Who signs the dismissal judgment that allows the complaint to be dismissed after completing deferred disposition?

• A. The clerk.
• B. The judge.
• C. The defendant.
• D. The prosecutor.

Answer: (B)

The key idea here is that a dismissal after deferred disposition is a court order. Deferred disposition is a court-supervised program, and once the defendant completes its conditions, the charges are dismissed by the court. Because this is a formal judicial ruling, the signatory must be the judge (or a designated judicial official) who has the authority to issue court orders. The clerk may prepare and record the dismissal, but the actual signing—making the dismissal a valid, enforceable order—rests with the judge. The defendant and the prosecutor don’t sign the dismissal order themselves, since they aren’t the authority issuing the court’s ruling.