Only peace officers, not citizens, may be affiants for complaints filed in municipal courts.

• A. Not stated
• B. Not applicable
• C. False
• D. True

Answer: (C)

The concept here is who can sign a sworn complaint in a municipal court. An affiant is the person who swears to the truth of the facts in the complaint. The rules don’t limit this to peace officers; any person with personal knowledge of the offense may file a sworn complaint and sign as the affiant. That means a private citizen can initiate a complaint just as a peace officer can. So the statement that only peace officers may be affiants is false. A citizen who witnessed the offense and is willing to swear to the facts can file the sworn complaint, subject to the oath and penalties for perjury. The other options don’t fit because they misstate the availability of who may be an affiant; the accurate understanding is that both officers and citizens may be affiants when they have firsthand knowledge.