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Your Easton Criminal Defense Attorney
Few things are as stressful as waiting to learn what a criminal charge will mean. The steadying part is that Pennsylvania law is specific about how charges are graded, how long the Commonwealth has to bring them, and how a record can later be cleared. This page explains the grading system, the limitation periods, why Rule 600 is less strict than it sounds, and what can happen to a record afterward, citing the statute or rule each time. Talking with an attorney who knows Northampton County practice can turn these general rules into a plan for your case.
Quick Answers on Charges, Deadlines, and Records
- How long can they wait to charge me? Usually 2 years (42 Pa.C.S. § 5552(a)), with longer periods for listed offenses such as aggravated assault, robbery, and theft.
- Rule 600 sets 365 days from the complaint to the start of trial. Time caused by other things, including defense continuances, is excluded, which is why it is not a simple countdown.
- Custody clock: 180 days. Rule 600(B) limits pretrial incarceration to 180 days from the complaint, and only delay caused by the defense is excluded from that count.
- The grade of a charge decides its maximum penalty: three degrees of felony, three of misdemeanor, and summary offenses at the bottom (18 Pa.C.S. § 106).
- Cleaning up a record means choosing among expungement, Clean Slate limited access, and a petition for limited access, which differ in waiting time and effect (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 9122 to 9122.2).
What Do the Degrees of Felony and Misdemeanor Mean?
Every Pennsylvania criminal charge carries a grade. Section 106 of Title 18 lists them: first-, second-, and third-degree felonies, first-, second-, and third-degree misdemeanors, and summary offenses at the bottom.
Sentencing maximums follow the grade: 20, 10, and 7 years for felonies of the first, second, and third degree (18 Pa.C.S. § 1103); 5, 2, and 1 years for the three misdemeanor degrees (§ 1104); and 90 days for a summary offense (§ 1105). On fines, Pennsylvania allows up to $25,000 for the top two felony grades and $15,000 for a third-degree felony, then $10,000, $5,000, and $2,500 down the misdemeanor grades and $300 for a summary offense, unless the offense’s own statute says otherwise (18 Pa.C.S. § 1101).
Section 106 also fills the gaps: a felony or misdemeanor without a stated degree is third degree, and an offense punishable by no more than 90 days is summary.
When Does the Clock Run Out on a Pennsylvania Charge?
Pennsylvania’s general rule is short: unless another provision says otherwise, a prosecution must be started within two years after the offense (42 Pa.C.S. § 5552(a)). Many misdemeanors, and offenses such as simple assault and DUI, fall under that two-year rule.
Certain offenses get more time. The five-year list in § 5552(b) includes aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, theft, forgery, and drug offenses punishable under § 13(f) of the Controlled Substance Act. A twelve-year period applies to major sexual offenses (§ 5552(b.1)), and § 5551 removes the limit for murder, voluntary manslaughter, and a few other offenses.
The clock stops when a prosecution is ‘commenced,’ which happens when an indictment is found, an information is issued, or a warrant, summons, or citation is issued and served without unreasonable delay (§ 5552(e)). It does not run while the accused is continuously absent from Pennsylvania or has no ascertainable home or workplace here, or while another prosecution for the same conduct is pending (§ 5554).
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Rule 600 and Speedy Trial in Easton: The Honest Answer
Rule 600 sets a 365-day period, counted from the day the complaint is filed, for a trial to begin. If the rule was violated, the defense can file a written motion asking the court to dismiss the charges with prejudice, and the judge must hold a hearing on it. The catch is in the counting. Rule 600(C)(1) includes only delay caused by the Commonwealth’s failure to exercise due diligence, and it says any other delay is excluded. That takes out continuances requested by the defense, time the defendant or attorney is unavailable, and waived time.
The practical question is not whether 365 days passed but what the adjusted run date is. That depends on the recorded reasons for each delay and on whether the Commonwealth acted with due diligence, a fact-specific showing the court decides case by case. Because the count depends on why time passed, two cases with the same 365 days can end differently. One may be dismissed for the Commonwealth’s lack of diligence and another may go forward because the delay came from continuances, waived time, or circumstances the prosecution could not control.
For people in custody, Rule 600(B) sets 180 days. Only defense-caused delay is excluded from it, and if it is exceeded the defense can ask to be released on nominal bail, with the exception of cases where the law does not entitle the defendant to bail. Cases in Philadelphia Municipal Court follow their own rule, Rule 1013, with a 180-day period, which is why a Philadelphia timeline can look different from one in Northampton County.
Where Your Case Is Heard in Easton
Most Pennsylvania criminal cases begin before a magisterial district judge, who handles summary offenses, arraignments, and bail, and sits as the committing magistrate at preliminary hearings (42 Pa.C.S. § 1515). Charges that continue past that stage are tried in the Court of Common Pleas.
For a charge arising in Easton, that trial court is the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County, which serves the Third Judicial District (42 Pa.C.S. §§ 901, 951). The county seat is Easton. Which magisterial district hears the case is set by where the offense is alleged to have occurred (Pa.R.Crim.P. 130).
Questions People Ask About DUI, Drug, Assault, and Theft Charges
How does Pennsylvania treat a first DUI charge?
A DUI charge is graded by tier and by prior offenses. Driving with a level of 0.08 to under 0.10, or while unable to drive safely, is general impairment; 0.10 to under 0.16 is high rate; 0.16 or more is highest rate (75 Pa.C.S. § 3802). A first general-impairment offense carries at least six months of probation and a $300 fine, a first high-rate offense at least 48 hours in jail and $500 to $5,000, and a first highest-rate offense at least 72 hours and $1,000 to $5,000 (§ 3804).
Different limits apply to some drivers. A minor can be charged at 0.02, and commercial drivers face 0.04 (0.02 for a school bus or school vehicle) under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(e) and (f), so the standard in the tiers above is not the only one.
How serious is a drug charge in Pennsylvania?
The law separates using or holding a drug from selling or moving it. Simple possession is a misdemeanor, up to one year and $5,000 (up to three years and $25,000 after a prior conviction); a small amount of marijuana, defined as 30 grams or 8 grams of hashish, is a misdemeanor with a 30-day and $500 ceiling; and delivery or possession with intent to deliver is a felony graded by drug and quantity, up to 15 years and $250,000 for a Schedule I or II narcotic (35 P.S. § 780-113).
Drug offenses punishable under section 13(f) of the Controlled Substance Act, the delivery-type offenses, fall on the five-year list in 42 Pa.C.S. § 5552(b)(2). Simple possession is not on that list, so the general two-year period applies to it.
What penalties come with an assault conviction?
For simple assault, a second-degree misdemeanor carries up to two years and a $5,000 fine (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 1104, 1101), with lower and higher grades in the mutual-fight and child-victim situations. Aggravated assault is a felony, up to 20 years for a first-degree felony and 10 for a second-degree felony (§§ 2702(b), 1103).
Which subsection is charged decides the grade, so the charging document matters: the same incident can be charged as simple or aggravated assault, and the difference is a misdemeanor versus a felony (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 2701, 2702).
How does Pennsylvania grade theft charges?
Theft is graded mainly by value (18 Pa.C.S. § 3903). Over $2,000, or a motor vehicle, is a third-degree felony; $100,000 to under $500,000 is a second-degree felony; $500,000 or more is a first-degree felony. Most other theft is a first-degree misdemeanor, with second-degree ($50 to under $200) and third-degree (under $50) misdemeanors when the property was not taken from a person or by threat. Retail theft has its own scale (§ 3929).
Amounts from retail thefts committed under one scheme or course of conduct can be added together, even across several stores, to set the grade (18 Pa.C.S. § 3929(b)(2)), and prior offenses count even when the earlier case ended in Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (§ 3929(b.1)).
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Clearing a Record After a Charge in Pennsylvania
‘Will this stay on my record?’ has three different answers in Pennsylvania, because expungement, Clean Slate limited access, and petition-based limited access are separate tools with separate rules. Mixing them up leads to the wrong expectations, so it helps to take them one at a time.
Expungement, governed by 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122, actually removes the record, which is why it is limited. Non-conviction cases, acquittals on all charges (automatic), and cases dismissed after successful Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (Pa.R.Crim.P. 320) can qualify. A conviction generally cannot, except a summary offense after five arrest-free years or a person age 70 with ten arrest-free years.
Under § 9122.2, courts and the State Police process limited access automatically after the waiting time: five years for a summary offense, seven years free of another conviction punishable by a year or more for a second- or third-degree misdemeanor or a misdemeanor punishable by up to two years, and ten years for a qualifying drug offense, with restitution and the fee paid. Charges that ended without a conviction are included.
The petition route in § 9122.1 is for convictions the automatic process leaves out. Seven years without a new conviction is the waiting period for a qualifying misdemeanor, and ten years for certain felonies of the third degree or lower in categories like theft, forgery, criminal mischief, and criminal trespass. First- and second-degree felonies are not eligible, and the district attorney has 30 days to object.
Exclusions matter as much as waiting periods. Violent offenses (offenses against the person), offenses against the family, firearms offenses, registration offenses, and corruption of minors are left out of most of these processes (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 9122.1, 9122.3), and some prior records disqualify a person too.
The effect of each order differs. Limited access requires State Police and courts to withhold the record from most requesters (18 Pa.C.S. § 9121) without erasing it, so criminal justice agencies and a few others (child-welfare agencies, custody and protection-from-abuse cases, federally required employment checks) can still see it. Expungement removes the record, though the prosecutor and State Police still keep a list of names after an expungement (including one following a diversion or probation program), used only for later program eligibility, criminal investigations, and grading later offenses (§ 9122(c)).
Easton: Courts, Counties, and Getting Started
If you are charged in Easton, your case will start in a magisterial district in Northampton County and, if it goes forward, move to the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County. An attorney who works in that court regularly can explain how its schedule and practices affect the deadlines above, including the dates that matter under Rule 600.
Other Pennsylvania cities nearby: the Doylestown criminal defense resource, criminal defense representation from Bethlehem.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a statute of limitations on criminal charges in Pennsylvania?
Yes. The general limit is two years (42 Pa.C.S. § 5552(a)), with five years for a list of serious offenses and twelve years for major sexual offenses. Murder, voluntary manslaughter, and a few other offenses can be prosecuted at any time (§ 5551). The period stops running once a prosecution is commenced.
What is the Rule 600 speedy trial rule in Pennsylvania?
Rule 600 says trial must begin within 365 days after the complaint is filed. It is enforced by a defense motion and a hearing, and it excludes any delay that is not the Commonwealth’s lack of diligence, including defense continuances and waived time.
What do first-degree and third-degree mean for a criminal charge?
The degree marks how serious the charge is and how much a court may impose. A first-degree felony can bring up to 20 years, a third-degree felony up to 7, a first-degree misdemeanor up to 5, and a third-degree misdemeanor up to 1 (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 1103, 1104).
What happens if I am charged with a summary offense?
It usually starts and finishes before a magisterial district judge, who has jurisdiction over summary offenses (42 Pa.C.S. § 1515). The penalty ceiling is 90 days and a $300 fine unless another statute provides otherwise (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 1105, 1101).
What is a preliminary hearing in Pennsylvania?
A preliminary hearing takes place before a magisterial district judge acting as the committing magistrate (42 Pa.C.S. § 1515). Charges that go forward are then handled in the Court of Common Pleas.
What is the 180-day rule for pretrial detention?
Rule 600(B) says no one may be held in pretrial incarceration more than 180 days from the complaint. Only delay caused by the defense is excluded, and the remedy is a motion for release on nominal bail, unless you are not entitled to bail.
Does a first DUI in Pennsylvania mean jail time?
It depends on the tier. General impairment (unable to drive safely, or 0.08 to under 0.10) brings at least six months of probation and a $300 fine for a first offense, while high rate (0.10 to under 0.16) means at least 48 hours in jail and highest rate (0.16 and above) at least 72 hours (75 Pa.C.S. § 3804).
Will ARD for a DUI count against me later?
It can. Since December 22, 2025, driving under the influence within 10 years after completing ARD for a DUI is a separate offense under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(h)(1), graded under § 3803(c).
Will my conviction ever come off my record?
Some can, but usually through limited access, not expungement. Summary offenses qualify for automatic Clean Slate after five years, certain misdemeanors after seven years, and qualifying drug offenses after ten (18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.2), and a petition covers more (§ 9122.1).
Is a limited access record the same as an expunged record?
No. Expungement removes the record, while limited access hides it from most requesters but leaves it in place and visible to criminal justice agencies (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 9121, 9122). After some expungements, a list of names is still kept under § 9122(c).
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