Section 514. Duplicate and Reissued Warrants of Arrest

(A) When a warrant of arrest has been issued and it appears necessary or desirable to issue duplicates thereof for execution, the issuing authority may issue any number of duplicates. Each duplicate shall have the same force and effect as the original. Costs may be taxed only for one such warrant and only one service fee shall be charged.

(B) After service and execution of an original or duplicate warrant, the issuing authority may reissue the warrant if the purpose for which the original or duplicate has been issued has not been accomplished.

Comment

This rule permits the use of advanced communication technology for the issuance of duplicate and reissued arrest warrants.

Under this rule, warrant information transmitted by using advanced communication technology has the same force and effect as a duplicate or reissued arrest warrant. This rule does not require that the transmitted warrant information be an exact copy of the original warrant for purposes of execution under Rule 515. Nothing in this rule, however, is intended to curtail the Rule 540(D) requirement that the issuing authority provide the defendant with an exact copy of the warrant at the preliminary arraignment. See Rule 513 (Requirements for Issuance).

This rule originally used the term ‘‘alias warrant’’ to describe the reissuance of a warrant that has been served and executed but has not accomplished its original purpose. The term ‘‘alias warrant’’ is archaic and its meaning obscure, leading to potential confusion. With the 2005 amendments, the terminology of the rule has been simplified by deleting ‘‘alias warrant’’ and replacing it with ‘‘reissue,’’ thereby retaining the underlying practice previously described by the term ‘‘alias warrant.’’

Official Note

Original Rule 113 adopted June 30, 1964, effective January 1, 1965; suspended January 31, 1970, effective May 1, 1970. New Rule 113 adopted January 31, 1970, effective May 1, 1970; renumbered Rule 121 September 18, 1973, effective January 1, 1974; amended August 9, 1994, effective January 1, 1995; renumbered Rule 514 and amended March 1, 2000, effective April 1, 2001; Comment revised May 10, 2002, effective September 1, 2002; amended October 19, 2005, effective February 1, 2006; Comment revised July 31, 2012, effective November 1, 2012.

Committee Explanatory Reports:

Report explaining the August 9, 1994 amendments published at 22 Pa.B. 6 (January 4, 1992); Final Report published with the Court’s Order at 24 Pa.B. 4342 (August 27, 1994).

Final Report explaining the March 1, 2000 reorganization and renumbering of the rules published with the Court’s Order at 30 Pa.B. 1478 (March 18, 2000).

Final Report explaining the May 10, 2002 Comment revision concerning advanced communication technology published with the Court’s Order at 32 Pa.B. 2591 (May 25, 2002).

Final Report explaining the October 19, 2005 amendments to paragraph (B) deleting ‘‘alias warrant’’ published with the Court’s Order at 35 Pa.B. 6090 (November 5, 2005).

Final Report explaining the July 31, 2012 revision of the Comment changing the citation to Rule 540(C) to Rule 540(D) published with the Court’s Order at 42 Pa.B. 5340 (August 18, 2012).

The provisions of this Rule 514 amended May 10, 2002, effective September 1, 2002, 32 Pa.B. 2582; amended October 19, 2005, effective February 1, 2006, 35 Pa.B. 6089; amended July 31, 2012, effective November 1, 2012, 42 Pa.B. 5333. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (348275) to (348276).