What are the guidelines regarding writing on the face of an original ticket? Is it allowable? And if so, under what circumstances?
The Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) Legal Service unit has provided the following response to these questions:
Once a citation has been filed, the ticket should not be altered without permission of the court. It is the responsibility of the prosecution to request amendments to the citation. If the court permits the amendment, writing the amended language on the face of the ticket may be permissible. The court should indicate on the record exactly what change is being made to the citation. A clerk should not change or obscure any of the original information without clearly noting what is being amended. A clerk should NEVER change anything on the ticket except at the specific direction of the judge. This would include changing any dates on the citation. The better practice, instead of altering the original citation, would be for the prosecutor to file an amended complaint with the court.
RN id: 1159