Adams County Adult Correctional Complex

Bail here is set by a local judge with a long title, magisterial district judge (MDJ for short). That happens at the preliminary arraignment, the first quick court step after booking. It tends to come within hours of the arrest, and the judge often sees the person on a video screen from the jail. In those few minutes the defendant is handed the complaint, told what the charges are and what release terms apply, and given a preliminary hearing date (Pa.R.Crim.P. 540).

Four district courts split the county between them:

• Magisterial District Court 51-3-01, 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 900, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-334-7913
• Magisterial District Court 51-3-02, 45D West Hanover Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-334-7810
• Magisterial District Court 51-3-03, 40 Church Road, East Berlin, PA 17316, 717-337-5770
• Magisterial District Court 51-3-04, 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 800, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-3870

The offices keep hours Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to noon. When someone is picked up after dark or over a weekend, the jail at 717-334-7671 can say which on-call judge has the arraignment.

Pennsylvania's rulebook offers judges five release options (Pa.R.Crim.P. 524), and the county Clerk of Courts uses those same labels:

• ROR (release on recognizance). Freedom in exchange for a signature on a pledge to return. That pledge is the whole deal.
• Nonmonetary conditions. That same promise, plus rules such as phoning in, keeping a curfew or staying clear of someone.
• Unsecured bail. A dollar amount is written down, yet not one cent is owed until a hearing gets skipped.
• Nominal bail. Just a token deposit, such as $1, while a person or agency signs on as the surety.
• Monetary condition. Someone must put up cash, land or a bondsman's bond before the jail opens the door.

Only the fifth kind needs money right away. To pick among them, a judge weighs the offense, steady employment, family and local ties, any past record and whether the person showed up for earlier hearings (Pa.R.Crim.P. 523).

Pennsylvania has no statewide price list for crimes. The judge picks each amount case by case. Under Pa.R.Crim.P. 528 the figure has to be fair, and what the person can actually pay is part of the math. A violent felony with a long record will usually draw a far bigger number than a first minor charge.

To learn the exact figure fast:

1. Search the free UJS Web Portal by name, choosing Adams as the county. Open the docket sheet. Its bail line names the type and the amount.
2. Call the jail at 717-334-7671 and ask for the bail on each separate charge.
3. Ask whether the judge allowed 10 percent cash bail. On a $10,000 bail, that means a $1,000 deposit instead of the whole sum.

Fresh filings can take a while to reach the portal, so on the first night a phone call is quicker.

Outside office hours and on weekends, the county lets families post bail at the jail whether the case sits with a district judge or with Common Pleas, as long as the person is housed there. The jail is at 45 Major Bell Lane, Gettysburg, PA 17325. Work through these steps:

1. Call 717-334-7671 before you drive over, with the name spelled out on paper and the birthday next to it.
2. Get the bail figure, the name of the setting court, and word on any detainer or second hold.
3. Buy money orders for the full amount due. The county requires money orders at the jail after hours.
4. Keep the itemized receipt the staff hand you (Pa.R.Crim.P. 535).
5. If the case already sits in Common Pleas, you and the person released must both report to the Clerk of Courts by 11:00 a.m. on the next business day to finish the bail papers.

The jail's Records Department keeps a list of bonding companies. Staff can also put families in touch with the Institutional Parole Officer about release on recognizance or supervised bail.

Two kinds of offices take bail on weekdays. The right one depends on how far the case has gone.

• The district court that has the case takes bail during its office hours, Monday to Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday 8:00 a.m. to noon. Call ahead to ask which payment it wants. The four offices are 51-3-01 at 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 900, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-334-7913; 51-3-02 at 45D West Hanover Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-334-7810; 51-3-03 at 40 Church Road, East Berlin, PA 17316, 717-337-5770; and 51-3-04 at 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 800, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-3870.
• The Clerk of Courts, 117 Baltimore Street, Room 103, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9806, accepts bail from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., even though the office stays open until 4:30 p.m. The clerk handles bail only after the preliminary hearing has taken place, or when the bail is for breaking a sentencing order.

Before the preliminary hearing, the clerk will send you back to the district court. A short call first saves a wasted trip.

Each window has its own rule, so match your money to the place:

• Clerk of Courts, 117 Baltimore Street, Room 103, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9806: cash, or a certified check drawn on a bank that has a branch in the county.
• The jail, 45 Major Bell Lane, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-334-7671, after hours: money orders only.
• A district court: call the office that set the bail and ask before you go.

Court rules also let a family cover the full amount with real estate worth enough, or with a bail bondsman's surety bond (Pa.R.Crim.P. 528). Ask the Clerk of Courts how a property pledge is handled here. The county's card and phone payment options are set up for fines, costs and payment plans, so bring bail in one of the forms above. Never send cash through the mail.

Commercial bail bonds are legal in Pennsylvania. Every bondsman must be licensed through the state's Insurance Department and must file papers to be allowed to work in each county (42 Pa.C.S. §§ 5742, 5743.1). The Clerk of Courts keeps the county's own list of registered bail agents.

• State law puts no ceiling on the bondsman's fee, since lawmakers repealed the old cap in 2015. Get the price in writing before you sign.
• That fee is the bondsman's pay, and it stays with them even if the charges are dropped.
• Pennsylvania bars any referral payment to someone who merely sends a family toward a particular agent (42 Pa.C.S. § 5749).
• Anyone who signs as a surety can be held to the full bail if the person fails to appear.

Questions about a bond that was already posted go to the Clerk of Courts at 717-337-9806.

Each bail is tied to one case and covers nothing else. Before you part with any money, ask the jail at 717-334-7671 to read you every hold. Common ones include:

• Another open case. Each case, even a small one, can carry its own bail.
• A warrant from somewhere else. Someone held on a bench warrant should get a hearing within 72 hours of arriving at the jail in the county that issued it. Time in a different county's jail falls outside that count (Pa.R.Crim.P. 150).
• Probation or parole trouble. A new arrest can start a violation case. County Probation Services is at 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 500, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9803.
• Time already owed. Bail on a new charge does not end a sentence the person is serving.
• Federal or immigration holds. State bail does not lift either one.

Bail is guaranteed to nearly every accused person by the state constitution (Pa. Const. art. I, § 14). A judge may refuse it in just two situations. One is a crime punishable by death or a life term. The other is when no release rules at all could protect the public. Either way, the prosecutor carries the burden and must bring solid proof to a hearing. A bare accusation falls short (Commonwealth v. Talley, 2021).

Requests for no bail, or for a very high amount, come from the District Attorney, 117 Baltimore Street, Room 301, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9840. Staff work weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

To push the number down, the defense files a written motion (Pa.R.Crim.P. 529). Until the preliminary hearing happens, the district judge who set bail can rule on it. After the case moves up, the Court of Common Pleas decides.

1. Contact the Public Defender, 111 Baltimore Street, Room 6, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9842, or call a private lawyer.
2. Gather pay stubs, a lease or deed for a nearby home, and names of relatives who rely on the person.
3. Work out a dollar figure the family could actually raise. Ability to pay is something the judge must consider.
4. Offer conditions that ease the judge's worries, such as reporting to probation or house arrest with a monitor.

A separate rule helps people stuck a long time. Once a person passes 180 days locked up awaiting trial, minus delays the defense itself asked for, a motion for nominal bail becomes possible (Pa.R.Crim.P. 600).

The Public Defender's Office gives a free lawyer to people who cannot afford one. It is at 111 Baltimore Street, Room 6, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9842, open weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Staff look at both income and assets to decide who qualifies.

1. Print the application in English or Spanish.
2. Sign the original. The form doubles as a sworn statement, required by state law, that there is not enough money to hire a lawyer (16 P.S. § 9960.1 and following).
3. Mail it or drop it off with the court papers and the last three pay stubs. The office needs the paper original, so skip the fax machine.
4. File a fresh application for each new charge.

Under Act 34 of 2023, Harrisburg now sends money to county defender offices, which had never happened before.

Most cases begin in a district court and finish at the county courthouse in the 51st Judicial District, a one-county district.

• Court of Common Pleas, 117 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325. Criminal court meets on the 4th floor at 8:30 a.m. unless a court order says otherwise. Court Administration answers at 717-337-9846.
• Clerk of Courts (criminal files and bail), 117 Baltimore Street, Room 103, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9806
• District court 51-3-01, 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 900, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-334-7913
• District court 51-3-02, 45D West Hanover Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-334-7810
• District court 51-3-03, 40 Church Road, East Berlin, PA 17316, 717-337-5770
• District court 51-3-04, 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 800, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-3870
• U.S. District Court for federal charges, Harrisburg: 1501 North 6th Street, Suite 101, Harrisburg, PA 17102, 717-221-3920

Save the itemized receipt somewhere safe. Court rules send the money back to the depositor listed on that receipt. It comes within 20 days after the last step of the case, if every court date was kept (Pa.R.Crim.P. 535). The county keeps a fee first. The Clerk of Courts lists these charges:

• Cash bail: ".048 cents per dollar for 1st $1,000.00, .16 cents per dollar for each additional $1,000.00," in the county's own words
• Percentage bail: $25.00

Two warnings. When the defendant's own name is on the deposit, a judge may apply that money to fines and costs. And a missed court date lets the court forfeit the bail, so anyone who signed as surety can owe the entire amount, not just the deposit.

For refund questions, reach the Clerk of Courts at 117 Baltimore Street, Room 103, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9806.

Before leaving, the person signs an Inmate Property Release Form for their things. The jail holds belongings left behind for only 5 days after release, and leftover commissary for 10 days, so plan the pickup quickly. A positive balance on the jail account is paid by a check mailed to the person. The jail also stores one set of street clothes for court or release.

Call the jail at 717-334-7671 (45 Major Bell Lane, Gettysburg, PA 17325) to arrange a pickup. Our inmate money page covers deposits and account refunds in more depth.

Federal prosecutions from this county are filed in Harrisburg, at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Hearings take place in the Rambo federal courthouse, 1501 North 6th Street, Suite 101, Harrisburg, PA 17102, 717-221-3920.

• Freedom before trial turns on a detention hearing in federal court, which ends with an order for either release or custody (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Pretrial Services writes up background facts the judge reads before ruling. Its office is at 1501 N. 6th St., Suite 100, Harrisburg, PA 17102, 717-901-2860.
• The Federal Public Defender's Harrisburg office, 100 Chestnut Street, Floor 3, Harrisburg, PA 17101, 717-782-2237, represents people who cannot pay.
• Until trial, people charged federally are in U.S. Marshals Service custody. Its Middle District office, 235 North Washington Avenue, Unit 215, Scranton, PA 18503, 570-346-7277, can tell you the holding place.
• After sentencing, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

It cannot. An immigration hold stays in force no matter what happens with state bail. Here is the sequence:

1. An ICE officer can fax or send over Form I-247A, which is the detainer itself. ICE stands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
2. That paper requests a hold of up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Galarza v. Szalczyk, a 2014 ruling of the Third Circuit, the appeals court above Pennsylvania's federal trial courts, treats a detainer as a polite ask. Any county jail that holds a person for ICE and nothing else takes on the legal risk itself. For that reason, the jail here makes its own call. Phone 717-334-7671 to hear its practice.
4. For Pennsylvania cases, ICE works from its Philadelphia Field Office, 114 N. 8th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, 215-656-7164.
5. Look the person up on the ICE Online Detainee Locator. It needs the name plus the birth country, or an A-number.

Here a sentence comes as a pair of numbers, for example 6 to 23 months. The second one, called the maximum, settles where it is served (42 Pa.C.S. § 9762). If that maximum falls short of 2 years, the time is served locally. A maximum that reaches 5 years or longer means state prison. Terms that fall between those two usually go to the state as well. The exception comes when jail officials, the DA's office and the judge each agree the person may stay close to home.

Someone sent to the state first spends weeks or even months being sorted at an intake and classification center. After that, the Department of Corrections picks the prison.

• Look the person up in the DOC inmate locator.
• DOC central office: 1920 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050, 717-728-2573.
• For visiting and mail details at each facility, open our Pennsylvania state prisons page.

Anyone younger than 18 normally goes through juvenile court. If held, they stay at a secure juvenile facility, separate from adults. Their records stay off the public UJS portal. The county's Juvenile Probation Unit, part of Probation Services, is at 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 500, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9803. That office can say where the youth is staying and give the first court date.

One big exception applies. Murder cases against 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds, plus a handful of armed felonies such as robbery with a gun, open in adult court, and the lawyer may then seek a transfer to juvenile court (42 Pa.C.S. § 6302).

Pennsylvania ranks crimes by grade, and two local courts share the load:

• Magisterial district courts are the neighborhood courts. Their trials cover summary offenses, which sit at the bottom of the grade ladder, such as a speeding ticket or a scuffle charged as disorderly conduct. Felony and misdemeanor cases pass through them first for the arraignment, bail and the preliminary hearing. Pennsylvania has over 550 of them.
• The Court of Common Pleas of the 51st Judicial District (this county is the whole district) takes over misdemeanors and felonies once a preliminary hearing sends them up. Summary cases come here too when someone appeals, and they get a brand-new trial.

The grade caps the punishment (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 1103-1105). The worst a summary offense can bring is 90 days. Misdemeanors climb from an M3, worth up to 1 year, to an M1, worth up to 5 years. Felonies climb from an F3, up to 7 years, to an F1, up to 20 years.

The county courthouse complex on Baltimore Street holds the upper court and its offices:

• Court of Common Pleas, 117 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325. Criminal sessions are held on the 4th floor and begin at 8:30 a.m. unless a court order sets another time.
• Court Administration, 4th floor, 117 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9846. It runs the court calendar.
• Clerk of Courts, 117 Baltimore Street, Room 103, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9806. It keeps the criminal files, opens over 1,500 new criminal records a year and is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Federal crimes are heard in Harrisburg instead, at the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 1501 North 6th Street, Suite 101, Harrisburg, PA 17102, 717-221-3920.

Every borough and township sends its local cases to a magisterial district court rather than a town court. That includes ordinance violations, traffic tickets and other summary charges. All four offices keep hours Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Friday, 8:00 a.m. to noon.

• 51-3-01, 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 900, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-334-7913. Covers Gettysburg Borough and Straban Township.
• 51-3-02, 45D West Hanover Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-334-7810. Covers Bonneauville, Littlestown and McSherrystown boroughs, plus Conewago, Germany, Mt. Joy, Mt. Pleasant and Union townships.
• 51-3-03, 40 Church Road, East Berlin, PA 17316, 717-337-5770. Covers Abbottstown, East Berlin, New Oxford and York Springs boroughs, plus Berwick, Hamilton, Huntington, Latimore, Oxford, Reading and Tyrone townships.
• 51-3-04, 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 800, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-3870. Covers Arendtsville, Bendersville, Biglerville, Carroll Valley and Fairfield boroughs, plus Butler, Cumberland, Franklin, Freedom, Hamiltonban, Highland, Liberty and Menallen townships.

Running late, or missed a hearing or a payment? Phone the court. These offices ask people not to report that by email.

Most people see a district judge for this step about six hours or less after the arrest, often on a video screen linked to the jail. In that short session the judge:

• gives the accused the criminal complaint on paper
• reads out each charge
• covers the right to counsel
• decides on release terms, including any bail
• books the preliminary hearing (Pa.R.Crim.P. 540)

Pennsylvania rules allow 14 days to reach the preliminary hearing when the defendant is locked up, and 21 days when the defendant is free, unless the judge grants extra time for cause. At it, the Commonwealth must clear a low bar called a prima facie case: some real evidence of a crime, and of this defendant's likely role. Charges that fail that test are dismissed. Some defendants give up, or waive, this hearing, which sends the case upward without one.

Once a preliminary hearing holds a misdemeanor for court, the District Attorney drafts a document listing the final charges, which the courts call the information. Formal arraignment in Common Pleas tends to follow a month or two later. A pretrial conference follows, and many cases settle there through a negotiated plea. Top penalties are 5 years and $10,000 for an M1, 2 years and $5,000 for an M2, and 1 year and $2,500 for an M3 (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 1101, 1104).

A general-level first DUI is a misdemeanor carrying up to six months (75 Pa.C.S. § 3803). Lawmakers have amended DUI grading more than once in recent years, and a defense lawyer can explain which version fits. Many first offenders here look at diversion:

• ARD. The District Attorney chooses who is offered Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition, and a judge must approve (Pa.R.Crim.P. 310). Completing it means no conviction.
• DUI ARD in this county is meant for people with no DUI conviction, no other criminal conviction and no diversion program in the past ten years. It lasts nine months under supervision. Depending on the facts, the license may be suspended for 0, 30, 60 or 90 days.
• Other ARD cases can run up to 24 months. A finished non-DUI case can be expunged on request.
• The Addiction Diversionary Program offers drug counseling and classes to some first-time defendants on certain drug possession charges.

The District Attorney's office answers ARD questions at 117 Baltimore Street, Room 301, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9840.

1. Preliminary arraignment before a district judge, with bail set.
2. Preliminary hearing in that same district court, within 14 days when the person is jailed.
3. The information. This written charge goes on file in Common Pleas, and the prosecutor can still add counts or drop some.
4. Formal arraignment on the 4th floor of the courthouse, 117 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325, where the accused receives the information and pleads.
5. Pretrial conference, where offers to settle are often made.
6. Trial. A verdict from the 12-person jury counts only if it is unanimous. Defendants can also waive the jury and let one judge decide. Either way, the Commonwealth must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
7. Sentencing. A probation officer first prepares a background report, and the judge reads it before choosing the penalty.

Top penalties run 20 years and $25,000 for an F1, 10 years and $25,000 for an F2, and 7 years and $15,000 for an F3 (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 1101, 1103). Probation Services, 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 500, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9803, also runs Probation with Restrictive Conditions. It can swap jail for work release, a halfway house, house arrest with an ankle monitor or inpatient treatment. People who want it should apply early, ideally within 5 days after the preliminary hearing.

• Bail can be refused. A charge that could bring execution or a life sentence allows a no-bail order. So does a finding that no release terms would protect others. Either claim needs hard evidence from the prosecutor at a hearing (Pa. Const. art. I, § 14).
• Murder penalties. Pennsylvania law allows death or life behind bars for first-degree murder, requires life for second-degree, and caps third-degree at 40 years (18 Pa.C.S. § 1102).
• The victim has a voice. For crimes with an injury, and for burglary, the victim gets a chance to weigh in on any plea bargain, dropped charge or sentence (18 P.S. § 11.101 and following).
• Release alerts. Victims covered by a protection order are entitled to word right away if the defendant makes bail.
• Teens tried as adults. Murder charges, and listed violent crimes with a deadly weapon, against anyone 15 through 17 open in adult court.

Criminal charges in every borough and township are brought by the District Attorney. The office works from the third floor of the courthouse complex, 117 Baltimore Street, Room 301, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9840, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Anyone who cannot pay a private attorney may apply to the Public Defender, 111 Baltimore Street, Room 6, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9842. Its lawyers handle preliminary hearings, trials, probation violations and other stages (Public Defender Act, 16 P.S. § 9960.1 and following). The applicant swears to their finances, and staff review income and assets. Bring the signed form along with any court papers and the three latest pay stubs. Each new charge calls for a new application.

Criminal cases from the district courts and Common Pleas can be searched for free on the UJS Web Portal. You can use it without signing up.

1. On the search page, choose Participant Name. A docket number works too, when you have it.
2. Enter both names and set the county field to Adams.
3. The docket sheet that opens lists the charges, bail, hearing dates and courtroom.

Very new filings sometimes show up late. Cases involving juveniles, and records that were sealed or expunged, are private. The court's own site also points to the UJS public records page. If a date will not turn up, call the Clerk of Courts at 717-337-9806, 117 Baltimore Street, Room 103, Gettysburg, PA 17325.

Bench warrants from Common Pleas judges go to sheriff's deputies to serve, while police and constables carry out other warrants. For questions, phone the Sheriff at 717-337-9828, lower level, 117 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Statewide lists: PSP Ten Most Wanted (tips 800-472-8477), FBI Most Wanted and the U.S. Marshals roster of its 15 Most Wanted fugitives. Open cases and other filings are searchable on the UJS portal. Before surrendering, phone a defense lawyer or the Public Defender for advice. Next, surrender at the issuing court, or phone that office about getting the matter rescheduled. For a Common Pleas warrant, the Clerk of Courts is at 117 Baltimore Street, Room 103, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9806.

Federal prosecutors file cases from here in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg division. The clerk's office is at 1501 North 6th Street, Suite 101, Harrisburg, PA 17102, 717-221-3920.

• The first time the accused appears, a federal judge decides through a detention hearing whether release before trial is safe (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Moving federal prisoners to hearings, and choosing where they are housed, is work for the U.S. Marshals Service. Reach its Middle District office at 235 North Washington Avenue, Unit 215, Scranton, PA 18503, 570-346-7277.
• The Federal Public Defender's Harrisburg office, 100 Chestnut Street, Floor 3, Harrisburg, PA 17101, 717-782-2237, defends people who qualify.
• U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services works at 1501 N. 6th St., Suite 100, Harrisburg, PA 17102, 717-901-2860.
• Once a sentence is handed down, the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator shows the prison.

The state case goes on, yet a detainer can affect release day. Typical steps:

1. To collect a person, ICE first lodges Form I-247A with the jail.
2. That hold may last up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Galarza v. Szalczyk, decided by the Third Circuit in 2014, makes clear that ICE can only ask. When a county jail keeps a person on a detainer and nothing more, the county itself may be held to account. Each jail picks its own policy, so ask the one here at 717-334-7671.
4. Pennsylvania falls under ICE's Philadelphia Field Office, 114 N. 8th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, 215-656-7164.
5. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator with the person's name and birth country.

Every Pennsylvania sentence has two numbers, and the larger one decides where time is served (42 Pa.C.S. § 9762). When the top number stays under 2 years, the time is usually done at the county jail. A top number of 5 years or higher sends them to the state. Terms in the middle band also head to state prison as a rule. Only a three-way yes from the jail, the DA's office and the sentencing judge keeps such a person in the county.

• A reception and classification center is the first stop. Testing and classifying there takes weeks, sometimes months, and only then does the DOC assign a prison.
• Track them in the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections inmate locator, or call the DOC at 1920 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050, 717-728-2573.
• Each prison is profiled on our state prisons page for Pennsylvania.
• Probation answers to the courts, not the warden: Probation Services, 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 500, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9803.

Under the Juvenile Act, anyone charged before turning 18 goes to juvenile court (42 Pa.C.S. § 6301 and following). Their cases go through the Juvenile Probation Unit, 525 Boyds School Road, Suite 500, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9803. A youth who cannot go home waits in a secure juvenile center, separated from the adult prisoners. Juvenile files are left off the UJS portal.

Murder charges against teens aged 15 through 17, and some serious assaults or robberies committed with a gun or other deadly weapon, are the exception. Those start in adult court, though a defense request can shift them back to juvenile court. Juvenile Probation can tell parents the youth's location and the court date.

The county's Victim Witness office supports victims from charge to sentence. It sits on the third floor of 117 Baltimore Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325, 717-337-9844, open weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

• Under the Crime Victims Act, victims can learn of key court events, speak up about bail and comment before pleas and sentencing (18 P.S. § 11.101 and following).
• With PA SAVIN, a victim gets a free call, text or email whenever the accused leaves jail or changes facilities. Register on VINELink or by calling 866-972-7284 (TTY 866-847-1298).
• Counseling, medical bills, lost pay and similar costs can be repaid through VCAP, the Pennsylvania victims compensation fund, at 800-233-2339.

A word for the defendant's relatives: keep clear of the victim and never pass along a letter, text or word in either direction. Even friendly contact can violate bail conditions.