§ 6-1422.Criminal complaints.

A complaint is the document that starts a criminal case in county court, and § 6-1422 treats it as a checklist rather than a form letter. The defendant’s name, address, and date of birth (when known) have to appear, along with the offense charged and the exact statute or ordinance behind it, the penalty section, and the class of the offense. That last piece matters more than it looks — knowing whether a charge is a Class II misdemeanor or a Class IV felony tells a defendant, at a glance, how much is at stake.

The rest of the list fills in the practical details a court and a defendant both need. The date, time, and location of the alleged offense pin down what conduct is at issue. Driver’s license and commercial vehicle information get called out separately, which reflects how often county court criminal dockets are full of traffic cases. A reference to victim-name handling under § 6-1466(C) reminds drafters that some names get protected rather than printed. And two entries look forward rather than back: the time and place the defendant must appear, and whether the defendant will need an interpreter, so the court can line one up before the first hearing rather than scrambling on the day.

None of this changes what conduct is illegal or what penalty applies — that’s substantive law. What § 6-1422 does is make sure the paperwork that opens a case carries enough information for everyone involved, the defendant included, to know exactly what they’re facing and when they need to show up.