Pennsylvania Code & Bulletin
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

• No statutes or acts will be found at this website.

The Pennsylvania Bulletin website includes the following: Rulemakings by State agencies; Proposed Rulemakings by State agencies; State agency notices; the Governor’s Proclamations and Executive Orders; Actions by the General Assembly; and Statewide and local court rules.

PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 11-2045

THE COURTS

Title 204—JUDICIAL SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS

PART VII. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF PENNSYLVANIA COURTS

[ 204 PA. CODE CH. 201 ]

Status of Indicting Grand Juries; Initiation of Criminal Proceedings by Information

[41 Pa.B. 6377]
[Saturday, December 3, 2011]

 Section 10 of Article 1 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, as amended by referendum of November 6, 1973, provides that each of the several courts of common pleas may, with the approval of the Supreme Court, provide for the initiation of criminal proceedings therein by information filed in the manner provided by law.

 The Administrative Office is required by 42 Pa.C.S. § 8931(b) (relating to criminal information) to cause all orders of the Supreme Court entered under the forgoing provision to be codified in the Pennsylvania Code. Section 201.3 of Title 204 of the Pennsylvania Code was last updated in 1981. See Pennsylvania Bulletin, Vol. 11, No. 18 (May 12, 1981).

 Accordingly, a revised table setting forth the status of the abolition of the indicting grand jury in this Commonwealth accompanies this notice.

ZYGMONT A. PINES, 
Court Administrator of Pennsylvania

Annex A

TITLE 204. JUDICIAL SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS

PART VII. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF PENNSYLVANIA COURTS

CHAPTER 201. UNIFIED JUDICIAL SYSTEM

§ 201.3. Status of indicting grand juries; initiation of criminal proceedings by information.

 (a) General rule. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania pursuant to Section 10 of Article 1 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania has approved the initiation of criminal proceedings by information in the following courts of common pleas:

County Judicial
District
Docket Page Reference Docket No. Effective Date
Adams 51 179 21 May 1, 1976
Allegheny 5 178 21 June 1, 1976
Armstrong 33 83 21 January 1, 1976
Beaver 36 150 21 March 1, 1976
Bedford 57 31 E.D. 1990 November 19, 1991
Berks 23 53 21 January 1, 1976
Blair 24 54 21 January 1, 1976
Bradford 42 340 21 March 1, 1977
Bucks 7 46 21 January 1, 1976
Butler 50 62 21 January 1, 1976
Cambria 47 77 21 January 1, 1976
Cameron 59 88 21 January 1, 1976
Carbon 56 74 21 January 1, 1976
Centre 49 309 20 January 6, 1975
Chester 15 50 21 January 1, 1976
Clarion 18 187 E.D. 1980 February 21, 1980
Clearfield 46 43 21 January 1, 1976
Clinton 25 308 21 December 9, 1976
Columbia 26 89 21 January 1, 1976
Crawford 30 70 21 January 1, 1976
Cumberland 9 293 21 December 1, 1976
Dauphin 12 49 21 January 1, 1976
Delaware 32 56 21 January 1, 1976
Elk 59 88 21 January 1, 1976
Erie 6 42 21 January 1, 1976
Fayette 14 223 21 June 7, 1976
Forest 37 51 E.D. 1978 April 5, 1978
Franklin 39 291 21 January 1, 1977
Fulton 39 291 21 January 1, 1977
Greene 13 176 E.D. 1978 October 31, 1978
Huntingdon 20 87 21 January 1, 1976
Indiana 40 175 E.D. 1978 October 31, 1978
Jefferson 54 451 21 October 14, 1977
Juniata 41 58 21 January 1, 1976
Lackawanna 45 188 E.D. 1983 December 12, 1983
Lancaster 2 69 21 January 1, 1976
Lawrence 53 572 E.D. 1980 August 28, 1980
Lebanon 52 44 21 January 1, 1976
Lehigh 31 55 21 January 1, 1976
Luzerne 11 48 21 January 1, 1976
Lycoming 29 59 21 January 1, 1976
McKean 48 61 21 January 1, 1976
Mercer 35 309 21 December 9, 1976
Mifflin 58 64 21 January 1, 1976
Monroe 43 60 21 January 1, 1976
Montgomery 38 57 21 January 1, 1976
Montour 26 90 21 January 1, 1976
Northampton 3 45 21 January 1, 1976
Northumberland 8 67 21 January 1, 1976
Perry 41 58 21 January 1, 1976
Philadelphia 1 504 19 January 1, 1976
Pike 60 60 21 January 1, 1976
Potter 55 63 21 January 1, 1976
Schuylkill 21 41 E.D. 1978 March 27, 1978
Snyder 17 87 E.D. 1984 June 29, 1984
Somerset 16 51 21 January 1, 1976
Sullivan 44 71 21 January 1, 1976
Susquehanna 34 129 E.D. 1979 December 31, 1979
Tioga 4 180 21 May 1, 1976
Union 17 87 E.D. 1984 June 29, 1984
Venango 28 68 21 January 1, 1976
Warren 37 51 E.D. 1978 April 5, 1978
Washington 27 249 21 August 2, 1976
Wayne* 22
Westmoreland 10 47 21 January 1, 1976
Wyoming 44 71 21 January 1, 1976
York 19 52 21 January 1, 1976

 *By order of the Supreme Court, the statewide rules of criminal procedure governing indicting grand juries and indictments were rescinded effective September 1, 1993. See also, Pa.R.Crim.P. 103 (defining ''information'' as replacing the indictment in all counties ''since the use of the indicting grand jury has been abolished.'').

 (b) Status of grand jury. 42 Pa.C.S. § 8931(f) provides that no grand jury shall be impaneled in any judicial district where the Supreme Court has approved the initiation of criminal proceedings by information, for the purpose of considering bills of indictment, and that such provision shall not prohibit the impaneling of grand juries under and with the powers provided in Subchapter 45D of the Judicial Code (42 Pa.C.S. § 4541 et seq.) or for any other purpose as provided or prescribed by law.

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 11-2045. Filed for public inspection December 2, 2011, 9:00 a.m.]



No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.

This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.