Posted: | December 5, 2014 09:49 AM |
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From: | Senator Stewart J. Greenleaf |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Reimbursing municipal police for serving warrants |
I am reintroducing Senate Bill 129 of last session, amending the Judicial Code, Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, to permit municipal police to be reimbursed for serving a warrant. Magisterial district judges in my district have indicated that they are having a difficult time getting constables to serve warrants. In addition, these magisterial district judges indicated that municipal police generally do not serve warrants because they are not reimbursed. I have since learned that this is a problem in many areas of Pennsylvania. As a result, this legislation provides for the reimbursement of municipal police for serving warrants. The legislation amends the Judicial Code by adding a section providing for a reimbursement of $35 per defendant regardless of the number of warrants. The fee will be considered a court cost collected from the defendant and remitted to the municipality that provided the service. Where no municipal police department exists and the State Police serve warrants, the Commonwealth will be reimbursed. In areas where constables are serving warrants, this legislation will not prohibit them from continuing to serve warrants. The Senate passed this legislation during a prior legislative session. |
Introduced as SB577