Pennsylvania's constitution builds one court system with local and county levels (Pa. Const. art. V, § 1). Locally, it breaks down like this:

• Magisterial district courts (3 offices). These rule on summary offenses (the lowest grade, like most traffic tickets or disorderly conduct). They also run preliminary arraignments, set bail and sign warrants.
• Central Court. Preliminary hearings for every criminal case are held here, in the courthouse. The 3 district judges take turns, as the President Judge directed.
• Court of Common Pleas. Misdemeanors and felonies climb to this court once a preliminary hearing sends them up. The 37th Judicial District takes in 2 counties, Forest and Warren, and its judges keep chambers in the Warren County Courthouse.

Lost a summary case before an MDJ? An appeal to Common Pleas brings a brand-new trial before a judge there. The court's criminal forms page has the summary appeal form and an ability-to-pay evaluation.

Most of the work happens on Fourth Avenue. Offices are open Monday to Friday.

• County courthouse, 204 Fourth Avenue, Warren, PA 16365, main line 814-728-3400, hours 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Common Pleas, Central Court, the Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts (814-728-3440) and Court Administration (814-728-3530) all sit here. Court Collections, for fines and costs, answers at 814-728-3487.
• Magisterial District Court 37-2-01, 333 Hickory Street, Warren, PA 16365, 814-723-2260. Open 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 4:30 p.m.
• Magisterial District Court 37-3-01, 4234 Market Street, North Warren, PA 16365, 814-723-6750. Open 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 4:30 p.m.
• Magisterial District Court 37-4-01, 37 Railroad Street, Youngsville, PA 16371, 814-563-4682. Open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. without a lunch break.
• Federal court, Erie Courthouse, 17 South Park Row, Erie, PA 16501, 814-464-9600, clerk open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The 37th district posts news, forms and local rules on its court website.

In this state, only Philadelphia and Pittsburgh run city-level criminal courts. Everywhere else, magisterial district courts do that job, each for a fixed group of towns. The 27 local governments here split three ways:

• 37-2-01, 333 Hickory Street, Warren, PA 16365, 814-723-2260: the City of Warren plus Cherry Grove and Sheffield townships.
• 37-3-01, 4234 Market Street, North Warren, PA 16365, 814-723-6750: Clarendon and Sugar Grove boroughs, and Conewango, Elk, Farmington, Glade, Mead, Pine Grove and Sugar Grove townships.
• 37-4-01, 37 Railroad Street, Youngsville, PA 16371, 814-563-4682: Bear Lake, Tidioute and Youngsville boroughs, and Brokenstraw, Columbus, Deerfield, Eldred, Freehold, Limestone, Pittsfield, Pleasant, Southwest, Spring Creek, Triumph and Watson townships.

Citations and summary trials are handled by the office for the area. Criminal preliminary hearings are the exception: those all move to Central Court at the courthouse.

Pennsylvania calls the first court stop a preliminary arraignment. A state victim-services guide says it generally happens within about 6 hours of an arrest. Overnight, the on-call MDJ takes it, and with the defendant's consent it can run over two-way video from the prison.

1. The MDJ lists the accusations and hands over the criminal complaint in writing.
2. The person is told of their rights, a lawyer among them.
3. Release terms or bail come next, decided right then.
4. The MDJ sets a preliminary hearing date. The wait can't pass 14 days for someone in jail, or 21 for someone out (Pa.R.Crim.P. 540).

That later hearing happens at Central Court. On the Central Court day, public defender clients get a case-tracking sheet that lists what comes next.

Early on, a misdemeanor rides the same rails as a felony: MDJ arraignment, then a Central Court preliminary hearing, which the defense may waive. Common Pleas then holds a formal arraignment, later a pretrial conference, and the case finishes with a plea or a trial. Maximum penalties, by grade (18 Pa.C.S. §§ 1101, 1104-1105):

• M1: 5 years in jail, $10,000 fine
• M2: 2 years, $5,000
• M3: 1 year, $2,500
• Summary offense: 90 days, $300

Under 75 Pa.C.S. § 3803, a general-level DUI with zero or one prior counts as a misdemeanor with a 6 month cap. Refusing the test, a high blood alcohol reading or more priors raise the grade.

Two ways out of a regular conviction exist locally:

• ARD (Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition). The District Attorney decides who is offered it, mostly first offenders, and first DUIs are common. Finish the program and a local rule lets the defendant ask for dismissal and expungement. Ask the DA's office at 814-728-3460.
• Treatment Court. A voluntary program of 18 months or more, entered after a plea, for non-violent offenders whose crimes grow out of drug or alcohol addiction. Applicants must live in the county. Get the Treatment Court application, or call the Screening and Assessment Office, 285 Hospital Drive, Warren, PA 16365, 814-723-2100.

1. Preliminary arraignment. An MDJ sets bail and a hearing date.
2. Preliminary hearing at Central Court. At this hearing the Commonwealth owes the judge a prima facie case. Put simply, its evidence on its face points to a crime and to the defendant. Fall short, and the charges get tossed.
3. The information. That's the name for the formal charging paper. The DA files it and may change the list of counts.
4. Formal arraignment in Common Pleas, often 1 to 2 months later. The defendant enters a plea here.
5. Pretrial conference. Many plea deals take shape here.
6. Trial. Jurors, 12 of them, must reach a unanimous verdict. The defendant can choose a bench trial instead, with a judge deciding alone. In both, the Commonwealth carries the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
7. Sentencing. Before choosing a sentence, the judge studies the state guidelines and a background report from probation staff (the pre-sentence report).

Top penalties under 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 1101 and 1103: F1 carries 20 years and $25,000, F2 carries 10 years and $25,000, and F3 carries 7 years and $15,000. Appeals go first to the Superior Court.

• Bail. A no-bail hold is lawful in two situations: the count can bring death or life, or jail is the only way to protect the public. Evidence at a hearing must back it (Commonwealth v. Talley, 2021).
• Homicide. 18 Pa.C.S. § 1102 sets a 40 year cap for third-degree murder and life for second-degree killings. For first-degree, it is either the death penalty or a life sentence.
• Teens. At 15, 16 or 17, a murder count lands in adult court, as does an armed charge from the Juvenile Act's violent-crime list.
• Victims. In injury crimes and burglaries, the victim gets to weigh in before a plea deal and before sentencing.
• Diversion. Treatment Court is open only to non-violent offenders.

Long terms in these cases nearly always mean state prison. A 5-year or longer maximum sends the person to the Department of Corrections (42 Pa.C.S. § 9762).

The District Attorney's Office handles prosecutions from all three MDJ offices and Common Pleas. It sits at 204 4th Avenue, Warren, PA 16365, 814-728-3460, with hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

A defendant short on money gets free counsel from the Public Defender's Office, also in the courthouse, at 204 Fourth Avenue, Warren, PA 16365, 814-728-3435.

• Fill in the public defender application with no blanks left.
• Turn it in 5 days or more ahead of the preliminary hearing.
• Eligibility runs on the federal poverty guidelines, with income proof required.
• Under 16 P.S. § 9960.1 and following, every applicant swears in an affidavit that they lack funds for a lawyer.

Families may also retain a private attorney, at the start or partway through the case.

The state courts' UJS Web Portal case search costs nothing and needs no account. Search as a participant using last name, first name and Warren as the county. Or search by docket number. Every docket sheet shows the charges, bail, upcoming events and the courtroom. It covers both MDJ cases and Common Pleas cases.

Two warnings. New filings can take a while to show up. It leaves out juvenile matters, sealed cases and expunged ones, and it holds no jail location.

Calling instead? Know the person's name and birthday first:

• Clerk of Courts, for Common Pleas cases: 814-728-3440
• Court Administration, for court schedules: 814-728-3530
• The MDJ office that holds the citation or complaint, listed in the courthouses answer

The summons or hearing notice from Central Court also prints the date, time and place.

The Sheriff's Office, 204 4th Avenue, Warren, PA 16365, 814-723-7553, serves the bench warrants Common Pleas issues. Police officers and constables handle other warrants. Statewide and national fugitive lists: the State Police Ten Most Wanted (tips 800-472-8477), the FBI's wanted page, plus the Marshals Service 15 Most Wanted. A docket on the UJS portal shows court actions, bench warrants included, or the Clerk of Courts at 204 Fourth Avenue, Warren, PA 16365, 814-728-3440, can check by phone. To clear one, line up legal help (private counsel or the public defender). Next, contact the issuing court, or go there with counsel to surrender.

Federal arrests from this county are sent to the Erie Courthouse, 17 South Park Row, Erie, PA 16501, 814-464-9600, part of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

• Prosecutor: the U.S. Attorney's Erie office, 17 South Park Row, Room A330, Erie, PA 16501, 814-452-2906.
• Defense: the Federal Public Defender, 900 State Street, Suite 206, Erie, PA 16501, 814-455-8089.
• Release: a federal judge decides on detention or release at a hearing held under 18 U.S.C. 3142.
• Custody: the U.S. Marshals, Western District, 700 Grant Street, Room 2360, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, 412-644-3351, keep defendants awaiting trial.
• After sentencing: the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator shows where the person serves time.

The local case carries on. What can change is release day.

1. ICE sends the Market Street prison a Form I-247A.
2. Under that form, the person can be kept up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. The Third Circuit, deciding Galarza v. Szalczyk (3d Cir. 2014), called detainers requests and warned that a county acting on a detainer alone can face liability. Every county prison sets its own detainer policy for that reason. Ask about this one at 814-723-2486.
4. Pickups in Pennsylvania fall under the ICE Philadelphia Field Office, 114 N. 8th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, 215-656-7164.
5. Once ICE has the person, the ICE Online Detainee Locator can find them.

A guilty plea can carry immigration fallout, so talk with the defense lawyer before entering one.

In a Pennsylvania sentence, the bigger of the two numbers, the maximum, points to the place (42 Pa.C.S. § 9762). Maximums below 2 years stay local, on Market Street. Maximums of 5 or more go to the state system. For maximums from 2 to 5, the state system is normal, and a local stay needs a yes from the prison, the District Attorney and the judge.

• New state prisoners pass through a reception and classification center for a period of weeks or months, after which the DOC assigns them.
• The DOC inmate locator finds people in state custody.
• Department of Corrections headquarters: 1920 Technology Parkway, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050, 717-728-2573.
• Our Pennsylvania state prisons guide describes the prisons.
• Probation after a county sentence runs through Adult Probation, 204 Fourth Avenue, Warren, PA 16365, 814-728-3520, a separate office from the prison.

People under 18 are children under the Juvenile Act (42 Pa.C.S. § 6301 and following). Their cases start with Juvenile Probation, 204 Fourth Avenue, Warren, PA 16365, 814-728-3500, and go to juvenile court, not the adult courtroom.

• Teens in custody are placed in juvenile detention, away from adults on Market Street. Juvenile Probation can tell you the center and the hearing date.
• Juvenile files stay off the UJS portal.
• Murder charges at 15, 16 or 17, and certain armed violent crimes at those ages, begin in adult criminal court. The defense can then petition for juvenile court instead.
• The county public defender handles delinquency cases too.

The Crime Victims Act (18 P.S. § 11.101 and following) gives victims real say in a case:

• notice of important hearings and of an adult's release from county custody in injury crimes
• a chance to comment on bail conditions
• in injury crimes and burglary, input before charges are cut or dropped, plus a victim impact statement at sentencing
• restitution, compensation and return of property

The DA's Victim Witness Program helps victims locally at 814-728-3468. Sign up for free custody alerts through PA SAVIN on VINELink or by phone at 866-972-7284 (TTY 866-847-1298). PCCD's compensation program for crime losses takes calls at 800-233-2339.

Anyone close to the accused needs to keep clear of the victim. Passing along even a friendly message can violate bail conditions.