All courts across Pennsylvania will now close to the public for at least two weeks after an order from the state Supreme Court.
That order will go into effect after business hours close today.
Courts will only remain open for essential functions, which are listed below.
The order also says that there can be no evictions or displacement from a residence for failing to pay.
Minor courts will be accepting payments via mail, online or by telephone.
In the Courts of Common Pleas, the Order outlines essential functions as:
- Emergency bail review and habeas corpus hearings;
- Gagnon 1 hearings;
- Bench warrant hearings pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 150;
- Juvenile delinquency detention;
- Juvenile emergency shelter and detention hearings;
- Temporary protection from abuse hearings;
- Emergency petitions for child custody;
- Emergency petitions for guardianship;
- Civil mental health reviews (50 P.S. §302)
- Any pleadings or motions relating to public health concerns and involving immediate and irreparable harm; and
- Any other function deemed by a president judge to be essential consistent with constitutional requirements.
The Court has offered the following guidance to magisterial district courts, Philadelphia Municipal Court, and Pittsburgh Municipal Court, Arraignment Division (minor courts) with regards to essential functions:
- Preliminary arraignments (bail setting) for bailable cases;
- Criminal case filings and subsequent processing;
- Preliminary hearings for incarcerated persons only;
- Issuance of search warrants; and
- Emergency protection from abuse petitions.
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