SOMERSET COUNTY Consolidated Rules of Court; No. 42 Miscellaneous 2006 [36 Pa.B. 7127]
[Saturday, November 25, 2006]Adopting Order Now, this 31st day of October, 2006, it is hereby Ordered:
1. The following designated Somerset County Rule of Criminal Procedure 150 (Som.R.Crim.P. 150) Bench Warrants, a copy as follows is hereby adopted as a Rule of this Court, effective thirty (30) days after publication in The Pennsylvania Bulletin:
2. The Somerset County Court Administrator is directed to:
A. File seven (7) certified copies of this Order and the Rule with the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
B. Distribute two (2) certified copies of this Order and the Rule, along with a diskette or CD, to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in The Pennsylvania Bulletin.
C. File one (1) certified copy of this Order and the Rule with the Pennsylvania Criminal Procedural Rules Committee.
D. File proof of compliance with this Order in the docket for this Rule, which shall include a copy of each transmittal letter.
By the Court
JOHN M. CASCIO,
President JudgeRules of Court Bench Warrants.
Som.R.Crim.P. 150: Bench Warrants.
In a court case when a bench warrant is executed, the case is to proceed in accordance with the following procedures.
(1) When a defendant or witness is arrested pursuant to a bench warrant, he or she shall be taken without unnecessary delay for a detention hearing on the bench warrant. The hearing shall be conducted by the judicial officer who issued the bench warrant, or, another judicial officer if the judicial officer who issued the warrant is unavailable.
(2) In the discretion of the judicial officer, the bench warrant hearing may be conducted using two-way simultaneous audio-visual communication.
(3) When the individual is arrested in Somerset County, if the bench warrant hearing cannot be conducted promptly after the arrest or the warrant was issued by a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, the defendant or witness shall be lodged in the Somerset County Jail pending the hearing. The Warden promptly shall notify the Court Administrator and the District Attorney that the individual is being held pursuant to the bench warrant.
(4) When the individual is arrested outside Somerset County and has been lodged in the Somerset County Jail, the Warden promptly shall notify the Court Administrator and the District Attorney that the individual is being held pursuant to the bench warrant.
(5) The bench warrant hearing shall be conducted without unnecessary delay after the individual is lodged in the Somerset County Jail. The individual shall not be detained without a bench warrant hearing on that bench warrant longer than 72 hours, or the close of the next business day if the 72 hours expires on a non-business day.
(6) As used in this rule, ''judicial officer'' is limited to the magisterial district judge or common pleas court judge who issued the bench warrant, or the magisterial district judge or common pleas court judge designated by the president judge or by the president judge's designee to conduct bench warrant hearings.
(7) This Rule does not apply to warrants issued in parole and probation detention or revocation proceedings.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 06-2305. Filed for public inspection November 22, 2006, 9:00 a.m.]
