It’s the statement that the charges are based upon. I’m honestly a little confused about the verbiage myself because when a complainant signs an affidavit on someone, it’s colloquially referred to as that person “signing charges” where I am. Like if someone reports a domestic assault, but I don’t feel like I have probable cause to arrest, I’d write the report and the complainant would come “sign charges” at a later time. A judge would then review the report and determine if probable cause exists sufficient to issue a warrant for the suspect’s arrest. Or like in many instances when misdemeanors are reported that didn’t occur in the officer’s presence. The officer can’t make an arrest based on probable cause, but a citizen can either sign charges themselves, or even perform a citizen’s arrest based on their observation of a crime that happened in THEIR presence. Citizens can technically make arrests by themselves and even use reasonable force to do so. They just can’t do things like detain people based on reasonable suspicion, don’t have qualified immunity, and a few other caveats. There’s obviously a gap in my understanding though and I’ll have to do some research later to sort it out. Or I’ll ask the prosecutor to explain the wording in more depth the next time I see them.