Defective Wisconsin Uniform Citation Under Wis. Stat. §345.11
Wis. Stat. §345.11 governs the form and content of the Uniform Traffic Citation in Wisconsin. The citation must contain: (1) name and address of accused or registered owner; (2) the violation alleged with statute/ordinance section; (3) date, time, location; (4) court appearance information or pay-by date; (5) certifying officer signature. Under Wis. Stat. §345.11(5), 'no citation shall be dismissed solely because of a technical defect in the form,' BUT material defects that misidentify the offense, the accused, or that fail to provide adequate notice still warrant dismissal under due process. The threshold is 'material' rather than 'technical' — but courts find materiality readily when the wrong statute is cited or the offense is misdescribed.
Legal basis
Wis. Stat. §§345.11, 345.20; State v. Stoehr
Sample appeal wording
[DATE] Re: Citation #[NUMBER] This citation is materially defective under Wis. Stat. §345.11 and must be dismissed. Specific material defects: 1. [The cited ordinance §____ does not exist / cites a section governing different conduct] 2. [Date of violation is impossible (e.g., February 30) / Time is impossible (25:30)] 3. [License plate transcribed is [PLATE-A] but my plate is [PLATE-B]] 4. [Officer/agent identification is missing or illegible] These are not 'technical defects in form' under §345.11(5); they are material errors that misidentify either the offense or the accused, depriving me of fair notice. Due process and Wisconsin precedent require dismissal. [NAME]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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- Wis. Stat. §345.11
- Wisconsin Court System Uniform Traffic Citation procedures