THE COURTS
Title 255—LOCAL COURT RULES
CHESTER COUNTY
Adoption of Amended Court of Common Pleas Juvenile Rules
[51 Pa.B. 6023]
[Saturday, September 18, 2021]
Administrative Order No. 14-2021 And Now, this 7th day of September, 2021, the following amended Chester County Court of Common Pleas Juvenile Rules (''Amended Juvenile Rules'') are adopted in their entirety. In accordance with Pennsylvania Rule of Juvenile Court Procedure 121, these proposed Amended Juvenile Rules were submitted to and approved by the Juvenile Court Procedural Rules Committee.
Effective Date
These Amended Juvenile Rules shall become effective thirty (30) days from the date of their publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Procedural Compliance
In conformity with Pa.R.J.A. 103(d), the Chester County Court Administrator shall do the following:
1) Distribute two (2) paper copies of the Amended Juvenile Rules to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, along with a copy of the Amended Juvenile Rules in an agreed upon format which complies with the requirements of 1 Pa. Code § 13.11.
2) File one copy of the Amended Juvenile Rules with the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
3) Publish a copy of the Amended Juvenile Rules on the Chester County website.
4) Incorporate the Amended Juvenile Rules in the complete set of the published Chester County Court Rules no later than thirty (30) days following publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
By the Court
JOHN L. HALL,
President Judge
CHESTER COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS JUVENILE RULES Rule L.101. Citing the Rules.
These rules shall be known as the Chester County Court of Common Pleas Juvenile Rules, and shall be cited as ''C.C.Juv.Rule _____ .''
Rule L.140. Hearing Officers Authorized to Hear Juvenile Bench Warrant Hearings.
All lawyers employed by the County of Chester to preside as Hearing Officers in juvenile cases are hereby designated to preside over and hear juvenile bench warrant hearings.
Rule L.151. Assignment of Counsel to Juveniles in Juvenile Court.
The Chester County Public Defender's office or, in the event of a conflict, assigned conflict counsel shall represent all juveniles against whom a petition has been filed in juvenile court and who have not retained private counsel.
Rule L.210.A. Arrest Warrant Procedures in Juvenile Delinquency Court.
All magisterial district judges of Chester County (Fifteenth Judicial District) are hereby designated as issuing authorities for arrest warrants for juveniles in delinquency cases.
Applications for Chester County juvenile arrest warrants made pursuant to Pa.R.J.C.P. 210.A, with approval of an attorney for the Commonwealth pursuant to Pa.R.J.C.P. 210.B and 231.B when required, shall be submitted to the local magisterial district judge during business hours and to the ''on-call'' magisterial district judge after business hours.
Rule L.220.A(2)(b). Juvenile Support Bench Warrants.
Any juvenile (a person who is less than eighteen (18) years of age) taken into custody pursuant to a bench warrant issued for failure to pay support shall be transported to the Chester County Youth Center (Youth Center) for detention until the bench warrant is quashed or a court of common pleas judge holds a seventy-two (72) hour hearing for the juvenile. In the event that the judge determines that further detention is warranted, the juvenile shall remain in the Youth Center. Under no circumstances shall such a juvenile be incarcerated in the Chester County Prison. The Youth Center shall immediately notify the appropriate supervisor of the Chester County Domestic Relations Office (DRO) to apprise the DRO of the juvenile's detention. Upon such notice, the DRO shall promptly perform all functions that it normally performs for incarcerated support defendants, including the scheduling of a seventy-two (72) hour hearing for the juvenile before a judge.
Rule L.310.A. Pre-Adjudication Conditions.
The Chester County juvenile probation office (''probation office'') is hereby authorized to impose reasonable pre-adjudication conditions on all juveniles against whom Petitions have been filed or are pending under the Juvenile Act, including a requirement that the juvenile submit to a urinalysis to determine controlled substance use. Such conditions shall be from among those previously approved by the court to protect the public, maintain the competencies of the juvenile and/or assist the probation office in recommending an appropriate disposition in the event of an adjudication of delinquency. Any juvenile, or attorney representing a juvenile, may seek emergency relief from the juvenile court supervising judge if any pre-adjudication condition imposed by the juvenile probation office is deemed to be unreasonable. Any juvenile who refuses, explicitly or implicitly, to comply with any pre-adjudication condition, including the refusal to submit to a urinalysis, without providing an adequate medical or other extraordinary reason to justify that refusal, shall be presumed by the court to have failed to successfully comply with that condition. In no event shall the court consider a juvenile's compliance or failure to comply with a pre-adjudication condition when it determines whether the juvenile committed any charged delinquent act.
Rule L.404.B. Prompt Adjudication Hearing for Non-Detained Juveniles.
All juvenile adjudication hearings scheduled for non-detained juveniles shall be held within five (5) months from the filing of a delinquency petition initiated pursuant to Pa.R.J.C.P. 330, unless the supervising judge of the Chester County juvenile court grants an extension. This five month period shall not include time during which the juvenile is sought to be arrested pursuant to a bench warrant.
This regulation is intended to better assure that non-detained juveniles receive an adjudicatory hearing within a reasonable time, pursuant to Pa.R.J.C.P. 404(B), and that Pa.R.J.C.P. 404(B) is construed to eliminate unjustifiable delay, in accordance with Pa.R.J.C.P. 101(B).
The Chester County Juvenile Probation Department, the attorneys for juvenile defendants and the Commonwealth shall make a good faith effort to schedule formal adjudication hearings within the five month period required by this regulation. If an extension of this five month period is sought, the attorneys for the subject juvenile and the Commonwealth shall schedule a conference with the supervising juvenile judge and the assigned probation officer to explain the reason(s) for the anticipated delay. Any such reason(s) must constitute good cause for an extension to be granted. Except for unusual circumstances, any extension granted shall be provided within an order scheduling the adjudicatory hearing to begin on a date certain. Dismissal of the petition shall not result from the failure of the adjudication hearing to be held within the above described five month period or any extension of it.
All future juvenile probation court reports shall provide, in the upper right hand comer of the first page, the filing date of the juvenile delinquency petition and the date when the five month period to hold the adjudication hearing ends. (The five month period shall be recalculated to eliminate any time a bench warrant remains unexecuted.)
Rule L.512. Creation of a Juvenile Court Restitution Fund.
A juvenile court restitution fund is created as follows:
Authority
The authority for the creation of a juvenile court restitution fund (''JCR Fund'') with contributions paid by juveniles supervised by the Chester County Juvenile Probation Office (''JPO'') may be found in the Juvenile Act at 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 6304.l(b), 6323(f), 6340(c.l) and 6352(a)(5), and in the Pennsylvania Code at 37 Pa. Code § 200.501 et seq. These statutory sections and rules permit a court of common pleas president judge to establish a restitution fund for victims of juvenile delinquent acts with monies provided by children supervised by a juvenile probation office.
Purpose of Fund
The purpose of the JCR Fund is to provide a means for children under the supervision of the JPO to earn money, through community service work, to reimburse crime victims for financial loss resulting from delinquent acts. In this manner, juvenile offenders are held accountable to their victims, required to benefit the community they harmed and provided opportunities to develop occupational competencies. Consequently, the JCR Fund purpose is consistent with the overarching goals of the Pennsylvania juvenile justice system to provide victim restoration and competency development.
Guidelines
The JPO shall establish and administer the JCR Fund in accordance with these guidelines, as supplemented by any revisions or additional procedures approved by the president judge.1
Juvenile Payor—A juvenile payor utilizing the JCR Fund is any child under the jurisdiction of the JPO whose conditions of supervision require the child to pay restitution to a victim of a delinquent act.
Victim Recipient—A victim recipient of the JCR Fund is any natural person (not a corporation, business or other organization unless ordered by a juvenile court judge in an individual case) who has submitted a restitution claim, approved by the JPO, which requests restitution for damages caused by a juvenile payor. Should the JCR Fund eventually have sufficient monies to routinely reimburse corporations, businesses and other organizations, the president judge may authorize those entities to be included as victim recipients.
JCR Fund Revenue
The JCR Fund will be provided funds in the following manner:
A. All monies previously collected by the JPO which remain in an existing restitution account shall be utilized as the initial JCR Fund.
B. The JPO shall collect a mandatory restitution fund contribution in the amount of $60.00 payable to the JCR Fund from every child subject to delinquency proceedings whose case results in an Informal Adjustment.
C. The JPO shall collect a mandatory restitution fund contribution in the amount of $40.00 payable to the JCR Fund from every child whose case results in a consent decree and $30.00 payable to the JCR Fund from every child whose case results in an adjudication.
D. Monies collected from a child whose case has been referred to the JPO by a magisterial district court due to the child's failure to pay summary offense fines and costs shall be deposited in the JCR Fund.
E. The president judge may approve other sources of revenue payable to the JCR Fund as the same become available, provided there is a statutory or other legal basis for doing so. The president judge may also revise the mandatory restitution fund contribution amount described above as deemed prudent to achieve the purpose of the JCR Fund.
JCR Fund Management
Any and all JCR Fund monies will be deposited into a Chester County government account maintained by the county treasurer's office and administered by the JPO. The purpose of this account will be to receive and disburse funds associated with the JCR Fund. Pursuant to the discretion of the president judge, the JCR Fund shall only be used to reimburse crime victims for financial losses resulting from delinquent acts. Disbursements from the JCR Fund shall require the review and signature approval of the chief juvenile probation officer (''Chief JPO'') and a deputy chief juvenile probation officer.
Review Committee
A committee to review the restitution reimbursement requests of a juvenile payor from the JCR Fund will be comprised of a deputy chief probation officer or a supervising probation officer designated by the Chief JPO and the probation officer assigned to the juvenile payor.
JCR Fund Expenditures
Juvenile payors will be able to request that they earn restitution and that victim recipients be reimbursed from the JCR Fund in the following manner:
A. The JPO will use an application form for juvenile payors. The application form will require the following information:
1. Descriptive information about the juvenile payor including name, date of birth, type and length of supervision, and ability to pay. Older juvenile payors who have the apparent ability to obtain employment will be required to explain why they are not employed and their efforts to gain employment.
2. A summary by the probation officer assigned to the juvenile payor regarding his/her overall performance while under supervision, including school, home and community behavior, community service hours ordered and completed and the amount of restitution ordered and paid to date.
B. The review committee will authorize the amount of eligible JCR Fund disbursements to be made on behalf of the juvenile payor.
C. The JPO will then arrange for the juvenile payor to perform community service and disburse restitution payments to all appropriate victim recipients in a proportionate share of the amount earned by the juvenile payor, calculated by the amount of community service hours worked multiplied by the Pennsylvania minimum wage.
D. The JPO may create incentives, as approved by the supervising judge of the juvenile court, for juvenile payors to avoid utilizing the JCR Fund and pay restitution directly to victim recipients, e.g. (1) if at least 50% of owed restitution is paid in cash, the wages earned by the juvenile payors shall be 20% higher than minimum wage; (2) if a juvenile payor pays all restitution within the first thirty days of supervision, any community service usually required by JPO as a condition of supervision (not community service necessary to earn JCR Fund monies) will be reduced or eliminated.
Maximum Disbursement
The initial maximum amount that may be disbursed from the JCR Fund on behalf of any juvenile payor shall be one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). A higher or lower maximum amount may be approved in the future by the president judge, provided any such higher or lower amount will allow the JCR Fund to maintain sustainability.
Suspension of Activity
The president judge shall have the authority to suspend any and all activities associated with the JCR Fund.
Audit
All payments to and disbursements from the JCR Fund shall be monitored monthly by the Chester County controller's office and shall be reviewed annually by that office in conjunction with the annual internal audit of the clerk of courts office, the adult probation office and the JPO.
Annual Report
The Chief JPO, or his/her designee, shall be responsible for the preparation of an annual report detailing the aggregate and individual data regarding payments to and disbursements from the JCR Fund. The annual report shall be provided to the president judge and supervising judge of the juvenile court.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 21-1566. Filed for public inspection September 17, 2021, 9:00 a.m.] _______
1 Any future changes authorized to be made by the president judge pursuant to these guidelines will not necessitate the promulgation of a new administrative regulation.
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