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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2013 - 2014 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	November 6, 2013 01:30 PM
From:	Senator Stewart J. Greenleaf
To:	All Senate members
Subject:	Juvenile justice amendments

I am introducing a bill making changes affecting Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system. The Juvenile Act’s purpose section is amended to further emphasize the need to employ evidence-based practices by using the least restrictive intervention that is consistent with the protection of the community, the imposition of developmentally appropriate accountability for offenses committed, and the rehabilitation, supervision and treatment needs of the child. The bill clarifies provisions of 2012 Act 204. In Act 204 juveniles were provided with the same protections when they appear in magisterial district court on a summary offense charge that they would have had if they had a more serious case before a juvenile court. The legislation adds the Philadelphia Municipal Court so that juveniles in Philadelphia receive the same protections and adds the court of common pleas for summary offense convictions that are appealed to common pleas court because those cases on appeal would not be heard in juvenile court. In another clarification of Act 204, the provisions relating to the expungement of juvenile summary offense convictions is amended to make clear that the records of an individual now 18 years of age or older, where six months have elapsed since the individual satisfied all terms and conditions of the sentence imposed following the summary offense conviction, may be expunged if the individual has not been convicted of another offense since satisfying the terms and conditions of the sentence received for the summary offense. It makes this provision consistent with other expungement provisions by specifying that the time period being looked at is limited to the period since the completion of the sentence for the initial offense. Other changes clarify provisions of 2011 Act 111 and 2012 Act 91, which implemented provisions of the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (Adam Walsh). The bill amends the definition of “juvenile offender” to treat out-of-state adjudications of delinquency the same as in-state adjudications by ensuring that the only out-of-state adjudications of delinquency that fall within this definition are those that result from equivalent offenses committed in the other state on or after December 20, 2012 (the effective date of the provision) by individuals age 14 years of age or older. The second change to the Adam Walsh provisions ensures that if a juvenile is required to initially register at the time he is adjudicated delinquent because he was adjudicated delinquent in a county other than his county of residence and the court intends to transfer the case for disposition to the juvenile’s county of residence, the court should classify the individual as a “juvenile offender” at that time as well. Finally, the bill makes changes in the Juvenile Act needed to implement the statewide juvenile case management system. The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) is developing a statewide case management system within the Common Pleas Case Management System (CPCMS) where all juvenile delinquency cases will be managed. The electronic records system will allow court personnel to establish case files to track case details throughout the life of the case, including the creation of the case, case event outcomes, case dispositions, and the collection of fines, costs and restitution. While CPCMS will be used as the court case management system for juvenile cases, the Juvenile Case Management System of the Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission will remain available for juvenile probation purposes. Because CPCMS will be used by the court to enter outcomes and dispositions for juvenile cases, it is more efficient for CPCMS to transfer the information electronically to the Pennsylvania State Police and the bill provides for this transfer. Please join me in cosponsoring this legislation.

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