THE COURTS

Title 255—LOCAL COURT RULES

SOMERSET COUNTY

Custody of Exhibits; Local Rule 5102, 5103; 27 MISC 2024

[54 Pa.B. 1950]
[Saturday, April 13, 2024]

Order of Court

 And Now, this 22 day of March, 2024, in compliance with Rule 103(d) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Judicial Administration, it is hereby ordered that the Court adopts the following Rule of Judicial Administration Custody of Exhibits regarding Somerset County's custody of exhibits, to be effective thirty (30) days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. This Rule shall supersede and replace Somerset County Rule of Judicial Administration 4090.

 The Court Administrator's is directed as follows:

 1. File one certified copy of this Order with the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts to adminrules@ pacourts.us;

 2. Submit two paper copies and one electronic copy in Microsoft Word format only to the Legislative Reference Bureau, bulletin@palrb.us for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin;

Pa. Code and Bulletin
Legislative Reference Bureau
647 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120

 3. Publication of the local rule on the Somerset County Courts website.

 4. Provide an electronic copy of this Order to the Somerset Legal Journal for publication therein;

 5. Incorporate this Rule into the Local Rules of Somerset County within thirty (30) days of publication of the Local Rule in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and publish the Rule on the Court's official website;

 6. File this Order in the Prothonotary's Office of Somerset County.

By the Court

SCOTT P. BITTNER, 
President Judge

CUSTODY OF EXHIBITS

Rule 5102. General Provisions.

 The Court Reporter or Court Recorder/Technician for all, or a portion, of a court proceeding shall be designated as the ''Custodian,'' as defined by Pa.R.J.A. 5101(a)(2), for all documentary exhibits, photographs, and photographs of non-documentary exhibits accepted or rejected during the court proceeding submitted during that period.

 (a) If only one custodian is involved with a proceeding, he or she shall file with the appropriate records office all submitted exhibits and index of exhibits within five (5) business days of the conclusion of the proceeding.

 (b) If more than one custodian is involved with a proceeding, the first custodian shall provide the subsequent custodian (and so on, if more than two custodians) with the submitted exhibits and index of exhibits for that court proceeding. The custodian at the conclusion of the proceeding shall file with the appropriate records office all submitted exhibits and index of exhibits within five (5) business days of the conclusion of the proceeding. However, if a proceeding is transcribed automatically and there are exhibits introduced in that proceeding, then those exhibits shall be attached to and filed with the transcript of the proceeding and not filed separately.

 (c) The index of exhibits form is attached hereto and made a part hereof as Exhibit ''A''.

Rule 5103. Custody of Exhibits—Special Provisions.

 (a) The proponent shall retain custody of physical evidence (including, but not limited to, weapons, cash, other items of value, drugs, or other dangerous/hazardous materials or substances) and bulky, oversized, or otherwise physically impractical exhibits at all times during and after a court proceeding.

 (1) Any non-documentary exhibits shall be photographed by the proponent, converted to a letter sized document, and appropriately marked and produced during the court proceeding for inclusion in the documentary record.

 (2) Unless otherwise provided by the presiding judge, at the conclusion of the court proceeding, non-documentary evidence shall be returned to the proponent for safekeeping as required by any applicable retention schedule, statute, rule, regulation, or policy, or until further order of court.

 (3) Unless otherwise ordered, the proponent or filing office shall maintain non-documentary exhibits for the following time periods, at a minimum:

 i. Non-criminal matters. Exhibits shall be retained until the later of the expiration of the appeal period or final disposition of the appeal, if one is taken.

 ii. Criminal matters.

 1. Homicide cases. Exhibits shall be retained for seventy-five (75) years.

 2. Summary cases. Exhibits shall be retained for five (5) years.

 3. Other cases. Exhibits shall be retained for twenty (20) years.

 (b) Any digital exhibit that cannot be printed (ie. audio or video recording) shall be entered into the records on a USB drive (or other digital format if expressly approved by the Court). If one party has multiple digital exhibits, they may be submitted together on one USB drive.

 (c) Any exhibit containing confidential information or the equivalent to any of the categories enumerated in PA. Access Policy § 8.0 shall include a Confidential Document Form provided by the proponent so that the document can be properly sealed by the record office.

Somerset County

Custodial List of Exhibits Form

Case Name: __________

Docket No. _________________

Attorneys: _________________ , Plaintiff _________________ Defense

Exhibit Number	Description of Exhibit	Proponent	Admitted	Rejected	Bulk Exhibit

Completed date: _________________

Court Reporter/Technician ___________________________

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 24-495. Filed for public inspection April 12, 2024, 9:00 a.m.]

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