THE COURTS
Title 237—JUVENILE RULES
PART I. RULES
[ 237 PA. CODE CH. 1 ]
Order Amending Rule 161 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Juvenile Court Procedure; No. 794 Supreme Court Rules Doc.
[49 Pa.B. 1512]
[Saturday, March 30, 2019]
Order Per Curiam
And Now, this 15th day of March, 2019, upon the recommendation of the Juvenile Court Procedural Rules Committee, the proposal having been published for public comment at 48 Pa.B. 4217 (July 21, 2018):
It is Ordered pursuant to Article V, Section 10 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania that Pennsylvania Rule of Juvenile Court Procedure 161 is amended in the following form.
This Order shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. No. 103(b), and shall be effective on July 1, 2019.
Annex A
TITLE 237. JUVENILE RULES
PART I. RULES
Subpart A. DELINQUENCY MATTERS
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
PART C. RECORDS
PART C(1). ACCESS TO JUVENILE RECORDS Rule 161. Inspecting, Copying, and Disseminating Juvenile Probation Files.
A. Inspecting and [copying] Copying. Except as provided in paragraph (C), juvenile probation files shall be open to inspection and/or copying only by:
1) the juvenile or the juvenile's attorney of record in the instant proceeding;
2) the attorney for the Commonwealth;
3) the State Sexual Offenders Assessment Board;
4) the Juvenile Court Judges' Commission; or
5) any other person, agency, or department by order of court.
B. [Electronic records] Juvenile Probation Information.
1) [Records which are maintained electronically] Information maintained by juvenile probation offices other than juvenile probation files shall be subject to inspection and/or copying only pursuant to court order.
2) Each juvenile probation office shall create a document, which describes the information that is maintained by the juvenile probation office concerning each juvenile. This document shall be open to inspection and copying pursuant to paragraph (A).
C. Contents of [order] Order. The order shall:
1) specify who shall be permitted to inspect the [record] file, information, or any portion [of the record] thereof;
2) specify who shall be permitted to copy the [record] file or information;
3) state that the file or information received shall not be disseminated to any person, agency, or department not listed in the court order; and
4) state that dissemination of any file or information received is a violation of the court order.
D. Disseminating.
1) The juvenile probation office has discretion to disseminate portions of its files or information to the juvenile, service providers, placement facilities, and courts and courts' professional staff of other jurisdictions when facilitating placement, the delivery of services, treatment, or transfer of the case to, or supervision by another jurisdiction consistent with applicable Federal or state law.
2) Unauthorized dissemination of any file or information [contained in the juvenile probation file] to a person, agency, or department not permitted to inspect or copy the file pursuant to this rule may result in a finding of contempt of court.
Comment Documents contained in the juvenile probation files are not a part of the official court record unless the juvenile probation office officially files the documents in the official court record. Those documents placed in the official court record are governed by Rule 160 and 42 Pa.C.S. § 6307.
Juvenile probation files containing a juvenile's disclosures for the purpose of treatment should be reviewed for potentially privileged communications prior to dissemination. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Carter, 821 A.2d 601 (Pa. Super. 2003).
The notes of a juvenile probation officer, which describe the officer's impressions or personal observations but which are not included in a report to the court or other report, are not considered a component of a juvenile probation file that is open to inspection or copying under paragraph (A). ''Juvenile probation files,'' as used in paragraph (A) and defined in Rule 120, is intended to include files existing in whole or in part in either paper or digital form.
Nothing in this rule is intended to preclude the juvenile probation office from sharing information [in its file] with the juvenile.
Official Note: Rule 161 adopted May 21, 2012, effective August 1, 2012. Amended August 23, 2012, effective immediately. Amended March 15, 2019, effective July 1, 2019.
Committee Explanatory Reports:
Final Report explaining the provisions of Rule 161 published with the Court's Order at 42 Pa.B. 3203 (June 9, 2012).
Final Report explaining the amendments to Rule 161 published with the Court's Order at 42 Pa.B. 5734 (September 8, 2012).
Final Report explaining the amendments to Rule 161 published with the Court's Order at 49 Pa.B. 1512 (March 30, 2019).
FINAL REPORT1
Amendment of Pa.R.J.C.P. 161 On March 15, 2019, the Supreme Court amended Rule of Juvenile Court Procedure 161 to clarify that ''juvenile probation files'' used in paragraph (A) includes records existing in both paper and digital form; and (2) distinguish between ''juvenile probation files'' and other information maintained by the juvenile probation office.
Rule 161(A) provides access to juvenile probation files for an identified class of people (e.g., juvenile's attorney, attorney for the Commonwealth). Rule 161(B) states that records maintained electronically by juvenile probation offices are only accessible by court order. The Juvenile Court Procedural Rules Committee received feedback that Rule 161(B) was being interpreted to require a court order for access to digital forms of juvenile probation files being ''maintained electronically'' by the juvenile probation office.
Rule 161(B) was intended to limit access to non-file information on the Juvenile Case Management System (JCMS), not to ''juvenile probation files,'' as defined by Rule 120. The JCMS is a software application used by juvenile probation offices for case management purposes. If a record exists on JCMS and that record is part of a juvenile probation file, see Pa.R.J.C.P. 120, then that record is accessible pursuant to paragraph (A). If there is information on JCMS that is not part of the juvenile probation file, then a court order is required pursuant to paragraph (B) to access that information.
To clarify, ''file'' is used in Rule 161 to refer to the ''juvenile probation file'' and ''information'' to refer to all other information maintained by the juvenile probation office not part of the ''juvenile probation file.'' Further, the Comment has been revised to instruct that paragraph (A) is intended to apply regardless of the form of the file.
The Committee received a comment seeking further clarification about the interpretation and application of Rule 161. Two of the areas of inquiry resulted in further revisions. First, a citation to Commonwealth v. Carter, 821 A.2d 601 (Pa. Super. 2003) was added to the Comment to signal that juvenile probation files containing a juvenile's disclosures for the purpose of treatment should be reviewed for potentially privileged communications prior to dissemination. Second, Rule 161(A)(1) was revised to clarify that the juvenile and the juvenile's attorney in the instant proceeding were permitted to copy and inspect a juvenile probation file without first obtaining an order of court.
The amendments will become effective July 1, 2019.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 19-448. Filed for public inspection March 29, 2019, 9:00 a.m.] _______
1 The Committee's Final 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 Committee's explanatory Final Reports.
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