Q: Is a Traffic Ticket Invalid if the officer doesn't sign it?
A: Subsection c of Mississippi Code 63-9-21. Uniform Traffic Ticket Law reads as follows: "Every traffic ticket shall show, among other necessary information, the name of the issuing officer, the name of the court in which the cause is to be heard, and the date and time such person is to appear to answer the charge. The ticket shall include information which will constitute a complaint charging the offense for which the ticket was issued, and when duly sworn to and filed with a court of competent jurisdiction, prosecution may proceed thereunder." The officer may not have signed the copy that was provided to you. However, the copy that is filed with the clerk of court probably will be signed, and under the statute, the prosecutor would be able to proceed. Depending on the offense charged, and the other facts of your specific case, there may be other defenses available to you.
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