Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

legal court orders

i work in a correctional institution. i often see court dispositions that are not signed by the judge making the order. is a court order that commits a person to jail either under sentence or awaiting trial on bond without the signature of judge valid?

often these disposition are signed or initialed by a court clerk, BUT not signed by the judge of the court.

Also i often see writs of habeus corpus that do not have a signature of a judge on the certificate of allowance. instead they are stamped in block letters with the name of the judge. Are these valid?

i have been trying to convince my employer for years that these court orders are not valid because they lack signatures. when i went through the academy (many years ago) i was taught that a court order was not valid until it was signed. Is that still true?


Asked on 4/12/00, 12:35 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Neil O'Brien Eaton County Special Assistant Prosecuting Attorney

Re: legal court orders

The judge will sign one copy (the "original"), which is logged into the court file by a court clerk. The clerk will make copies for parties who need them, and will generally stamp the judge's name on the document (sometimes a facimile copy of the signature, and sometimes just plain lettering), certifying that the copy is a "true copy" of the original.

Other copies can be a bit fancier, because the clerk adds a stamp of the court seal to the paper (you can feel the seal's ridges). These are called "certified copies".

It sounds like you are receiving "true copies" of orders. They are valid copies of the original orders, and should be given the respect of the original copy. The original order, signed by the judge, is back in the court file in the court clerk's office. You can go there and convince yourself that the judge really signed the order, if you wish.

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Answered on 4/24/00, 9:34 am


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