THE COURTS
Title 234--RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
[234 PA. CODE CH. 1]
Procedures When Bench Warrant is Issued
[34 Pa.B. 1429] The Criminal Procedural Rules Committee is planning to recommend that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania adopt new Pa.R.Crim.P. 150 (Bench Warrants) that will provide the procedures to be followed when a bench warrant is issued. This proposal has not been submitted for review by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
The following explanatory Report highlights the Committee's considerations in formulating this proposal. Please note that the Committee's Report should not be confused with the official Committee Comments to the rules. Also note that the Supreme Court does not adopt the Committee's Comments or the contents of the explanatory Reports.
The text of the proposed new rule precedes the Report.
We request that interested persons submit suggestions, comments, or objections concerning this proposal in writing to the Committee through counsel,
Anne T. Panfil, Chief Staff Counsel
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Criminal Procedural Rules Committee
5035 Ritter Road, Suite 800
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
fax: (717) 795-2106
e-mail: criminal.rules@pacourts.usno later than Wednesday, April 7, 2004.
By the Criminal Procedural Rules Committee
JOHN J. DRISCOLL,
Chair
Annex A
TITLE 234. RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CHAPTER 1. SCOPE OF RULES, CONSTRUCTION AND DEFINITIONS, LOCAL RULES
PART E. Miscellaneous Warrants Rule 150. Bench Warrants.
(A) In a court case when a bench warrant is issued, the case is to proceed in accordance with the following procedures.
(1) When a defendant or witness is arrested pursuant to a bench warrant, he or she shall be taken without unnecessary delay for a hearing on the bench warrant. The hearing shall be conducted by the judicial officer who issued the bench warrant, or, if the judicial officer is unavailable, another judicial officer designated by the president judge or by the president judge's designee to conduct bench warrant hearings.
(2) In the discretion of the judicial officer, the bench warrant hearing may be conducted using two-way simultaneous audio-visual communication.
(3) If the bench warrant hearing cannot be conducted promptly after the arrest:
(a) the defendant or witness shall be lodged in the county jail pending the hearing;
(b) the authority in charge of the county jail promptly shall notify the court that the individual is being held pursuant to the bench warrant; and
(c) the bench warrant hearing shall be conducted without unnecessary delay. Under no circumstances shall the individual be detained without a bench warrant hearing
(i) longer than 72 hours when the bench warrant is executed in the judicial district of issuance, or,
(ii) longer than 144 hours when the bench warrant is executed outside the judicial district of issuance. When the subject of the bench warrant is in custody on another matter in the judicial district in which the bench warrant is executed, the 144-hour time limit begins to run upon notice to the judicial district of issuance that the proceeding for which the individual is in custody is concluded.
(4) At the conclusion of the bench warrant hearing following the disposition of the matter, the judicial officer immediately shall vacate the bench warrant and order that notice of the vacated warrant promptly be given to all computer networks into which the bench warrant has been entered.
(5) If a bench warrant hearing is not held within the time limits in paragraph (A)(3)(c),
(a) the bench warrant shall expire by operation of law, and the individual promptly shall be released from custody; and
(b) notice of the expired warrant promptly shall be given to all computer networks into which the bench warrant has been entered.
(B) As used in this rule, ''judicial officer'' is limited to the district justice or judge who issued the bench warrant, or the district justice or judge designated by the president judge or the president judge's designee to conduct bench warrant hearings when the issuing district justice or judge is unavailable.
Comment This rule addresses only the procedures to be followed after a bench warrant is issued, and does not apply to execution of bench warrants outside the Commonwealth, which are governed by the extradition procedures in 42 Pa.C.S. § 9101 et seq., or to warrants issued in connection with probation or parole proceedings.
Paragraph (A)(2) permits the bench warrant hearing to be conducted using two-way simultaneous audio-visual communication, which is a form of advanced communication technology. See Rule 103. Utilizing this technology will aid the court in complying with this rule, and in ensuring individuals arrested on bench warrants are not detained unnecessarily.
Pursuant to paragraph (A)(3)(c)(ii), when the subject of the bench warrant is being held in another case in the judicial district in which the bench warrant is executed, an official in that judicial district promptly upon the conclusion of the proceeding for which the individual is in custody must notify the judicial district of issuance that the proceeding is concluded, and the bench warrant hearing must be conducted as soon as possible.
Once a bench warrant is executed and the defendant is taken into custody, the bench warrant no longer is valid, and paragraphs (A)(4) and (A)(5)(b) ensure the warrant is removed from the all computer networks into which the warrant has been entered.
To ensure compliance with the prompt bench warrant hearing requirement, the president judge or the president judge's designee is required to designate a district justice to cover for unavailable district justices or a judge to cover for unavailable judges. The designated judicial officers will conduct bench warrant hearings only when the judicial officer will be unavailable to conduct the bench warrant hearing within the time requirements of this rule. See also Rule 132 for the temporary assignment of district justices. It is expected that the practice in some judicial districts of a judge who knows he or she will be unavailable asking another judge to handle his or her cases during the judge's absence would continue.
Paragraph (A)(4) requires the judicial officer to vacate the bench warrant at the conclusion of the bench warrant hearing. The current practice in some judicial districts of having the clerk of courts cancel the bench warrant on the computer system upon receipt of a return of service is consistent with this paragraph, as long as the clerk of courts promptly provides notice of the return of service to the issuing judge.
It is incumbent upon the court to monitor the time individuals are detained pending their bench warrant hearing and to ensure compliance with the immediate release requirements of paragraph (A)(5) when the detained individual has not had a bench warrant hearing within the time limits of this rule.
For the procedures concerning violation of the conditions of bail, see Chapter 5 Part B.
As used in this rule, ''court'' includes district justice courts.
For the arrest warrants that initiate proceedings in court cases, see Chapter 5, Part B(3)(a), Rules 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, and 518. For the arrest warrants that initiate proceedings in summary cases, see Chapter 4, Part D(1), Rules 430 and 431.
Official Note: Adopted ____ , 2004, effective ____ , 2004.
Committee Explanatory Reports:
Report explaining proposed new Rule 150 providing procedures for bench warrants published at 34 Pa.B. 1429 (March 13, 2004).
REPORT
Proposed New Pa.R.Crim.P. 150
PROCEDURES WHEN BENCH WARRANT IS ISSUED I. INTRODUCTION
The Criminal Procedural Rules Committee is proposing new Pa.R.Crim.P. 150 (Bench Warrants), which sets forth the procedures to be followed when a bench warrant is issued. This rule was developed (1) as the result of the Committee's review of the bench warrant and arrest warrant forms being developed for use by the Common Pleas Criminal Court Case Management System (CPCMS) and consideration of some questions from the CPCMS staff concerning bench warrants and whether there should be a time limit on how long a defendant may be confined after being arrested on the bench warrant before being brought before a judge for a bench warrant hearing, and (2) from the members' own experiences representing clients who have been the subject of bench warrants. The members opined that bench warrant practice is one area of criminal practice that is fraught with abuses, particularly with regard to the time the arrested individual spends in custody pending a bench warrant hearing. They have found that frequently the judge who issues the bench warrant is not given notice that the individual has been arrested on that bench warrant, there does not appear to be a procedure for scheduling the bench warrant hearing, and if there is a scheduling procedure, rarely does it provide for a prompt hearing. The members also noted the lack of a statewide bench warrant rule has led to many local rules for bench warrants.1
The Committee researched other states' rules and statutes to see whether there are any ''model'' bench warrant rules and what provisions these rules or statutes include. We found very few rules or statutes governing bench warrants specifically, with most only providing procedures for arrest warrants in general. The Committee also reviewed Pennsylvania's Rules of Procedure and found that only Pa.R.C.P. 1910.13-1 (Failure or Refusal to Appear Pursuant to Order of Court. Bench Warrant) sets forth procedures following the issuance of a bench warrant.2
After completing its review and thoroughly discussing the issue, the Committee agreed there should be a new Rule of Criminal Procedure governing the procedures following the issuance of a bench warrant, and the new rule should:
* apply both to defendants and witnesses, including investigating grand jury witnesses
* make it clear that district justices would proceed under this new rule only when handling court cases, otherwise they would proceed under the summary case arrest warrant rules, Rules 430 and 431
* ensure the court receives notice when an individual is arrested on a bench warrant
* require that the district justice or judge who issued the bench warrant is the judicial officer before whom the defendant or witness should be taken when arrested
* provide a procedure for coverage when these ''issuing authorities'' are unavailable, and that should be accomplished by the president judge designating another district justice or judge to provide coverage
* make it clear only another district justice may cover for a district justice and only another judge may cover for a judge
* require that individuals arrested on a bench warrant must be brought before the issuing district justice or judge or designated district justice or judge as soon as reasonably possible following the arrest and in no case may the arrested individual be detained longer than 72 hours without a hearing, or 144 hours when the bench warrant is executed outside the judicial district from where it was issued
* encourage the use of advanced communication technology for the bench warrant hearing, a tool that will be helpful in ensuring prompt bench warrant hearings
* provide that the bench warrant be vacated at the conclusion of the bench warrant hearing and removed from the computer systems
* not address when bench warrants may be issued3
With these points in mind, the Committee developed new Pa.R.Crim.P. 150 (Bench Warrants) as more fully explained below.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Placement
The Committee is proposing the new bench warrant rule go in the general provisions section of the rules, Chapter 1, since the rule will apply to bench warrants issued by (1) the common pleas court in court cases and (2) the minor judiciary when handling a court case. In order to accommodate warrants in this Chapter, the Committee is proposing that a new subsection, Part E, be created. This new subsection would be titled ''Miscellaneous Warrants.'' The Committee reasoned the new section should not be limited to bench warrants, but should be broad enough in scope to address procedures related to other types of warrants that are not for instituting proceedings,4 if such other rule procedures become necessary or desirable. The new bench warrant rule would be the first rule in this new subsection, numbered Rule 150.
B. New Pa.R.Crim.P. 150
1. Scope
New Rule 150 applies to warrants that do no institute proceedings, denoted ''bench warrants,'' and sets forth the procedures to follow after a bench warrant is issued. In addition, the rule applies to bench warrants issued for a defendant in a case and for witnesses, including investigating grand jury witnesses. The rule, however, does not apply to bench warrants executed outside the Commonwealth, which are covered by the extradition procedures in 42 Pa.C.S. § 9101 et seq., or to warrants issued in probation and parole proceedings.
2. Terminology
The Committee discussed, in the context of a bench warrant proceeding, how to refer to the district justices and judges who would issue bench warrants and preside at bench warrant hearings. We considered and rejected using ''issuing authority,'' because this term has a long history in the rules as being applicable to the judicial officer who issues process to institute proceedings or for search warrants or to preside over summary proceedings. Because some members expressed concern about the potential confusion using ''issuing authority'' in this context would have, the Committee agreed instead to use ''judicial officer'' to encompass the presiding district justice or judge who issued the bench warrant or the district justice or judge designated by the president judge to conduct the bench warrant hearings when the presiding district justice or judge are unavailable. The use of ''judicial officer'' in Rule 150 is explained in paragraph (B).
3. Paragraph (A)
Paragraph (A)(1) requires that the individual arrested on a bench warrant be taken without unnecessary delay for a bench warrant hearing before the judicial officer who issued the bench warrant. To ensure there are prompt bench warrant hearings, paragraph (A)(1) also includes the requirement that the president judge, or the president judge's designee, designate a ''replacement'' judicial officer to conduct the hearing if the issuing judicial officer is unavailable. The fifth paragraph of the Comment elaborates on these requirements, making it clear that the ''replacement'' judicial officer only presides when the presiding judicial officer is unavailable. This paragraph also favorably acknowledges the practice in some judicial districts of permitting a judge who will be unavailable to make arrangements with another judge to handle his or her cases while the judge is unavailable.
Paragraph (A)(2) provides for the use of ''two-way simultaneous audio-visual communication'' to conduct the bench warrant hearing as another means of ensuring prompt bench warrant hearings. This provision addresses the availability of the judicial officer, including an investigating grand jury supervising judge, as well as the situation in which an individual is arrested on a bench warrant in another county. The correlative Comment provision explains the two-way simultaneous audio-visual communication is a form of ''advanced communication technology'' as defined in Rule 103.
Paragraph (A)(3) addresses the procedures when no judicial officer is available to conduct the bench warrant hearing ''promptly after the arrest,'' and is similar to the notice provisions in Civil Rule 1910.13-1(d). In the case when the judicial officer is unavailable, (1) the arrested individual must be lodged in the county jail pending the hearing, paragraph (A)(3)(a); (2) the authority in charge of the jail promptly must notify the court of the arrest and detention, paragraph (A)(3)(b); and (3) the hearing must be held without unnecessary delay and under no circumstances may the individual be detained without a bench warrant hearing longer than 72 hours after an arrest within the county of issuance, paragraph (A)(3)(c)(i). The Committee discussed at length the time limitation to impose for the detention of individuals arrested on bench warrants held without a bench warrant hearing. Recognizing the scheduling demands in the judicial districts, as well as the fact that the 72-hour time limit in Pa.R.C.P. 1910.13-1(d) has not created an undue burden on the judicial districts, the Committee agreed this time limit is reasonable.
A more complicated issue concerned the situation when the individual is arrested outside the judicial district of issuance. The members expressed concern that the 72-hour time limit was unrealistic when, given the difficulties in some cases of retrieving an individual from another judicial district, particularly when the judicial district of arrest is a great distance away from the judicial district of issuance. Ultimately, the Committee concluded a 144-hour outside time limit was reasonable, providing sufficient time for the judicial district of issuance to make arrangements for the individual's return without unnecessarily prolonging the individual's detention. The Committee also discussed at length a related issue concerning when the time limit would begin to run when the individual arrested on the bench warrant is in custody on another matter in the judicial district in which the bench warrant was executed. The members agreed the disposition of the matter pending in the other judicial district would take precedence over the bench warrant so the time limit for detention on the bench warrant should not run until the other matter is concluded. Paragraph (A)(3)(c)(ii) sets forth the 144-hour time limit and provides in cases in which there is a pending case, the 144-hour time limit does not begin to run until notice of the conclusion of the pending proceeding is provided to the judicial district of issuance. The timing and the importance of proceeding as soon as possible after the conclusion of the pending case are further explained in the third paragraph of the Comment.
Paragraph (A)(4) is taken from Civil Rule 1910.13-1(c), and requires that the bench warrant is to be vacated at the conclusion of the bench warrant hearing following the disposition of the matter. The Committee agreed a comparable provision in the Criminal Rules' bench warrant rules that requires the judicial officer to dispose of the bench warrant proceeding as well as vacate the warrant makes sense in view of the ongoing problems concerning adequate warrant controls and ensuring defunct warrants are removed from the national computer systems. This requirement will ensure the warrant is removed from all computer networks into which the bench warrant has been entered to prevent the individual from being re-arrested on the invalid warrant. The Comment reiterates that once the bench warrant is executed and the individual is taken into custody, the bench warrant is no longer valid. In addition, the Comment recognizes the existing practice in some judicial districts of having the clerk of courts cancel the bench warrant on the court's computer system when he or she receives a return of service, but cautions in these circumstances, the clerk promptly must provide notice of the return of service to the judge who issued the warrant.
Another issue the Committee had some difficulty with concerned what should occur when the time limits in paragraph (A)(3)(c) expire. The Committee majority agreed there should be an automatic release from custody at the expiration of the time limit, and to accomplish this, the rule should provide that the bench warrant expires by operation of law. See paragraph (A)(5). A related issue that concerned the members was how to ensure the court knows the individual is eligible for release and is released promptly when the time limit expires. The Committee agreed it is the responsibility of someone in the court system--judge, court administrator, clerk of courts, or even counsel--to monitor the time and make sure the jail is told to release the individual. This point is emphasized in the seventh paragraph of the Comment.
Finally, the Comment also includes (1) cross-references to the summary case and court case rules governing arrest warrants that initiate proceedings to clearly distinguish those procedures from the new bench warrant procedures, and to Chapter 5 Part B concerning violation of the conditions of bail; and (2) an explanation that ''court'' as used in Rule 150 is not limited to courts of record but also includes district justice courts.
______1 In many of these cases, in implementing the local rules, the judicial districts have not complied with Rule 105 (Local Rules) making the local rules difficult to find and monitor.
2 Rule 1910.13-1 provides, inter alia,
(c) Upon appearance in court by a party on the matter underlying the bench warrant, the bench warrant shall be vacated forthwith and the notice shall be given to all computer networks into which the bench warrant has been entered.
(d) The bench warrant shall direct that if the court is unavailable at the time of the party's arrest, the party shall be lodged in the county jail until such time as court is opened for business. The authority in charge of the county jail must promptly notify the sheriff's office and the director of the domestic relations section that defendant is being held pursuant to the bench warrant. Under no circumstances shall the party remain in the county jail longer than seventy-two hours prior to hearing.3 In discussing this issue, the members noted there are so many instances when the judiciary issue bench warrants that it would be impossible to adequately address this in a rule. At the same time, some members expressed concerns that in some cases, bench warrants are being issued in inappropriate situations. Ultimately, after concluding that with the time limits being built into the new rule, judges will pay more attention to when they issue bench warrants, the Committee agreed the new rule should cover only the procedures once a bench warrant has been issued.
4 The procedures for instituting criminal proceedings by arrest warrant are governed by Rules 430 and 431 in summary cases and Rules 513--518 in court cases.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 04-419. Filed for public inspection March 12, 2004, 9:00 a.m.]
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