Northumberland County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

Here, a magisterial district judge (people say MDJ) picks the bail. Four of these neighborhood courts cover the county, from Milton down through Shamokin, and the town where the arrest happened decides which one. The District Attorney's own question page lists what that judge weighs: how grave the accusation is, work, family, age and where the person lives.

The number is announced at the preliminary arraignment (Pa.R.Crim.P. 540). Pennsylvania's guide for crime victims puts that hearing, in most cases, inside six hours from the arrest, and many MDJs join over a video link. Expect three steps:

• the defendant receives the written complaint,
• bail or release terms are announced, and
• the preliminary hearing gets a date, no later than 14 days away for someone still locked up, or 21 days for someone sent home.

To learn which MDJ handled a late-night or weekend case, ask Records at the jail: 570-509-2701.

Rule 524 of the state's criminal rules gives an MDJ five tools, listed here from lightest to heaviest:

1. Release on recognizance (ROR). A signature promising to show up. No money at all.
2. ROR with conditions. That same signature, tied to rules like reporting in, sobriety, or no contact with one named person.
3. Unsecured bail. The paperwork names a sum, which the defendant owes only after missing court, so nothing is paid now.
4. Nominal bail. A token deposit, even $1, while a relative, friend or bail agency signs on as surety.
5. Monetary bail. Before any release, someone puts up cash, pledges a house or lot, or buys a bondsman's bond.

Only option five costs money up front. Rule 523 tells the judge to weigh the charge, roots in the community, criminal history and past attendance at hearings.

Each MDJ settles on a number for that one person. State rules demand that any money condition stay "reasonable" and that the judge factor in what the defendant can actually pay (Pa.R.Crim.P. 528). Results swing widely from case to case.

Things that usually nudge the number higher or lower:

• How the charge is graded. An F1 carries up to 20 years, compared with 1 year for an M3 (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 1103-1104).
• Any history of skipped hearings, or other cases still open.
• Steady work, children at home, and years spent living locally.
• Any risk to a victim or witness.

Some judges allow a 10 percent cash deposit. On a $10,000 figure, that means $1,000. For the exact amount, and whether the 10 percent route is open, phone the criminal records office (Clerk of Courts) at 570-988-4148.

Bookings and releases run out of 670 Northumberland County Drive, Coal Township, PA 17866. The Records Office there handles paperwork on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., closed on holidays. Work through it like this:

1. Phone 570-509-2701 and request Records.
2. Spell the defendant's name, share their birthday, and jot down both the bail and the docket number.
3. Ask whether the money is taken in Coal Township or by the MDJ office that set it.
4. Check which payment types are being taken today, and whose name to write on a check.
5. Carry a photo ID. Insist on an itemized receipt, then keep it in a safe drawer (Pa.R.Crim.P. 535).
6. Stay home afterward. The jail asks relatives not to show up until Records phones them.

Nobody walks out until release papers carrying a judge's signature arrive. The defendant also names one contact, and staff call that person to arrange the ride.

Frequently. Phone ahead, though, and confirm that the window accepts bail and which payment forms it will take. Office hours at each spot:

• Court 08-2-01, 150 S Market Street, Mount Carmel, PA 17851, 570-339-2140. Monday 12:30 to 3:00 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Wednesday 8:00 a.m. to noon, Friday 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
• Court 08-3-02, 45 Locust Street, Milton, PA 17847, 570-742-7446. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with a half-hour lunch; Wednesday and Friday 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
• Court 08-3-03, 2 E Arch Street, Shamokin, PA 17872, 570-644-0736. Public hours Monday 1:00 to 3:30 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• Court 08-3-04, 399 Stadium Drive, Sunbury, PA 17801, 570-988-4485. Hours shift daily, within an 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. window.
• Criminal records office (Clerk of Courts), 201 Market Street, Sunbury, PA 17801, 570-988-4148. Monday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

After the preliminary hearing sends a case upstairs to Common Pleas, the courthouse records office is normally where bail questions go.

Rule 528 names the kinds of security that can cover a full money condition:

• cash, plus any cash substitute the local bench accepts
• bearer bonds from Washington, Harrisburg or a local government
• a Pennsylvania home or parcel whose equity, once loans are subtracted, matches or beats the bail
• property in another state, if extra lien paperwork protects the county
• a bond from a licensed bondsman, or from an approved surety company

Where a judge permits it, up to 10 percent in cash may do. Think hard about whose name sits on that deposit. Signing as surety can leave a relative owing every dollar if the defendant vanishes.

For court costs, fines and restitution, the county points people to the UJS portal. Bail is handled on its own track, so call the criminal records office at 570-988-4148 to learn how to post it. Never mail cash.

Commercial bonds are allowed statewide. The bondsman backs the entire bail before the court, and relatives buy that guarantee with a fee. Before signing, keep these points in mind:

• A bondsman must hold a license issued through the Pennsylvania Insurance Department (42 Pa.C.S. § 5742).
• Before writing bonds here, each one files a copy of that license and an insurer's written grant of authority (42 Pa.C.S. § 5743.1).
• Lawmakers dropped the old premium cap in 2015, so get every charge spelled out on paper.
• You won't see that premium again, even after an acquittal.
• A middleman who wants payment just to connect you with a bondsman is committing an offense (42 Pa.C.S. § 5749).

Plenty of bondsmen want collateral too, like a truck title or a deed. Settle in writing how it gets returned.

Each bail figure is tied to one docket. These other holds can still block the door:

• Several dockets. A second open case brings a second bail to meet.
• An outside warrant. A sheriff elsewhere, even out of state, may ask for transport.
• A probation detainer. County Adult Probation and Parole sits on the fourth floor of 322 N Second Street, Sunbury, PA 17801, 570-495-2339.
• A state parole violation. A state agent can lodge a separate hold.
• An ICE detainer. Immigration agents can request a short added stay.
• Unsigned paperwork. The jail waits until a judge signs the release order.

Before handing over money, have Records at 570-509-2701 read you every hold on file.

Pennsylvania's constitution guards the right to bail for close to everyone charged (Pa. Const. art. I, § 14; 42 Pa.C.S. § 5701). Only two situations let a judge refuse it:

• a charge punishable by death or a life sentence, or
• a finding that no conditions besides jail would protect anyone.

Prosecutors carry the burden in both. Real evidence has to be laid out at a hearing, and the Supreme Court said in Commonwealth v. Talley (2021) that an accusation alone falls short.

The prosecutors who would argue for denial work in the District Attorney's Office, third floor, 201 Market Street, Sunbury, PA 17801, 570-988-4134. Its staff work Monday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday until 4:30 p.m.

Rule 529 lets the defense ask for a change. Ahead of the preliminary hearing, the issuing MDJ may revisit the amount. After the case climbs to Common Pleas, a judge there takes over.

1. Ask defense counsel, hired or appointed, to put the request in writing.
2. Gather recent paychecks, rent or mortgage records, school papers for any kids, and a realistic sum relatives could gather.
3. Suggest conditions that answer the court's fears, such as weekly reporting.

Long waits open a second door. Once a defendant has sat 180 days since the complaint was filed, not counting delay the defense caused, counsel may move for release on nominal bail (Pa.R.Crim.P. 600). Court Administration schedules Common Pleas hearings from the second floor of 201 Market Street, Sunbury, PA 17801, 570-988-4167.

Appointed lawyers work from the third floor of 322 N Second Street, Sunbury, PA 17801, 570-495-2347. Doors open Monday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Both adults and juveniles who can't afford counsel are served.

• Complete the county's Application for Assignment of Legal Counsel.
• Go over the filing instructions so no line is skipped.
• An affidavit about income is required, and false answers can bring perjury charges (16 P.S. § 9960.1 and following).
• A judge decides eligibility.

Pennsylvania's Public Defender Act sets up an office in all 66 counties outside Philadelphia. Act 34 of 2023 added state money for that work for the first time.

Most adult cases open before a district judge and close in Common Pleas. Here is each court with the towns it covers:

• Court of Common Pleas, 8th Judicial District, county courthouse, 201 Market Street, Sunbury, PA 17801. Court Administration: 570-988-4167. Felony and misdemeanor cases land here once a preliminary hearing is done.
• Court 08-2-01, 150 S Market Street, Mount Carmel, PA 17851, 570-339-2140. Kulpmont, Marion Heights, Riverside, Mount Carmel borough and township, and the Ralpho, Rush and East and West Cameron townships.
• Court 08-3-02, 45 Locust Street, Milton, PA 17847, 570-742-7446. Milton, Watsontown, Turbotville, McEwensville, Delaware, Lewis, Point and Turbot townships, plus East and West Chillisquaque.
• Court 08-3-03, 2 E Arch Street, Shamokin, PA 17872, 570-644-0736. Shamokin City, Snydertown, and the Coal, Shamokin and Zerbe townships.
• Court 08-3-04, 399 Stadium Drive, Sunbury, PA 17801, 570-988-4485. Sunbury City, Northumberland borough, Herndon, and nine townships such as Upper and Lower Augusta and the Mahanoys.
• Federal charges go to the Williamsport federal courthouse, 240 West Third Street, Suite 218, Williamsport, PA 17701, 570-323-6380.

Money comes back to the receipt's named depositor, once the case has a final outcome and no hearing was missed. Rule 535 aims for a refund inside 20 days after that final step.

• The county may hold back a handling fee.
• If the receipt lists the defendant as depositor, a Common Pleas judge can apply that refund to fines, costs and restitution.
• Skipping court risks a bench warrant, loss of every bail dollar, and sometimes a separate charge for failing to appear.
• After a bench-warrant arrest, Rule 150 calls for a hearing inside 72 hours from arrival at the Coal Township jail. A stay in some other county's lockup first can push that clock back (Pa.R.Crim.P. 150).

To ask about timing and the county's handling fee, keep the receipt nearby and phone the criminal records office at 570-988-4148.

Once signed release papers reach the jail, Records contacts the person the defendant chose. That call is the moment to settle money and property questions too.

1. Reach Records at 570-509-2701 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on a weekday.
2. Learn how any leftover commissary balance gets refunded.
3. Find out which day clothes, keys or a cell phone may be claimed, and what ID staff expect.
4. Collecting on behalf of the released person? Check whether staff need written permission from them.

The jail's lobby is at 670 Northumberland County Drive, Coal Township, PA 17866. Deposits and refunds of balances are explained on our inmate account page.

A federal charge here belongs to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, sitting in Williamsport at 240 West Third Street, Suite 218, Williamsport, PA 17701, 570-323-6380.

• At the opening appearance a federal judge decides between release with conditions and detention until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Pending trial, federal defendants sit in Marshals Service custody. That agency's Middle District headquarters is at 235 North Washington Avenue, Unit 215, Scranton, PA 18503, 570-346-7277, and can say where someone is being housed.
• Can't afford counsel? Ask the Federal Public Defender, whose Williamsport branch is at 330 Pine Street, Suite 302, Williamsport, PA 17701, 570-323-9314.
• Once a federal sentence begins, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

No. Paying the MDJ's bail does nothing to an ICE request. Here's how it tends to unfold:

1. Federal immigration officers lodge Form I-247A at the Coal Township jail.
2. Federal rules let that hold run up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. The Third Circuit, whose map covers Pennsylvania, settled this in Galarza v. Szalczyk (3d Cir. 2014). Detainers are mere requests, its judges found, and a county can be sued for keeping someone behind bars on that paper alone. Jails here each pick their own approach. Ask Coal Township staff about theirs at 570-509-2701.
4. Cases picked up by ICE run through the Philadelphia Field Office, 114 N. 8th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, 215-656-7164.
5. Enter a name and birth country on the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

Each sentence is a span of time, and the top of that span decides the building (42 Pa.C.S. § 9762):

• Top number below 2 years: the Coal Township jail.
• Top number of 5 years or longer: a state correctional institution.
• Between 2 and 5 years: the state, as a rule, unless the warden, the prosecutor and the judge each approve a Coal Township stay.

DOC intake begins at a reception and classification center. Testing and sorting there can last weeks or months before a permanent prison is chosen.

The DOC inmate locator shows the current prison. You can also reach the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, 1920 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050, 717-728-2573. Facility-by-facility details sit in our Pennsylvania state prisons listing.

Youths below 18 fall under the Juvenile Act (42 Pa.C.S. § 6301 and following). Juvenile Probation and juvenile court take those cases, and they are kept apart from the Coal Township adult jail. These files never appear on the public UJS docket search.

• Juvenile Probation works from the third floor of 322 N Second Street, Sunbury, PA 17801, 570-495-2174, the same floor where juvenile court meets.
• Ask that office where the youth is detained and the date set for a juvenile hearing.
• Murder cases skip juvenile court and open in adult court. Certain violent felonies do too when a deadly weapon was involved and the teen was at least 15. Defense counsel can ask a judge to transfer it back.
• The Public Defender takes juvenile cases as well.