PHILADELPHIA COUNTY Motions to Vacate or Reduce Bail Forfeitures; Administrative Order No. 01 of 2012 [42 Pa.B. 1372]
[Saturday, March 17, 2012]Order And now, this 29th day of February, 2012, in order to streamline the filing and review of motions to vacate or reduce bail forfeitures, it is hereby Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed that:
1) all motions to vacate or reduce bail forfeitures will be filed with the Clerk of Courts (the Office of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions having been abolished) in Room 310, Criminal Justice Center, 1301 Filbert Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107;
2) until further notice, no filing fee will be assessed or collected for the filing of motions to vacate or reduce bail forfeitures;
3) the court-approved Motion to Vacate or Reduce Bail Forfeitures shall be substantially as follows in Exhibit ''A'' and may be modified by the court from time to time;
4) as provided in Pa.R.Crim.P. 122(B)(2), after final judgment in the criminal case and any direct appeal thereof, representation of the defendant by court-appointed counsel shall cease and court appointed counsel shall not provide representation in connection with motions to vacate or reduce bail forfeitures unless privately retained by the defendant or surety;
5) upon filing, the Motion to Vacate or Reduce Bail Forfeitures shall be assigned to a review officer who will consider the documentation and allegations set forth in the motion together with all applicable court data and will issue, without a hearing, an order on behalf of the court in compliance with Philadelphia Criminal Rule 510(D). The order issued by the review officer will become final unless within thirty (30) days of the date the order was issued or mailed the Petitioner files with the Clerk of Courts a request for a record hearing;
6) upon request by the Petitioner as provided above, a record hearing shall be held by a bail authority designated pursuant to Philadelphia Criminal Rule 510(D). The hearing shall be held in accordance with Pa.R.Crim.P. No. 536 and Philadelphia Criminal Rule 510 and the designated bail authority may issue an order on behalf of the court denying the petition or directing that the bail forfeiture and judgment be vacated or reduced if justice does not require the full enforcement of the bail forfeiture and judgment. This order will become final unless within thirty (30) days of the date the order was issued or mailed, the Petitioner files with the Clerk of Courts a request for review by the President Judge or the President Judge's judicial designee;
7) Philadelphia Criminal Rule 510(C) is rescinded; and
8) all other terms of Philadelphia Criminal Rule 510, to the extent not amended by this Order, shall remain in full force and effect.
As required by Pa.R.Crim.P. No. 105(D), this Order has been submitted to the Supreme Court's Criminal Procedural Rules Committee for review and written notification has been received from the Committee certifying that the terms set forth in this order are not inconsistent with any general rule of the Supreme Court. This Order shall be filed with the Prothonotary and the Clerk of Courts in a docket maintained for Orders issued by the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, and, as required by Pa.R.Crim.P. No. 105(E), two certified copies of this Order and a copy on a computer diskette, shall be distributed to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. This Order will become effective thirty days after publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. As required by Pa.R.Crim.P. No. 105(F) one certified copy of this Order shall be filed with the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts and will also be published on the Unified Judicial System's web site at http://ujsportal. pacourts.us/localrules/ruleselection.aspx and posted on the First Judicial District's website at http://courts.phila.gov. Copies shall be published in The Legal Intelligencer and will be submitted to American Lawyer Media, Jenkins Memorial Law Library, and the Law Library for the First Judicial District.
By the Court
HONORABLE PAMELA PRYOR DEMBE,
President Judge
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 12-480. Filed for public inspection March 16, 2012, 9:00 a.m.]
