CHAPTER 111. TORT CLAIMS LITIGATION Sec.
111.1. Service of process.
111.2. [Reserved].
111.3. [Reserved].
111.4. Venue.Authority The provisions of this Chapter 111 issued under 42 Pa.C.S. App. 11, unless otherwise noted.
Source The provisions of this Chapter 111 adopted January 4, 1980, effective January 5, 1980, 10 Pa.B. 39, amended through April 25, 1986, effective April 26, 1986, 16 Pa.B. 1486, unless otherwise noted. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (86533) to (86534), (68616) to (68619), (103551) to (103552) and (86537).
§ 111.1. Service of process.
(a) Service of process on Commonwealth agencies in actions brought under 42 Pa.C.S. § § 8501—8564 (relating to matters affecting government units) shall be made at the principal office of the defendant agency as set forth in subsection (b) or at the local office of the defendant agency as designed in § 111.4(c) (relating to venue). Service of process shall also be made at the principal office of the Attorney General as set forth in subsection (b), and at the Office of Attorney General as set forth in subsection (d).
(b) The addresses of the principal offices designated to accept service of an agency are as follows:
Department of Aging Office of Chief Counsel 555 Walnut Street, 5th Floor Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17101-1919
Department of Agriculture Office of Chief Counsel Room 201 Agriculture Building 2301 North Cameron Street Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17110
Office of Attorney General Torts Litigation Unit 15th Floor, Strawberry SquareHarrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Office of Auditor General Office of Chief Counsel 229 Finance Building Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Department of Banking Office of Chief Counsel Market Square Plaza 17 North 2nd Street, 13th Floor Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17101
Department of Community and Economic DevelopmentOffice of Chief CounselCommonwealth Keystone Building400 North Street, Plaza LevelHarrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Department of Conservation and Natural ResourcesOffice of Chief CounselRachel Carson State Office BuildingPost Office Box 8767Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105-8767
Department of Corrections Office of Chief Counsel2520 Lisburn Road Post Office Box 598 Camp Hill, Pennsylvania 17001-8764
Department of Education (If a Tort claim is made involving State universities, do not serve the Department of Education, serve the State System of Higher Education.)Office of Chief Counsel Ninth Floor, Harristown 2 333 Market Street Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17126-0333
Pennsylvania Emergency Management AgencyOffice of Chief Council2605 Interstate DriveHarrisburg, Pennsylvania 17110
Department of Environmental Protection Office of Chief Counsel 16th Floor, Rachel Carson State Office BuildingPost Office Box 2063 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105-2063
Fish and Boat Commission Office of Chief Counsel 1601 Elmerton Avenue Post Office Box 67000 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17106-7000
Game Commission Executive Director 2001 Elmerton Ave. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17110-9797
Department of General Services Office of Chief Counsel 603 North Office Building Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17125
Governor’s Office Office of Counsel to Governor 225 Main Capitol Building Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Department of Health Office of Chief Counsel 8th Floor West, Health and Welfare Building Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17108
Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance AgencyOffice of Chief Counsel1200 North 7th StreetHarrisburg, Pennsylvania 17102
Pennsylvania Higher Educational Facilities AuthorityExecutive Director1035 Mumma RoadWormleysburg, Pennsylvania 17043**Post Office Box 990, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania 17001-0990
Pennsylvania Housing Finance AgencyOffice of Chief Counsel211 North Front StreetHarrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105-8029
Historical and Museum Commission Office of Chief Counsel 500 State Museum BuildingPost Office Box 1026 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Insurance Department Office of Chief Counsel 13th Floor—Strawberry Square Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Department of Labor and Industry Office of Chief Counsel 10th Floor, Labor and Industry Building651 Boas Street Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17121
Liquor Control Board Office of Chief Counsel 401 Northwest Office Building Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17124-0001
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Attn: Office of Chief CounselBuilding 7-36Fort Indiantown Gap Annville, Pennsylvania 17003-5002
Board of Probation and Parole Office of Chief Counsel 1101 South Front Street, Suite 5100 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17104
Public Utility CommissionSecretaryNorth Office BuildingPost Office Box 3265Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105-3265
Department of Public Welfare (Including restoration centers, State mental hospitals, mental retardation centers, youth development centers, youth forestry camps, and State general hospitals.)
Department of Public Welfare Office of Legal Counsel3rd Floor West, Health and Welfare Building Post Office Box 26757th and Forster Streets Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Department of Revenue Office of Chief Counsel Tenth Floor Strawberry Square Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17128
Securities Commission Office of Chief Counsel 2nd Floor—Eastgate 1010 North 7th Street Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17102-1410
Department of State Office of Chief Counsel 301 North Office Building Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120-0029
Pennsylvania State Police Office of Chief Counsel 3rd Floor, Department Headquarters 1800 Elmerton AvenueHarrisburg, Pennsylvania 17110
State System of Higher Education Office of Chief CounselDixon University Center2986 North Second StreetHarrisburg, Pennsylvania 17110
Department of Transportation Office of Chief Counsel 9th Floor, Commonwealth Keystone Building 400 North StreetHarrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120-0041
Department of Treasury Office of Chief CounselFinance BuildingHarrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120-0018
(c) Service upon bureaus and commissions not listed in subsection (b) shall be made upon the principal or local office of the bureau or commission, and shall also be made upon the offices of the Attorney General as designated in subsection (a).
(d) The office of the Attorney General designated for service of process only in actions where venue is located in the following counties is as follows:
(1) Adams, Berks, Bradford, Cameron, Carbon, Centre, Clinton, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mifflin, Monroe, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Pike, Potter, Schuylkill, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Wayne, Wyoming and York—Torts Litigation Unit, 15th Floor, Strawberry Square, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120.
(2) Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Fayette, Forest, Greene, Indiana, Jefferson, Lawrence, McKean, Mercer, Somerset, Venango, Warren, Washington and Westmoreland—Torts Litigation Unit, 4th Floor, Manor Building, 564 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219.
(3) Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia—Torts Litigation Unit, 206 Philadelphia State Office Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19130.
Notes of Decisions Local Offices
Offices of Department of Transportation designated by 37 Pa. Code § 111.1 as local offices for service of process are also local offices for venue purposes under 42 Pa.C.S. § 8523(a). Department of Transportation v. Chatzidakis, 492 A.2d 1170 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1985).
Service of Process
In an action begun on January 20, 1982, the provisions of 37 Pa. Code § 111.1, which at that time required that service of process upon the Department be made at the office of Chief Counsel in Harrisburg, in conjunction with the provisions of this section, which at that time provided that venue in actions in trespass against the Commonwealth or Commonwealth parties would lie only in the county where the cause of action arose, the county where a transaction or occurrence took place out of which a cause of action arose, or where an office of the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth party is designated under § 111.1 (relating to service of process), permitted a Luzerne County judge to transfer the action for improper venue, since the cause of action arose in Wyoming County and the Department of Transportation maintenance shed located in Luzerne County was not a ‘‘principal office’’ of the Department. Cortese v. Department of Transportation, 463 A.2d 1293 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1983).
An action against Department of Transportation may be brought where its ‘‘principal office’’ is located or the ‘‘local office’’ which is in the county where the cause of action arose or where a transaction or occurrence took place out of which the cause of action arose. Bortulin v. Harley-Davidson Motor Co., 539 A.2d 906 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1988); appeal denied 554 A.2d 511 (Pa. 1988); and appeal denied 555 A.2d 116 (Pa. 1988).
Waiver
An agreement between the plaintiff, the Liquor Control Board and the Attorney General whereby the parties agreed to an extension of time for the Liquor Control Board to file an answer but not preliminary objections to the plaintiff’s complaint, constituted a waiver of this section’s service of process requirements. Leahy v. Liquor Control Board, 551 A.2d 1153 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1989).
Source Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (230295) to (230296), (246795) to (246796) and (336813) to (336814).
Cross References This section cited in 37 Pa. Code § 111.4 (relating to venue).
§ 111.2. [Reserved].
§ 111.3. [Reserved].
§ 111.4. Venue.
(a) Venue in actions for claims against a Commonwealth party as defined in 42 Pa.C.S. § 8501 (relating to definitions) shall be in the county in which one of the following exists:
(1) The cause of action arose.
(2) A transaction or occurrence took place out of which the cause of action arose.
(3) The principal office of the Commonwealth party is located.
(4) The local office of the Commonwealth party is located.
(b) The principal offices of Commonwealth parties are the same as those offices designated in § 111.1(b) and (c) (relating to service of process).
(c) For purposes of subsection (a)(4), the local office of the Commonwealth party is the local office located in that county where the cause of action arose or where a transaction or occurrence took place out of which the cause of action arose.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to change or alter the judicial discretion granted under 42 Pa.C.S. § 8523 (relating to venue and process) which permits a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County to transfer an action to an appropriate county where venue would otherwise lie, if venue is obtained in the Twelfth Judicial District (Dauphin County) solely because the principal office of a Commonwealth party is located there.
Notes of Decisions Local Office
For purposes of determining venue within which the Commonwealth may be subject to suit, a ‘‘local office’’ was defined so as to restrict venue to the county where the cause of action arose, not simply any county within which the Commonwealth had an office. Bogetti v. Department of Transportation, 601 A.2d 421 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1991).
Third-Party Proceedings
Section 8523 of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 8523, which required actions against a Commonwealth party be brought in and only in a county in which the principal or local office of the party was located, was not applicable to third-party proceedings in which the Commonwealth was joined as a defendant by the original defendants against whom the action was brought. Chen v. Philadelphia Elec. Co., 661 A.2d 25 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1995); appeal dismissed 680 A.2d 1156 (Pa. 1996); overruled, Ribnicky v. Yerex, 701 A.2d 1348 (Pa. 1997).
Cross References This section cited in 37 Pa. Code § 111.1 (relating to service of process).
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