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Your West Chester 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. A local attorney who handles Chester County cases can tell you which of these rules apply to your situation.
Pennsylvania Criminal Deadlines at a Glance
- 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.
- How long until trial? Rule 600 says 365 days from the complaint, adjusted for excluded delay, so a case can lawfully run longer than a year.
- 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.
- Felony, misdemeanor, or summary? Pennsylvania grades each offense by degree, and the degree sets the ceiling on prison time and fines (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 106, 1101, 1103 to 1105).
- 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).
What Do the Degrees of Felony and Misdemeanor Mean?
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). The fine ceilings under 18 Pa.C.S. § 1101 are $25,000 for first- and second-degree felonies, $15,000 for third-degree felonies, $10,000 for a first-degree misdemeanor, $5,000 for a second-degree misdemeanor, $2,500 for a third-degree misdemeanor, and $300 for a summary offense, subject to any specific statute.
A statute that names no degree is graded at the third degree, and a maximum penalty of 90 days or less makes an offense summary, according to 18 Pa.C.S. § 106.
When Does the Clock Run Out on a Pennsylvania Charge?
Start with the general rule: two years from the offense (42 Pa.C.S. § 5552(a)). It applies to offenses that no special provision lengthens, including simple assault and DUI, which are not on the five-year list.
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.
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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Is There a Hard Deadline to Bring Me to Trial in Pennsylvania?
The rule most people mean by ‘speedy trial’ in Pennsylvania is Rule 600. It gives 365 days from the filing of the complaint for trial to begin, and it lets the defense move to dismiss the charges with prejudice, after a hearing, if that time is exceeded. Read the rule closely and the 365 days turns out to be adjustable. Delay caused by the Commonwealth without due diligence is counted, and everything else is excluded, including defense continuances, unavailability of the defendant or counsel, and time the defendant has waived.
In practice the fight is over the adjusted date. The judge is required to record who requested each continuance and whether the time is included or excluded (Rule 600(C)(3)), and the Commonwealth carries the burden of showing due diligence before it can rely on excluded time. 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.
Custody has its own clock. Rule 600(B) caps pretrial incarceration at 180 days from the complaint, counting every delay except those the defense caused, and a motion for release on nominal bail is the remedy, except where the law does not allow bail. One point of confusion: Rule 1013 gives cases in Philadelphia Municipal Court a separate 180-day period, and it does not apply anywhere else in Pennsylvania.
From the Magisterial District Judge to Common Pleas
In Pennsylvania a criminal case generally begins with a magisterial district judge, who deals with summary offenses, arraignment, bail, and the preliminary hearing (42 Pa.C.S. § 1515), before the case goes on to the Court of Common Pleas.
For a charge arising in West Chester, that trial court is the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County, which serves the Fifteenth Judicial District (42 Pa.C.S. §§ 901, 951). The county seat is West Chester. Where an offense is alleged to have occurred decides the magisterial district that hears the case (Pa.R.Crim.P. 130).
Answers on the Charges We Hear About Most
What are the penalties for a first DUI in Pennsylvania?
The penalty depends on the tier. General impairment (unable to drive safely, or 0.08 to under 0.10) means at least six months of probation and a $300 fine for a first offense; high rate (0.10 to under 0.16) means at least 48 consecutive hours in jail and $500 to $5,000; highest rate (0.16 or higher) means at least 72 consecutive hours and $1,000 to $5,000 (75 Pa.C.S. §§ 3802, 3804). Alcohol highway school and treatment requirements apply in every tier.
Refusing a breath test or blood test under a valid warrant changes the tier: a general-impairment charge with a refusal is sentenced under the highest tier, with at least 72 consecutive hours in jail and a $1,000 to $5,000 fine for a first offense (75 Pa.C.S. §§ 3803, 3804(c)).
What is the difference between drug possession and drug delivery charges?
Possession of a controlled substance is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year and a fine up to $5,000, and up to three years and $25,000 after a prior final conviction. A small amount of marijuana for personal use (30 grams or 8 grams of hashish) is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days and $500. Manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to deliver is a felony whose maximum depends on the drug, for example up to 15 years and $250,000 for a Schedule I or II narcotic (35 P.S. § 780-113).
A prior final conviction under the Act raises the possession ceiling from one year and $5,000 to three years and $25,000 (35 P.S. § 780-113(b)), which is one reason a record’s accuracy and its clearing matter.
How serious is an assault charge in Pennsylvania?
Assault is graded by how serious the alleged conduct is. Simple assault is a second-degree misdemeanor unless it was a mutual fight (third degree) or committed by an adult against a child under 12 (first degree) (18 Pa.C.S. § 2701). Aggravated assault is a felony: first degree under subsections (a)(1), (2), and (9) and second degree under the other subsections (§ 2702(b)), with maximums of 20 and 10 years.
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).
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).
A theft charge turns on proving value and the taking, so how the property was valued, at market value at the time and place of the offense or replacement cost, can change the grade (18 Pa.C.S. § 3903(c)).
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What Can Be Cleared From a Pennsylvania Record?
There is no single ‘clear my record’ button in Pennsylvania. The law provides expungement, an automatic Clean Slate process, and a petition process, each with its own waiting periods, conditions, and exclusions.
True expungement under 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122 is the narrowest tool. It applies to non-conviction outcomes, to an acquittal on all charges (automatic), and to a dismissed case after successful Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (Pa.R.Crim.P. 320). Convictions qualify only if they are summary offenses with five arrest-free years, or the person is 70 and has been free of arrest for ten years after release from confinement or supervision.
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.
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.
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)).
Local Court Details for West Chester
A charge from West Chester belongs to Chester County and its Court of Common Pleas. Local practice, such as how quickly cases are listed and how continuances are handled, shapes how the general rules on this page play out, and a local attorney can tell you what that looks like in West Chester and in the magisterial district that hears your case.
If you were hurt in an accident instead, see personal injury help in West Chester.
Nearby coverage: the Radnor criminal defense resource, the Philadelphia criminal defense resource.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much time does the Commonwealth have to file criminal charges?
For most offenses, two years (42 Pa.C.S. § 5552(a)). Longer periods apply to listed offenses: five years for offenses such as aggravated assault, robbery, and theft, and twelve for rape and related crimes. A few offenses, including murder, have no limit (§ 5551).
Is 365 days a hard deadline for my trial?
No. It is a starting point that adjusts. The count includes only Commonwealth delay without due diligence and excludes every other period (Pa.R.Crim.P. 600(C)(1)), and the judge must record who asked for each continuance and to whom the delay is attributed (Rule 600(C)(3)).
How does Pennsylvania grade crimes?
By class and degree under 18 Pa.C.S. § 106: felonies and misdemeanors are each divided into first, second, and third degree, and summary offenses sit below them. A statute that gives no degree is treated as third degree.
What is the penalty for a summary offense?
Up to 90 days in jail and, unless another statute says otherwise, a fine of up to $300 (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 1105, 1101). Some summary offenses have their own fines set by the statute that creates them.
Do I have to go to court in West Chester 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 Chester County. An attorney can tell you which appearances are required.
Can I be held in jail for a year waiting for trial?
Generally no. Rule 600(B) limits pretrial incarceration to 180 days from the complaint, excluding only delay caused by the defense, and the defense can move for release on nominal bail after that, unless the law does not entitle you 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).
Will a background check show my record after limited access?
Usually not for ordinary employer and public background checks, because the State Police must withhold it, but exceptions apply, including federally required employment checks (18 Pa.C.S. § 9121(b), (b.2)).
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