Chapter 3 - ACCELERATED REHABILITATIVE DISPOSITION (ARD)
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- PART A - Summary Cases 300. Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition in Summary Cases. 301. Procedures for Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition in Summary Cases Before the Minor Judiciary. 302. Procedures for Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition in Summary Cases in the Court of Common PleasLocal Option. PART B. Court Cases 310. Motion for Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition. 311. Application Process and Notice of Motion by Attorney for the Commonwealth. 312. Hearing, Explanation of Program. 313. Hearing, Manner of Proceeding. 314. Deferring Action Upon Admission to Program Before Information. 315. Deferring Adjudication of the Charges Upon Admission to Program After Information. 316. Conditions of the Program. 317. Procedure Upon Refusal to Accept the Conditions. 318. Procedure on Charge of Violation of Conditions. 319. Procedure for Obtaining Order for Dismissal Upon Successful Completion of the Program. 320. Expungement Upon Successful Completion of ARD Program. Committee Introduction to Chapter 3: The rules set forth in this Chapter govern the procedures with regard to Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition in court cases and in summary cases. See Committee Report, 14 Pa.B. 3593 (10/6/84) and 554-557 A.2d (Pennsylvania Reporter Series), for discussion of the history of the use of pretrial diversion programs in Pennsylvania. The primary purpose of this program is the rehabilitation of the offender; secondarily, the purpose is the prompt disposition of charges, eliminating the need for costly and time-consuming trials or other court proceedings. These rules contemplate that ordinarily the defendants eligible for the ARD program are first offenders who lend themselves to treatment and rehabilitation rather than punishment and that the crime charged is relatively minor and does not involve a serious breach of the public trust. The program is intended to encourage offenders to make a fresh start after participation in a rehabilitative program and offers them the possibility of a clean record if they successfully complete the program. Because of the rehabilitative purpose of the program, and because the program permits prompt disposition of the charges, the descriptive title "accelerated rehabilitative disposition" was selected rather than such terms as "pre-indictment probation" or "deferred disposition." The rules in this Chapter provide the procedural framework for the utilization of Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition by the judges of the courts of common pleas in court cases and in summary cases, and by the minor judiciary in summary cases. These rules do not specify those classes of offenses or offenders that are eligible or ineligible for inclusion in the ARD program. In general, the district attorney has the responsibility for determining which cases will be recommended for entry into the ARD program. See Commonwealth v. Lutz, 495 A.2d 928 (Pa. 1985). Recognizing the minor nature of summary offenses and that the various judicial districts have different administrative requirements for processing and disposing of ARD cases, the procedures in Rules 300, 301, and 302 were adopted in 1991 to provide each judicial district with the procedural mechanism to structure its own summary case ARD program, either before the minor judiciary or, when the local option is elected by the district attorney pursuant to Rule 300, in the court of common pleas. The statewide rules are intended to simplify the procedures for summary case ARD and to encourage prompt processing and disposition of cases considered for ARD. In addition to the procedural aspects of ARD set forth in these rules, there are statutory provisions setting forth requirements related to ARD in certain specified classes of cases. See, e.g., Sections 1534, 1548, 1552, and 3731 of the Vehicle Code, 75 Pa.C.S. § § 1534, 1548, 1552, and 3731, and § 1520(a) of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 1520(a). PART A. Summary Cases (Rule 300 to Rule 302)
- PART B - Court Cases (Rule 310 to Rule 320)