. Francis v. County Court, 175 Colo. 308, 487 P.2d 375 (1971).
And the only persons designated as having the authority to sign the summons and complaint are peace officers, but there is no requirement that the complainant should be described as a peace officer on the face of the complaint. Francis v. County Court, 175 Colo. 308, 487 P.2d 375 (1971).
And it is sufficient that the summons alleges that the complainant "knows or believes" rather than stating more formally that he "knows or has reason to believe" that the accused committed the offense charged. Francis v. County Court, 175 Colo. 308, 487 P.2d 375 (1971).
Moreover, this section does not require a verification of a summons and complaint charging a misdemeanor and issued by a peace officer. Stubert v. County Court, 163 Colo. 535, 433 P.2d 97 (1967).
And the fact verification is not mentioned is significant. By carefully spelling out in detail the contents of a summons and complaint issued by a peace officer in this section, the fact that there is no mention of any requirement that the summons and complaint contain a verification is quite significant. Francis v. County Court, 175 Colo. 308, 487 P.2d 375 (1971).