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Your Erie 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. The sections that follow cover how Pennsylvania grades charges, the time limits on prosecution, the speedy trial rule and its exceptions, and the three ways a record can be cleared. Timing rules in criminal cases run on fixed dates, so learning them early usually helps more than trying to catch up later.
Your Key Pennsylvania Rules in One Place
- 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.
- Speedy trial: 365 days under Rule 600, counted from the complaint, but only delay caused by the Commonwealth’s lack of diligence is counted against it.
- If you are in custody, the limit is 180 days from the complaint (Rule 600(B)). After that a motion for release on nominal bail is available, except where bail is not allowed.
- 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).
- Records: Pennsylvania has three separate routes, expungement, Clean Slate limited access, and limited access by petition, and they are not interchangeable (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 9122 to 9122.2).
The Grading System Behind Your Charge
A charge is not just ‘a felony’ or ‘a misdemeanor.’ Pennsylvania divides each into three degrees (18 Pa.C.S. § 106), and summary offenses form a separate, lower class, so the exact grade is worth finding out early.
By degree, a court may impose up to 20, 10, or 7 years for first-, second-, and third-degree felonies (18 Pa.C.S. § 1103), up to 5, 2, or 1 years for first-, second-, and third-degree misdemeanors (§ 1104), and up to 90 days for a summary offense (§ 1105). Fines follow the same ladder: $25,000 (first- and second-degree felonies), $15,000 (third-degree felony), $10,000, $5,000, and $2,500 (misdemeanors of the first, second, and third degree), and $300 (summary offenses), unless another statute sets a different figure (18 Pa.C.S. § 1101).
Two small rules from § 106 are worth knowing: an offense labeled a felony or misdemeanor with no degree is graded third degree, and one carrying no more than 90 days is summary.
The Statute of Limitations on a Pennsylvania Criminal Charge
Two years is the baseline. Under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5552(a), a prosecution must begin within two years after the offense unless the subchapter provides otherwise, and offenses that are not on the longer lists, including simple assault and DUI, are held to it.
The exceptions run long. Aggravated assault, burglary, robbery, theft, forgery, and offenses punishable under § 13(f) of the Controlled Substance Act are on a five-year list (§ 5552(b)), the most serious sexual offenses on a twelve-year list (§ 5552(b.1)), and murder and voluntary manslaughter can be prosecuted at any time (§ 5551).
Under § 5552(e), a case is commenced when an indictment is found, an information is issued, or a warrant, summons, or citation is issued and promptly executed. Section 5554 adds pauses for someone continuously absent from Pennsylvania or without a reasonably ascertainable home or job here, and while a prosecution for the same conduct is pending.
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The 365-Day Trial Rule: What It Really Means
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. That number is not a simple countdown. The rule counts delay against the Commonwealth only when the Commonwealth did not act with due diligence, and it excludes all other delay, such as defense continuances, the defendant’s or attorney’s unavailability, and any time the defendant waives.
Courts call the 365-day date the ‘mechanical run date’ and the date after excluded time the ‘adjusted run date.’ Whether a motion succeeds usually turns on the reasons for each continuance, which the judge must record along with who asked for it, and on whether the prosecution can show it acted with due diligence. Results go both ways. In 2023 the Superior Court reversed a Philadelphia dismissal entered after 624 days because emergency orders had suspended Rule 600 for 521 of them (Commonwealth v. Malone), and in 2024 it upheld a different Philadelphia dismissal because the Commonwealth could not show diligence (Commonwealth v. Graves).
A different, shorter limit protects someone held before trial: 180 days from the complaint under Rule 600(B). Only delay caused by the defense is excluded from that count, and the remedy is a motion for immediate release on nominal bail, unless bail is not available in the case.
Where Your Case Is Heard in Erie
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.
In Erie County the Court of Common Pleas is the Sixth Judicial District (42 Pa.C.S. §§ 901, 951). It is the court that would try a serious charge from Erie, and Erie is the county seat. Where an offense is alleged to have occurred decides the magisterial district that hears the case (Pa.R.Crim.P. 130).
Common Charges: Straight Answers
Is a DUI a misdemeanor in Pennsylvania?
For most first offenses, yes: a first DUI in the general-impairment tier is a misdemeanor with a maximum of six months (75 Pa.C.S. § 3803), and the tiers above it start with mandatory jail time. The tiers are 0.08 to under 0.10 or inability to drive safely, 0.10 to under 0.16, and 0.16 or more (§ 3802), with first-offense minimums of six months of probation and $300, 48 hours and $500 to $5,000, and 72 hours and $1,000 to $5,000 (§ 3804).
A DUI charge is not limited to alcohol. Any amount of a Schedule I controlled substance in the blood, or of a Schedule II or III substance that was not medically prescribed, or of a metabolite of either, can support a charge under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(d)(1).
How does Pennsylvania treat a small amount of marijuana?
Pennsylvania draws a specific line: a small amount of marijuana, meaning 30 grams or 8 grams of hashish, held only for personal use is a misdemeanor with a maximum of 30 days and $500 (35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(31), (g)). Possession of other controlled substances is a misdemeanor of up to a year and $5,000, and delivery or possession with intent to deliver is a felony graded by the drug.
Because the maximum turns on the exact substance and the schedule it falls in (35 P.S. § 780-113(f)), the charging document matters. Reading it closely is one of the first things an attorney does.
How does Pennsylvania grade assault charges?
Simple assault is graded second-degree misdemeanor, with exceptions: third degree for a mutual-consent fight and first degree against a child under 12 by an adult (18 Pa.C.S. § 2701(b)). Aggravated assault (§ 2702) is graded first-degree felony under subsections (a)(1), (2), and (9) and second-degree felony under the rest.
An assault charge also sets the calendar: with a two-year default for simple assault and five years for aggravated assault (42 Pa.C.S. § 5552), the date of the incident and the date the complaint or warrant issued can matter.
When does theft become a felony in Pennsylvania?
Value drives the grade. Theft of more than $2,000, or of a motor vehicle, is a third-degree felony, and a second-degree felony if $100,000 to under $500,000 (a first-degree felony at $500,000 or more), while theft below $2,000 is generally a first-degree misdemeanor, or second- or third-degree if under $200 or $50 and not taken from a person (18 Pa.C.S. § 3903). Retail theft follows a separate 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)).
Facing a charge in Erie? Talk to an attorney about the dates in your case.
What Can Be Cleared From a Pennsylvania Record?
‘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.
The classic remedy is expungement (18 Pa.C.S. § 9122), which removes the record but applies in limited situations: cases without a conviction, acquittals on all charges (which are now expunged automatically), and Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition cases dismissed after completion (Pa.R.Crim.P. 320). A conviction can be expunged only if it was a summary offense after five clean years, or at 70 after ten clean years.
Clean Slate limited access needs no petition (18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.2). It applies to summary convictions after five years, to second- and third-degree misdemeanors and misdemeanors punishable by up to two years after seven years without a conviction for an offense punishable by a year or more, and to qualifying drug offenses after ten years, with restitution paid and a fee, and it includes non-conviction records.
Petition-based limited access (18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.1) asks a court to limit access to a qualifying misdemeanor after seven years without a new conviction, or to a listed lower-level felony after ten. The felony list is specific (including theft, forgery, criminal mischief, and criminal trespass), first- and second-degree felonies are excluded, restitution and the fee must be paid, and the district attorney may object.
Several categories are generally off the table: offenses against the person, offenses against the family, firearms offenses, offenses that require sex-offender registration, and corruption of minors (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 9122.1, 9122.3). Other convictions in a person’s history can also make them ineligible.
Limited access hides a record rather than removing it. Under 18 Pa.C.S. § 9121, the State Police and courts withhold it from most non-criminal-justice requests, yet criminal justice agencies retain access, and there are exceptions for child-welfare agencies, custody and protection-from-abuse proceedings, and federally required employment checks. Even a completed expungement, including one that follows a diversion or probation program, leaves the prosecutor and State Police with a list of names that may be used only to judge later program eligibility, identify people in investigations, and grade later offenses (§ 9122(c)).
What to Know About Cases in Erie
Erie cases are heard in Erie County. Knowing which court you will be in, and how it schedules cases, matters because the Rule 600 count depends on the reasons for each delay, and an attorney who handles Erie County matters can watch those dates for you.
If you were hurt in an accident instead, see personal injury help in Erie.
Nearby coverage: our coverage in Meadville.
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.
Will my charges be dropped if I do not get a trial within a year?
Not just because a year passes. Under Rule 600 the count adds only Commonwealth delay caused by a lack of due diligence and excludes other delay, so the real deadline can be later. The defense must file a motion and the judge holds a hearing; a dismissal is with prejudice.
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 is a summary offense in Pennsylvania?
The lowest grade of offense, one carrying no more than 90 days in jail (18 Pa.C.S. § 106(c)), with a default fine limit of $300 (§ 1101). A magisterial district judge handles them (42 Pa.C.S. § 1515).
Do I have to go to court in Erie for a criminal charge?
Yes, in the magisterial district where the offense is alleged to have occurred (Pa.R.Crim.P. 130), and, if the case goes forward, in the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County. An attorney can tell you which appearances are required.
Can I get out on bail if my trial is delayed?
Possibly. After 180 days in custody the defense can ask to be released on nominal bail, with any nonmonetary conditions, unless the case is one where the law does not allow bail (Rule 600(B) and (D)(2)).
Can I be charged with DUI for drugs in Pennsylvania?
Yes. Any amount of a Schedule I controlled substance, or of a Schedule II or III substance that was not medically prescribed, or a metabolite of either, in the blood can support a charge under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(d)(1).
What happens to my arrest record after ARD?
After successful completion and dismissal, the judge also orders the arrest record expunged, unless the Commonwealth files an objection within 30 days after the dismissal motion is served (Pa.R.Crim.P. 320). The prosecutor and the State Police still keep a list of names, used only for later program eligibility, identifying people in criminal investigations, and grading later offenses (18 Pa.C.S. § 9122(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).
Who can still see a record after Clean Slate limited access?
Criminal justice agencies, child-welfare agencies, courts in custody and protection-from-abuse cases, employers whose federal rules require a criminal-history review, and a few others (18 Pa.C.S. § 9121(b.1), (b.2)).
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