Both kinds of cases begin in the same place: a local magisterial district court. The district judge there sets bail, holds the preliminary hearing and decides summary cases outright. Summary offenses are the smallest charges, like most traffic tickets, disorderly conduct or a first retail theft citation.

Misdemeanors and felonies that pass the preliminary hearing go up to the Court of Common Pleas. It is the county's main trial court and makes up the 3rd Judicial District by itself, with no partner county. That court also hears appeals from summary cases, which get a brand-new trial there.

Federal crimes are a separate track. They go to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Most county court offices share one campus in the county seat. Weekday hours run 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. unless an office says otherwise.

• Court of Common Pleas, Government Center, 669 Washington Street, Easton, PA 18042, main line 610-829-6500
• Clerk of Courts, Criminal Division, same building, 610-829-6453. The state court list gives 610-829-6457 as an alternative number.
• Court Administration, same building, 610-829-6700. Interpreters are requested at 610-829-6709.
• Office for the district judges, same building, 610-829-6703
• Pretrial Services and Adult Probation, Criminal Administration Building, 105 South Union Street, Easton, PA 18042. Pretrial is 610-829-6830; probation is 610-829-6800.
• Federal court, Holmes Building, 101 Larry Holmes Drive, Easton, PA 18042, clerk's line 215-597-7704

Sheriff's deputies screen everyone who enters these buildings. Leave knives, scissors and pepper spray at home, because seized items are kept.

Pennsylvania has no city or town courts outside Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Instead, magisterial district courts handle local cases. Each court covers its own list of towns, and a case goes to the one where the incident occurred.

Bethlehem side

• 03-1-04: 248 Brodhead Road, Suite 2, Bethlehem, PA 18017, 610-691-2364. Bethlehem Ward 14 and Hanover Township.
• 03-2-01: 402 E. Broad Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018, 610-691-1501. Bethlehem Wards 6 to 9.
• 03-2-03: 3650 Nazareth Pike, Unit 2, Bethlehem, PA 18020, 610-746-9740. Bethlehem Township.
• 03-2-04: 1404 Walter Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015, 610-865-4010. Freemansburg, Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township.
• 03-2-10: 327 Broadway, Suite 200, Bethlehem, PA 18015, 610-868-9191. Bethlehem Wards 1 to 4.
• 03-2-11: 1214 Stefko Boulevard, Bethlehem, PA 18017, 610-694-0553. Bethlehem Wards 5, 15, 16 and 17.

Nazareth, the north and the Slate Belt

• 03-2-08: 136 S. Main Street, Nazareth, PA 18064, 610-759-6424. Nazareth Borough plus East Allen, Lower Nazareth and Upper Nazareth Townships.
• 03-3-01: 4330 Lehigh Drive, Suite 2, Walnutport, PA 18088, 610-767-6345. Allen and Lehigh Townships, part of Moore Township (Klecknersville and Beersville), and Northampton, North Catasauqua and Walnutport Boroughs.
• 03-3-02: 31 W. First Street, Suite 1, Wind Gap, PA 18091, 610-863-5447. Bath, Chapman, Stockertown and Wind Gap Boroughs, Bushkill Township, the Phillips and Eastern parts of Moore Township, and the Plainfield Church part of Plainfield Township.
• 03-3-03: 269 Blue Valley Road, Bangor, PA 18013, 610-588-3998. Bangor, East Bangor, Pen Argyl, Portland and Roseto Boroughs, Lower and Upper Mount Bethel Townships, Washington Township, and the Delabole, Belfast and Kesslerville parts of Plainfield Township.

Four more district courts cover the city and the towns that ring it:

• 03-2-05: 400 Northampton Street, Suite 100, Easton, PA 18042, 610-258-5900. City Wards 1 to 5.
• 03-2-06: 700 C Philadelphia Road, Easton, PA 18042, 610-258-8711. City Wards 6, 9, 10, 11 and 12, Glendon Borough and Williams Township.
• 03-2-09: 3 Weller Place, Easton, PA 18045, 610-258-7266. Forks and Palmer Townships and Tatamy Borough.
• 03-2-12: 1901 Hay Terrace, Suite UL5, Easton, PA 18042, 610-258-4640. City Wards 7 and 8, plus Wilson and West Easton Boroughs.

Unsure which court has a case? The office for the district judges at 610-829-6703 can point you to the right one.

Hearing one is the preliminary arraignment. Picture a short session, frequently on a TV link, with a district judge. The judge names each charge, passes along the complaint, mentions the right to counsel, sets the bail figure and schedules the next hearing (Pa.R.Crim.P. 540). Expect it within hours of booking.

Hearing two, the preliminary hearing, takes place before the district judge whose area covers the alleged crime scene. The clock allows 14 days from the arraignment while jailed, or 21 days while free. The bar for prosecutors is low, a prima facie case. They must show enough to suggest a crime happened and that this defendant probably did it. Weak proof means the charges get tossed. Some defendants waive this hearing and go straight up.

Anyone who can't post bail waits at the county jail, 666 Walnut Street, Easton, PA 18042, 610-829-7400. Its Main Prison and Tower stand at that address. Work Release houses people who go out to jobs. The system also includes a West Easton unit, plus the Community Corrections Program (610-829-7659). Jail staff can say which unit holds a given person.

Once a misdemeanor clears the preliminary hearing, Common Pleas takes over with an arraignment and a pretrial conference, and the case closes by plea or verdict. Ceilings by grade (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 1101, 1104):

• M1: 5 years maximum, fine as high as $10,000
• M2: 2 years maximum, fine as high as $5,000
• M3: 1 year maximum, fine as high as $2,500
• Summary: 90 days maximum, fine as high as $300 (18 Pa.C.S. § 1105)

DUI grading turns on prior offenses and test results (75 Pa.C.S. § 3803), and the law changed recently. A defense lawyer can say which grade fits this case. The court's DUI Program runs DUI ARD for first offenders and DUI ASP for second offenders. It is at 105 S. Union Street, Easton, PA 18042, 610-829-6810.

Convicted of a summary offense by an MDJ? Appeal to Common Pleas inside 30 days, and the whole matter gets tried fresh.

When a felony gets held for court, the District Attorney drafts a paper called the information, which lists every count for trial. Counts may be added or cut at that stage. From there:

1. Formal arraignment. Usually a month or two out. A copy of the information is handed over and a plea is entered.
2. Pretrial conference. Bargaining over a plea often happens around now.
3. Trial. Twelve jurors or one judge decide. Conviction takes proof beyond a reasonable doubt; on a jury, every one of the twelve has to vote guilty.
4. Sentencing. The judge reads a probation write-up on the defendant's life and record, then checks state guidelines.
5. Appeal. Up to the Superior Court, and sometimes on to the Supreme Court.

Ceilings for felonies (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 1101, 1103): F1, 20 years plus a $25,000 fine; F2, 10 years plus $25,000; F3, 7 years plus $15,000.

The heaviest cases shift the rules in four ways.

• Bail. Death-eligible and life-sentence charges can mean no bail at all. So can a showing that nothing short of jail keeps others safe, but the prosecutor must prove that at a hearing (Pa. Const. art. I, § 14).
• Murder penalties. Life in prison is the floor for first- and second-degree murder, and first degree can also bring death. Third degree tops out at 40 years (18 Pa.C.S. § 1102).
• Teens. Murder, and several armed violent felonies, send a teen of 15, 16 or 17 straight to the adult side (42 Pa.C.S. § 6302).
• Victims. Victims of personal injury crimes may be heard on bail, plea deals and the sentence.

Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) mostly helps people with no record. ARD offers come only from the District Attorney, with a judge's approval needed (Pa.R.Crim.P. 310). The deal usually means supervision, classes, fees and community service. Complete every piece, and the charge is dismissed, with expungement usually open afterward.

First DUI cases here go through DUI ARD at the court's DUI Program, 610-829-6810. For other ARD questions, call the District Attorney's Office at 610-829-6630.

Treatment courts and a Mental Health Review Program are listed on the county court's treatment court page. Ask defense counsel whether one could fit.

Prosecutor. The District Attorney's Office brings county criminal charges. It is reached through the Government Center, 669 Washington Street, Easton, PA 18042, at 610-829-6630. For hearing dates, scheduling or restitution, the clerk's office lists 610-829-6666.

Public Defender. Free lawyers for people who qualify work in the basement of the Courthouse, 669 Washington Street, Easton, PA 18042, 610-829-6384. Apply by phone, in person or with the online form. The office covers misdemeanors, felonies, some summary cases, probation violations and juvenile matters.

Applicants sign a sworn form about income under the Public Defender Act (16 P.S. § 9960.1 and following). State money for county defenders began with Act 34 of 2023.

Pennsylvania's UJS Web Portal case search is free, with no account needed. Search by last name, first name and county, or by docket number. A docket sheet lists the counts, the bail, each hearing date and the room. That holds for district court files and Common Pleas files alike.

• Brand-new filings may lag a bit.
• Youth cases, plus sealed or expunged ones, stay hidden.
• Jail location is a question for the jail, since dockets cover court events only.

The District Attorney also posts an arraignment list and a trial list. The Clerk of Courts, Criminal Division, gives no outcome or sentence details over the phone. Its criminal record search costs $10.00.

The Sheriff's Department serves bench warrants issued by the Court of Common Pleas, and police and constables serve others. For a bench warrant, ring the Sheriff at 610-829-6561. Statewide and federal fugitive lists: the Ten Most Wanted from the State Police (tips 800-472-8477), the Marshals' top-15 fugitive list, plus the FBI Philadelphia field office. To clear a warrant, call the Public Defender at 610-829-6384 or a private lawyer first, then surrender through the court that issued it. The Sheriff, in the basement, and the Clerk of Courts (610-829-6453) both work at 669 Washington Street, Easton, PA 18042.

U.S. crimes from here go to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Local cases get judges sitting in Reading, Allentown or Easton. The nearest bench is the Holmes Building, 101 Larry Holmes Drive, Easton, PA 18042. The other two are the Edward N. Cahn U.S. Courthouse, 504 W. Hamilton Street, Allentown, PA 18101, and The Gateway Building, 201 Penn Street, Reading, PA 19601. One clerk's line serves all three: 215-597-7704.

• Federal prosecutors work from an Allentown office of the U.S. Attorney, 215-861-8540, in the same Hamilton Street courthouse, suite 3701.
• A detention hearing, not bail, settles custody before trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Until a verdict, the U.S. Marshals Service is the jailer of record. Its district office is 601 Market Street, Room 2110, Philadelphia, PA 19106, 215-597-7272. Eastern District defendants may be housed at FDC Philadelphia, 700 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, 215-521-4000.
• Post-sentence, the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator lists the prison.

Immigration and the criminal case move on parallel tracks. The state judge keeps the criminal charges moving no matter what ICE does.

1. Step one is paperwork: an I-247A detainer form lands at the county jail.
2. Its ask: hold the defendant up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. A detainer binds nobody; it only asks. That is the Third Circuit's holding in Galarza v. Szalczyk (3d Cir. 2014). Jailing someone on that paper alone leaves the county answerable, so every county jail here chooses its own approach. To learn this jail's approach, phone 610-829-7400.
4. ICE's Philadelphia Field Office, 114 N. 8th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, 215-656-7164, handles Pennsylvania.
5. The ICE Online Detainee Locator searches by A-number, or by name with birth country.

Pennsylvania judges give a range, and its upper number decides the building (42 Pa.C.S. § 9762). Upper number under 2 years: county time. Upper number of 5 years or longer: state time. In between, state time is the default, with a local stay possible when the judge, the jail and the District Attorney all agree.

Classification at a state reception center comes first. It runs for a span of weeks, sometimes months, before a permanent prison is named.

• Search the Pennsylvania DOC inmate locator.
• DOC headquarters: 1920 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050, 717-728-2573.
• Prison by prison, our state prisons directory has the details.

Probation after jail is supervised by county Adult Probation at 105 South Union Street, Easton, PA 18042, 610-829-6800, a separate office from the jail.

Youth under 18 are usually handled under the Juvenile Act (42 Pa.C.S. § 6301) in juvenile court. Cases run through Juvenile Probation at 650 Ferry Street, Easton, PA 18042, 610-829-6880. Their records stay off the UJS public portal.

When detention is ordered, the youth goes to the court-run Juvenile Justice Center at that same Ferry Street address, 610-829-6850. It is a secure center that also accepts youth from other counties.

Murder and certain armed violent charges move teens aged 15 through 17 into adult court instead. The Public Defender takes juvenile cases and can petition to send such a case down to the juvenile system.

Pennsylvania's Crime Victims Act (18 P.S. § 11.101) lets victims learn about services, hear about key court steps, comment on bail, and in many cases speak on plea deals and the sentence. Victims of personal injury crimes can be told when an adult is let out of the county jail.

• Victim/Witness advocate: 610-829-6645
• 24-hour victim support line listed by the District Attorney: 610-437-6611
• PA SAVIN (VINELink) release alerts: 866-972-7284, TTY 866-847-1298
• Crime victims compensation (VCAP): 800-233-2339

Family of the defendant: no calls, visits, letters or messages to the victim, not even through a friend. That contact can breach bail and add charges.