Lebanon County Correctional Facility Inmate Bail & Bonds

In this county, a magisterial district judge (MDJ) fixes bail. These local judges run the six district courts spread across the county. The first stop is a brief court step called a preliminary arraignment. A state crime victim guide puts it at roughly six hours or less after the arrest.

During that short session, the accused is told the charges, handed the written complaint and reminded of the right to a lawyer. Next comes the bail decision, along with a date for the preliminary hearing (Pa.R.Crim.P. 540). Someone still locked up must get that hearing within 14 days. Someone who is out gets it within 21.

Not sure which judge has the case? On nights and weekends, jail staff know which judge took it. On weekdays, District Court Administration answers that question: Room 311, Municipal Building, 400 South 8th Street, Lebanon, PA 17042, 717-228-4440, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Court rules name five release types (Pa.R.Crim.P. 524). Four need no money at the start.

• Release on recognizance (ROR). Freedom based on a signature and a promise to attend every date.
• Nonmonetary conditions. That same pledge, joined by rules like reporting to an officer, a nightly curfew, or orders to avoid a certain person.
• Unsecured bail. A dollar amount goes on paper. Payment is owed just if the person skips a hearing.
• Nominal bail. Something as small as $1 is deposited, and a person or agency vouches for the defendant.
• Monetary bail. Cash or property has to be posted before release.

Rule 523 lists what goes into the choice. Among the factors are the charge, any earlier record, a job history and attendance at past court dates.

Each bail is set by hand for that one case. Under Pa.R.Crim.P. 528, a figure has to be fair, and money matters too: the judge looks at what this defendant could realistically raise. So two neighbors facing the same charge may walk away with very unlike numbers.

How serious the charge is still counts. Pennsylvania grades crimes from summary offenses at the bottom, through three misdemeanor levels, up to three felony levels. The top felony grade carries as many as 20 years behind bars, so its bail usually climbs well past that of a traffic-level case.

Three quick ways to learn the real figure:

• Phone the facility at 717-274-5451.
• Pull the docket sheet from the free UJS Web Portal case search, using the person's name and county. Bail shows there once the case is entered.
• Call the district court that handled the arraignment.

As a sample, a $10,000 bail under a 10 percent option would mean $1,000 down.

The facility's office keeps hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 730 East Walnut Street, Lebanon, PA 17042. Since the place to post depends on the case, phone first. A good call goes like this:

1. Dial 717-274-5451. Give the full legal name and, if possible, a birth date.
2. Note the bail figure, the docket number and each charge listed.
3. Ask which office is accepting that bail today, and until what time.
4. Find out the forms of payment allowed, and the exact name a money order should carry.
5. Have staff read off any detainer, warrant or second case.
6. Carry photo ID. Hold on to the itemized receipt, which Pa.R.Crim.P. 535 requires the office to give you.

The lobby kiosk loads jail accounts only. It is not a bail window.

Two court offices inside the Municipal Building handle bail matters. Phone ahead, because the right window can change with the case and the hour.

• Clerk of Courts, the chief filing office for criminal files: Room 102, Municipal Building, 400 South 8th Street, Lebanon, PA 17042, 717-228-4419, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Ask here where bail gets posted, what payment works and how fast release follows.
• District Court Administration, which receives 10% Bail Program applications: Room 311, Municipal Building, 400 South 8th Street, Lebanon, PA 17042, 717-228-4440, same hours.

With the 10% program, a family puts down a slice of the bail rather than all of it, when the case is allowed in. State rules top out such deposits at one tenth of the full figure (Pa.R.Crim.P. 528). Ask Court Administration about the rules for applying and which papers to carry.

The district court that set the bail can help as well. Its phone number appears on the bail paperwork.

Under Pa.R.Crim.P. 528, full money bail may be met with:

• Cash, or a cash equivalent the local court permits
• Bearer bonds from the federal government, the state or a local government
• Real estate whose clear value equals or tops the bail
• A surety bond, written either by a bondsman holding a state license or by an approved insurer
• Where allowed, a cash deposit of 10 percent

Each office sets its own payment list. Before you leave home, ask the Clerk of Courts at 717-228-4419 about cards, checks and money orders.

The county probation page links the courts' online pay site, yet that site handles fines, costs and restitution. It is the wrong tool for bail. Never mail cash. Scammers sometimes phone families pretending to be jail staff, so send them nothing.

Commercial bail bonds are allowed in this state (42 Pa.C.S. §§ 5741-5750). Licensing comes from the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. Each bondsman also needs authorization in every county where they plan to write bonds.

• The bondsman takes a fee, called a premium, and in return signs for the whole bail. That fee stays with them.
• No state cap limits the premium today, since a limit that once existed was repealed in 2015. Get the price on paper.
• Charging a fee only for connecting you with a bondsman breaks the law (42 Pa.C.S. § 5749).
• Some ask for security, such as a car title or a house deed. Ask for written terms on its return.

Inside the facility, unsentenced people learn about bondsmen in the area, and a counselor arranges any call to one. Families can ask staff about this at 717-274-5451.

A bail amount is tied to a single docket. Here is what else may keep someone inside:

• A second case. Charges from here or from another county each carry separate bail.
• An old bench warrant. A court date missed in the past can trigger its own hold.
• Probation or parole. Violators make up a big share of people at the facility. Probation Services: 508 Oak Street, Lebanon, PA 17042, 717-273-1557, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• A state or federal hold. State and federal prisoners are sometimes kept here briefly for local court.
• An immigration detainer. That is a federal request, and paying bail does not cancel it.

Ring the facility at 717-274-5451 before paying, and ask them to read out every hold attached to the booking.

Nearly every defendant in Pennsylvania has a right to bail (Pa. Const. art. I, § 14). Bail can be withheld for a charge carrying death or a life sentence. It can also be withheld if only a cell, and no lesser condition, would protect the community.

Commonwealth v. Talley, decided in 2021, made the prosecutor prove that with solid evidence at a hearing. A bare accusation falls short.

In court, the county's prosecutors argue for high bail or none. Their office is the District Attorney's Office, Room 11, 400 South 8th Street, Lebanon, PA 17042, 717-228-4403, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

A bail change starts with a request from the defense (Pa.R.Crim.P. 529). Up to the preliminary hearing, the same district judge can revisit the amount. Later on, the Court of Common Pleas takes over.

1. Let the private lawyer or public defender know the family wants a review.
2. The person in custody completes the facility's "blue bail sheet," its bail reduction form, through that lawyer.
3. Pull together pay stubs, a lease, letters from family nearby and a realistic number you can raise.
4. Propose rules the judge might accept, for example weekly reporting or staying away from the other party.

Long waits count as well. Rule 600 sets a 180-day mark for pretrial jail time, and days lost to defense delays do not count toward it. Past that mark, a motion can be filed to free the person on nominal bail. People held without any bail cannot use this.

Anyone too short on money to hire counsel may apply. Find the office in Room 122, Municipal Building, 400 South 8th Street, Lebanon, PA 17042, 717-228-4421. Hours are weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and there is no charge.

The application goes in with household income papers. Those include the four latest pay stubs, any benefit, unemployment or food aid notice dated within 30 days, and a child support order if one exists. Email, fax or drop it off in person. The cutoff depends on household size.

Its lawyers take felonies, misdemeanors, juvenile matters, probation and parole violations, PFA violations and summary charges that could bring jail. Every applicant signs a sworn money statement under the Public Defender Act (16 P.S. § 9960.1 and following). Since Act 34 of 2023, Harrisburg sends money to counties for this work for the first time.

Felony and misdemeanor files are decided by the Court of Common Pleas, 52nd Judicial District, 400 S. 8th Street, Lebanon, PA 17042, 717-274-2801, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Locals know the building as the Municipal Building.

Arraignments and preliminary hearings take place at the six magisterial district courts:

• 52-1-01: 502 State Drive, Lebanon, PA 17042, 717-279-0300
• 52-2-01: 502 State Drive, Lebanon, PA 17042, 717-279-0400
• 52-3-01: 728 East Walnut Street, Lebanon, PA 17042, 717-272-3084
• 52-3-03: 1720 State Route 72 North, Lebanon, PA 17046, 717-273-0024
• 52-3-04: 138 West Walnut Street, Cleona, PA 17042, 717-273-0885
• 52-3-05: 325 South Railroad Street, Palmyra, PA 17078, 717-838-8151

Any federal charge gets heard downriver at Harrisburg's Sylvia H. Rambo United States Courthouse, 1501 North 6th Street, Suite 101, Harrisburg, PA 17102, 717-221-3920.

Save the receipt. When every court date is met, the money is refunded, about 20 days after the final ruling, to whoever is listed as depositor (Pa.R.Crim.P. 535). A county fee for handling cash bail may be subtracted. The Clerk of Courts at 717-228-4419 can tell you its size.

• With the defendant listed as depositor, the prosecutor may ask the court to keep the refund for fines and costs. A relative posting under their own name avoids this.
• A person who signs on as surety may owe the complete bail, far more than a 10 percent deposit, after a no-show.
• Missing a date usually sets off a bench warrant. The bail is forfeited too, and new charges may follow.
• Premiums paid to a bondsman are gone for good.

Before pickup, call 717-274-5451 and ask for the fiscal tech about any balance left on the account. Money owed to the jail is billed and due within 30 days.

• Extra belongings have to be collected within 30 days. Staff won't mail them out.
• Medicine from home stays locked up until release. Only the person gets it, and it must be claimed within 14 days.
• Bring photo ID to 730 East Walnut Street, Lebanon, PA 17042.

For deposits and refunds on jail accounts, read our inmate money page.

Federal prosecutors file local cases in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg Division. That court sits at 1501 North 6th Street, Suite 101, Harrisburg, PA 17102, 717-221-3920.

• A judge at the federal courthouse decides release after a detention hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• A federal defendant awaiting trial stays under U.S. Marshals Service control. Scranton holds its district office, at 235 North Washington Avenue, Unit 215, Scranton, PA 18503, 570-346-7277. Phone that office to find the jail being used.
• Low-income defendants are assigned counsel through the Federal Public Defender, whose office is on the third floor at 100 Chestnut Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101, 717-782-2237.
• Once a prison term begins, check the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Yes, ICE still can. Paying the county bail does not touch a federal immigration request. Expect this order:

1. A detainer, Form I-247A, reaches LCCF from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
2. That paper requests the jail hold onto the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Federal appeals judges for this state ruled in 2014 (Galarza v. Szalczyk) that an ICE detainer is only an ask, never an order. They also said the county carries the blame when that paper is its only reason for keeping someone. That is why every county decides its own detainer rules. To hear how LCCF handles them, call 717-274-5451.
4. The ICE Philadelphia Field Office handles Pennsylvania: 114 N. 8th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, 215-656-7164.
5. Enter a last name, first name and birth country at the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

Judges here hand down a minimum and a maximum, and that upper number fixes the location (42 Pa.C.S. § 9762). A top term under two years stays at the county facility. Two to five years may stay local if the judge so decides, or go to the state. Five years and up always means state prison.

Those prisons belong to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, 1920 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050, 717-728-2573. Newly sentenced people pass weeks or months in classification first, and only then reach an assigned prison.

• Search state prisoners on the DOC inmate locator; try a name or the DOC number.
• Browse prison details on our Pennsylvania state prisons page.

Under the Juvenile Act (42 Pa.C.S. § 6301 and following), most teens are handled by juvenile court. Detention for them means a youth facility, and the public docket site leaves juvenile matters out.

Juvenile probation shares an office with adult probation at 508 Oak Street, Lebanon, PA 17042, 717-273-1557. Ask for juvenile probation to learn the detention placement and the hearing day.

A few cases begin in adult court. That happens when a 15 to 17 year old is accused of murder. It also happens with some listed violent crimes in which a deadly weapon was used. Defense lawyers may then ask to shift the case down to juvenile court.