Bill Text: PA SB99 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Providing for responsibility of parents and guardians and for pretrial diversion program.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-07-03 - Laid on the table [SB99 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2009-SB99-Amended.html

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PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 78 PRINTER'S NO. 2118
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 99 Session of2009
INTRODUCED BY WILLIAMS, HUGHES, WASHINGTON, ERICKSON, MUSTO, STOUT, RAFFERTY, WOZNIAK AND BOSCOLA, JANUARY 29, 2009
SENATOR GREENLEAF,JUDICIARY, AS AMENDED, JUNE 29, 2010
AN ACT
Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the <--
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for liability
of parents and guardians and for pretrial diversion program.
Amending Titles 18 (Crimes and Offenses) and 42 (Judiciary and <--
Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
Statutes, providing for responsibility of parents and
guardians and for pretrial diversion program.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated <--
Statutes is amended by adding sections to read:
§ 6312. Liability of parents and guardians.
(a) Liability.--Every person who commits any act or omits
the performance of any duty, which act or omission causes or
tends to cause or encourage any person under 18 years of age to
come within the provisions of section 6341 (relating to
adjudication), 23 Pa.C.S. § 6315 (relating to taking child into
protective custody) or section 1327 of the act of March 10, 1949
(P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, or
which act or omission contributes thereto, or any person who, by
any act or omission, or by threats, commands or persuasion,
induces or endeavors to induce any person under 18 years of age
to fail or refuse to conform to a lawful order of the juvenile
court, or to do or to perform any act or to follow any course of
conduct or to so live as would cause or manifestly tend to cause
that person to become or to remain a person within the
provisions of section 6341, 23 Pa.C.S. § 6315, or section 1327
of the Public School Code of 1949, is guilty of a misdemeanor of
the third degree and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay
a fine not to exceed $2,500 or to imprisonment in the county
jail for not more than one year, or both, or may be released on
probation for a period of not more than five years.
(b) Standard of care.--For purposes of this section, a
parent or legal guardian to any person under 18 years of age
shall have the duty to exercise reasonable care, supervision,
protection and control over the minor child.
§ 6313. Pretrial diversion program.
(a) Review and approval.--Every prosecutor with jurisdiction
to prosecute violations of section 6312 (relating to liability
of parents and guardians) shall review annually any diversion
program established pursuant to this section, and no program
shall commence or continue without the approval of the
prosecutor. No person shall be diverted under a program unless
it has been approved by the prosecutor. Nothing in this
subsection shall authorize the prosecutor to determine whether a
particular defendant shall be diverted.
(b) Applicability.--This section shall apply whenever a case
is before any court upon an accusatory pleading alleging a
parent or legal guardian to have violated section 6312 with
respect to his or her minor child, and all of the following
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apply to the defendant:
(1) The defendant's record does not indicate that
probation or parole has ever been revoked without thereafter
being completed.
(2) The defendant's record does not indicate that he or
she has previously been diverted pursuant to this section.
(c) Waiver.--If the defendant consents and waives his or her
right to a speedy trial, the case shall be referred to the
county probation department. The county probation department
shall conduct an investigation as is necessary to determine
whether the defendant qualifies for diversion under this
section, and whether he or she is a person who would be
benefited by education, treatment or rehabilitation. The county
probation department shall also determine which education,
treatment or rehabilitative plan would benefit the defendant.
The county probation department shall report its findings and
recommendations to the court. If the recommendation includes
referral to a community service program, the report shall
contain a statement regarding the program's willingness to
accept the defendant and the manner in which the services they
offer can assist the defendant in completing the diversion
program successfully.
(d) Admissibility.--No statement or any information made by
the defendant to any county probation officer, during the course
of any investigation conducted by the county probation
department pursuant to subsection (a) and prior to the reporting
of the county probation department's findings and
recommendations to the court, shall be admissible in any action
or proceeding brought subsequent to the investigation. No
statement or any information, with respect to the specific
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offense with which the defendant is charged which is made to any
county probation officer subsequent to the granting of
diversion, shall be admissible in any action or proceeding. In
the event that diversion is either denied or is subsequently
revoked once it has been granted, neither the probation
investigation nor statements or information divulged during that
investigation shall be used in any pretrial sentencing
procedures.
(e) Hearing.--The court shall hold a hearing and after
consideration of the county probation department's report, and
any other relevant information, shall determine if the defendant
consents to further proceedings under this section and waives
his or her right to a speedy trial. If the court orders a
defendant to be diverted, the court may make inquiry into the
financial condition of the defendant, and upon a finding that
the defendant is able, in whole or in part, to pay the
reasonable cost of diversion, the court may order him or her to
pay all or part of the expense. The reasonable cost of diversion
shall not exceed the amount determined to be the actual average
cost of diversion services.
(f) Finding that diversion is not beneficial.--If the court
does not deem the defendant to be a person who would be
benefited by diversion or if the defendant does not consent to
participate, the proceedings shall continue as in any other
case. At the time that a defendant's case is diverted, any bail
bond or undertaking or deposit in lieu thereof, on file by or on
behalf of the defendant shall be exonerated, and the court shall
enter an order so directing. The period during which the further
criminal proceedings against the defendant may be diverted shall
be for the length of time required to complete and verify the
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diversion program but in no case shall be more than two years.
(g) Unsatisfactory progress or other conviction.--If it
appears to the county probation department that the divertee is
performing unsatisfactorily in the assigned program or that the
divertee is not benefiting from education, treatment or
rehabilitation, or that the divertee is convicted of a
misdemeanor in which force or violence was used, or if the
divertee is convicted of a felony, after notice to the divertee,
the court shall hold a hearing to determine whether the criminal
proceedings should be reinstituted. If the court finds that the
divertee is not performing satisfactorily in the assigned
program, or that the divertee has been convicted of a crime as
indicated above, the criminal case shall be referred back to the
court for resumption of the criminal proceedings. If the
divertee has performed satisfactorily during the period of
diversion, the criminal charges shall be dismissed.
(h) Indication of disposition.--Any record filed with the
Pennsylvania State Police shall indicate the disposition in
those cases diverted pursuant to this section. Upon successful
completion of a diversion program, the arrest upon which the
diversion was based shall be deemed to have never occurred. The
divertee may indicate in response to any question concerning his
or her prior criminal record that he or she was not arrested or
diverted for that offense, except as specified in subsection
(b). A record pertaining to an arrest resulting in successful
completion of a diversion program shall not, without the
divertee's consent, be used in any way that would result in the
denial of any employment, benefit, license or certificate.
(i) Disclosure.--The divertee shall be advised that,
regardless of his or her successful completion of diversion, the
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arrest upon which the diversion was based may be disclosed by
the Pennsylvania State Police in response to any peace officer
application request and that, notwithstanding subsection (a),
this section does not relieve him or her of the obligation to
disclose the arrest in response to any direct question contained
in any questionnaire or application for employment.
(j) Definition.--As used in this section, the term "pretrial
diversion" means the procedure of postponing prosecution either
temporarily or permanently at any point in the judicial process
from the point at which the accused is charged until
adjudication.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
Section 1. Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated <--
Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
§ 6301.1. Responsibility of parents and guardians.
(a) Offense defined.--A parent or guardian who through a
course of conduct of intentionally and knowingly committing one
or more acts or omitting the performance of one or more duties,
which course of conduct causes the child or the ward under 18
years of age to come within or remain within the the provisions
of 42 Pa.C.S. § 6341 (relating to adjudication) or 23 Pa.C.S. §
6315 (relating to taking child into protective custody), commits
an offense.
(b) Grading.--A person who violates subsection (a) commits a
misdemeanor of the third degree.
(c) Diversion program.--A person who violates subsection (a)
may be eligible for the pretrial diversion program established
under 42 Pa.C.S. § 6312 (relating to pretrial diversion
program).
(d) Standard of care.--For purposes of this section, a
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parent or guardian of any person under 18 years of age shall
have the duty to exercise reasonable care, supervision,
protection and control over the minor child.
Section 2. Title 42 is amended by adding a section to read:
§ 6312. Pretrial diversion program.
(a) Review and approval.--Every prosecutor with jurisdiction
to prosecute violations of 18 Pa.C.S. § 6301.1 (relating to
responsibility of parents and guardians) shall review annually
any diversion program established pursuant to this section, and
no program shall commence or continue without the approval of
the prosecutor. No person may be diverted under a program unless
it has been approved by the district attorney.
(b) Applicability.--This section shall apply whenever a case
is before a court upon an accusatory pleading alleging a parent
or guardian to have violated 18 Pa.C.S. § 6301.1, and the
defendant's record does not indicate that he has previously been
diverted pursuant to this section.
(c) Waiver.--If the defendant consents and waives his right
to a speedy trial, the case shall be referred to the district
attorney who shall conduct an investigation as is necessary to
determine whether the defendant qualifies for diversion under
this section, and whether the defendant is a person who would
benefit from education, treatment or rehabilitation. The
district attorney shall also submit findings and recommendations
to the court for approval, which shall include education,
treatment or a rehabilitative plan that would benefit the
defendant. If the recommendation includes referral to a
community service program, the report shall contain a statement
regarding the program's willingness to accept the defendant and
the manner in which the services the program offers can assist
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the defendant in completing the diversion program successfully.
(d) Admissibility.--No statement or information with respect
to the specific offense with which the defendant is charged,
which is made subsequent to the granting of diversion, may be
admissible in any action or proceeding. In the event that
diversion is denied or is subsequently revoked once it has been
granted, the investigation, statements or information divulged
during that investigation shall not be used in any subsequent
action or proceeding.
(e) Hearing.--The court shall hold a hearing and after
consideration of the district attorney's report and any other
relevant information shall determine if the defendant consents
to further proceedings under this section and waives his right
to a speedy trial. The period during which the further criminal
proceedings against the defendant may be diverted shall be for
the length of time required to complete and verify the diversion
program but shall not be more than two years. If the court
orders a defendant to be diverted, the court may make inquiry
into the financial condition of the defendant, and upon a
finding that the defendant is able, in whole or in part, to pay
the reasonable cost of diversion, the court may order the
defendant to pay all or part of the expense. The reasonable cost
of diversion shall not exceed the amount determined to be the
actual average cost of diversion services.
(f) Finding that diversion is not beneficial.--If the court
does not deem the defendant to be a person who would benefit
from diversion or if the defendant does not consent to
participate, the proceedings shall continue as in any other
case.
(g) Unsatisfactory progress or other conviction.--If the
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court finds after notice to the defendant and a hearing that the
defendant is not performing satisfactorily in the assigned
program, or that the defendant has been convicted of a
misdemeanor in which force or violence was used or is convicted
of a felony, the criminal case shall be referred back to the
court for resumption of the criminal proceedings.
(h) Disposition.--If the defendant has performed
satisfactorily during the period of diversion, the criminal
charges shall be dismissed.
(i) Definitions.--As used in this section, the term
"pretrial diversion" means the procedure of postponing
prosecution either temporarily or permanently at any point in
the judicial process from when the accused is charged until
adjudication.
Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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