THE COURTS
Title 234—RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
[ 234 PA. CODE CHS. 1 AND 2 ]
[43 Pa.B. 7076]
[Saturday, December 7, 2013][Correction]
Order Amending Rules 203, 209 and 212 and Revision of the Comments to Rules 113, 205 and 210 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure; No. 438 Criminal Procedural Rules Doc. An error occurred at 43 Pa.B. 6649, 6650 (November 9, 2013). Existing text in the Comment to Rule 205 was not indicated by ellipses. The correct version of Rule 205 follows. The remainder of the document was accurate as printed.
Annex A
TITLE 234. RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CHAPTER 2. INVESTIGATIONS
PART A. Search Warrant Rule 205. Contents of Search Warrant.
Each search warrant shall be signed by the issuing authority and shall:
* * * * * (5) direct that the warrant be served in the daytime unless otherwise authorized on the warrant, provided that, for purposes of the rules of Chapter 200[.], Part A, the term ''daytime'' shall be used to mean the hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.;
* * * * *
Comment * * * * * Paragraph (5) supplements the requirement of Rule 203(C) that special reasonable cause must be shown to justify a nighttime search. A warrant allowing a nighttime search may also be served in the daytime.
[Paragraph (6) is intended to prevent delays that might otherwise occur if the particular issuing authority who issued the warrant is not on duty at the time a return thereon is ready. Thus, the warrant may be returned to the issuing authority who succeeded the first on duty.]
Paragraph (6) anticipates that the warrant will list the correct judicial officer to whom the warrant should be returned. There may be some instances in which the judicial officer who issues the warrant may not be the one to whom the warrant will be returned. For example, it is a common practice in many judicial districts to have an ''on-call'' magisterial district judge. This ''on-call'' judge would have the authority to issue search warrants anywhere in the judicial district but may not be assigned to the area in which the search warrant would be executed. There may be cases when the warrant is incorrectly returned to the judge who originally issued the warrant. In such cases, the issuing judge should forward the returned search warrant to the correct judicial officer. Thereafter, that judicial officer should administer the search warrant and supporting documents as provided for in these rules, including the Rule 210 requirement to file the search warrant and supporting documents with the clerk of courts.
Paragraph (8) implements the notice requirement in Rule 211(C). When the affidavit(s) is sealed pursuant to Rule 211, the justice or judge issuing the warrant must certify on the face of the warrant that there is good cause shown for sealing the affidavit(s) and must also state how long the affidavit will be sealed.
Official Note: Rule 2005 adopted October 17, 1973, effective 60 days hence; amended November 9, 1984, effective January 2, 1985; amended September 3, 1993, effective January 1, 1994; renumbered Rule 205 and amended March 1, 2000, effective April 1, 2001; amended October 19, 2005, effective February 1, 2006; Comment revised October 22, 2013, effective January 1, 2014.
Committee Explanatory Reports:
* * * * * Final Report explaining the October 22, 2013 revisions to the Comment regarding the return of the search warrant published at 43 Pa.B. 6652 (November 9, 2013).
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 13-2252. Filed for public inspection December 6, 2013, 9:00 a.m.]
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