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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 24-332

THE COURTS

Title 255—LOCAL COURT RULES

JEFFERSON COUNTY

Custody of Exhibits During and After Court Proceedings; No. 5-2024 A.D.

[54 Pa.B. 1311]
[Saturday, March 16, 2024]

Order

 And Now, this 29th day of February 2024, It Is Ordered That Jefferson County Local Rule of Judicial Administration 5104 (governing custody of exhibits) is hereby adopted in the following form:

Rule 5104. Custody of Exhibits.

 (a)(1) During jury trials, an employee from the Prothonotary/Clerk of Courts' Office shall safeguard and maintain exhibits. If no one from that office is available, that duty shall fall to the official Court Recorder. In all other proceedings over which a judge is presiding, the Court Recorder or judge shall safeguard and maintain exhibits.

 (a)(2) After a verdict is rendered in a jury trial, an employee from the Prothonotary/Clerk of Courts' office shall take immediate possession of the exhibits for filing and shall prepare an accompanying index of exhibits in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. 5102(b)(2). For all other proceedings, the Court Recorder or judge shall take possession of the exhibits and a judicial employee shall prepare the accompanying index. If a written decision will be rendered at a later date, the exhibits and their index shall be filed with the corresponding decision. Otherwise, the Court Recorder shall remit the exhibits and index to the Prothonotary/Clerk of Courts' office for filing within 5 business days.

 (a)(3) A proponent of a non-documentary or photographic exhibit shall enter into evidence a representative photograph (or multiple photographs if more than one perspective is evidentiarily relevant) of the item. Said photograph(s) will be filed with the record. Additionally, a proponent of documentary exhibits collectively totaling more than 50 pages shall, along with the physical documents, enter into evidence a corresponding CD, flash drive, or similar electronic medium to be filed with the record.

 (a)(4) Unless otherwise directed by the judge, the proponent of any exhibit that is not in documentary or photographic form shall retake possession of the exhibit and maintain it in a secure location until the relevant exhibit retention period has expired. See Destruction of Exhibits, below. The Court Recorder or judge shall take possession of the physical copies of documents and photographs entered into evidence via an electronic device and shall dispose of them once they are no longer necessary for disposition of the matter in the trial court.

 (b) Hearings held before a master, hearing officer, board of arbitrators, or magisterial district judge shall not be subject to the requirements set forth in subsection (a) of this Rule.

 Destruction of Exhibits. All exhibits not subject to an existing rule, e.g., a rule governing the retention of records, may be disposed of, at the earliest, in accordance with the following time schedule:

 Non-criminal matters. Ninety (90) days after final disposition in the trial court or, if an appeal is taken, ninety (90) days after final disposition in the highest court to which an appeal is taken.

 Criminal matters.

 1. Homicide cases. Seventy-five (75) years.

 2. Summary cases. Five (5) years.

 3. All other cases. Twenty (20) years.

 This Order shall become effective thirty (30) days after the date of publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

By the Court

HON. JOHN HENRY FORADORA, 
President Judge

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 24-332. Filed for public inspection March 15, 2024, 9:00 a.m.]


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