The comment period for these recommendations has closed. Note that these rules may or may not have been submitted to or adopted by the Supreme Court. They are included here for historical reference only.

• The Criminal Procedural Rules Committee is planning to recommend that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania adopt new Rules of Criminal Procedure 556 through 556.12, amend Rules of Criminal Procedure 103, 540, 544, 547, 560, 646, 1003, and 1101, and revise the Comments to Rules of Criminal Procedure 542, 573, 578, 582, and 648.

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objects to these proposals was Thursday, November 10, 2011.

• The Criminal Procedural Rules Committee is planning to recommend that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania amend Rule 119 to clarify that two-way audio-visual communications in certain court proceedings may be used absent the defendant’s consent if otherwise permitted by law and to revise the Comment to Rule 500 to state that nothing in that rule prevents the taking or preservation of testimony outside the presence of the defendant, if authorized by law.
  
  
• The Criminal Procedural Rules Committee is planning to recommend that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania amend Rules of Criminal Procedure 403, 407, 408, 412, 413, 422, 423, 430, 454, 455, and 456.

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objects to these proposals was Friday, September 2, 2011.

• Rules of Criminal Procedure 120, 122, and 904
  
  
• Rule 631 to provide for the Commonwealth’s participation in the waiver of the individual method of voir dire and to revise the Comment to Rule 631 to cross reference recent cases addressing waiver of the judge’s presence during voir dire and challenges to accepted jurors.

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objects to these proposals was Friday, June 3, 2011.

• amend Rule of Criminal Procedure 708 and approve the revision of the Comment to Rule of Criminal Procedure 701 to make clear that a defendant at the time of sentencing in probation, intermediate punishment, or parole violation cases also may plead guilty to other offenses the defendant has committed within the jurisdiction of the sentencing court. The Committee also is proposing the revision of the Comments to Rules 701 and 708 to alert the bench and bar to the requirements of the Crime Victims Act in the context of guilty pleas to multiple offenses.
  
  
• amend Rule 113 to clarify that the criminal case records in both the magisterial district courts and the courts of common pleas are generally available to the public with certain specified exceptions.

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objects to these proposals was Friday, April 1, 2011.

• Proposed amendments to Pa.Rs.Crim.P. 541 (Waiver of Preliminary Hearing)

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objects to these proposals was Friday, November 12, 2010.

• amend Rule of Criminal Procedure 1010 (Procedure on Appeal) to conform the procedures for appeals for trials de novo in cases in Philadelphia with the statewide procedures for appeals for trials de novo.

• amend Rules 140, 141, 142, and 1101 to provide for limitations on punishment for contempt before the minor judiciary and to suspend 42 Pa.C.S. 4137(c) as unconstitutional pursuant to Commonwealth vs. McMullen, 599 Pa. 435, 961 A.2d 842 (2008).

• amend Rules of Criminal Procedure 907 (Disposition Without Hearing), 908 (Hearing), and 909 (Procedures for Petitions in Death Penalty Cases: Stays of Execution of Sentence; Hearing; Disposition), and approve the revision of the Comment to Rule of Criminal Procedure 910 (Appeal).

• The Criminal Procedural Rules Committee is planning to recommend that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania adopt new Rules of Criminal Procedure 850, 851, 852, 853, 854, 855, 856, 857, 858, 859, 860, 861, and 862, and amend Rules of Criminal Procedure 113, 119, and 800.
  
  
• The Criminal Procedural Rules Committee is planning to recommend that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania amend Rules of Criminal Procedure 135, 403, 407, 408, 412, 413, 422, 423, 430, 454, 455, and 456. The proposed amendments establish new procedures in summary cases in which a defendant fails to respond to a citation or a summons.

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objects to these proposals was Wednesday, June 23, 2010.

• The Criminal Procedural Rules Committee is planning to recommend that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania amend Rules 209 and 212 to clarify the requirement to return search warrants to the issuing authority promptly and to provide that unexecuted warrants do not constitute public records.

• The Criminal Procedural Rules Committee is planning to recommend that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania amend Rule114 to permit a party to consent generally to receive orders and notices electronically in all cases.

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objects to these proposals was Tuesday, June 22, 2010.

• amend Rules 550 and 590 to provide for more detailed standards regarding the areas of inquiry that are required to be part of all guilty plea colloquies in court cases before the Courts of Common Pleas and magisterial district judges.

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objections to this proposal was Friday, January 22, 2010.

• The Criminal Procedural Rules Committee is planning to recommend that the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania adopt new Rules 151 and 152 and amend Rules 107, 517, and 1101, to provide procedures for the issuance of orders to detain and orders for the temporary transfer of prisoners.

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objections to this proposal was Friday, November 13, 2009.

• adopt new Rules of Criminal Procedure 490 and 790 that would establish the procedures for petitioning for expungement and ordering expungement is summary and court cases and correlatively rescinded Rule 722 as no longer necessary.

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objections to this proposal was Friday, September 4, 2009.  

• adopt new Rule of Criminal Procedure 911 (Bail Motions After Disposition of Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Petition)

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objections to this proposal was Friday, July 3, 2009.

• reconsider the current Rule 646 prohibition of providing the jury with written jury instructions, and amend Rules 646 and 647 to permit the trial judge to provide written copies of the portion of the charge on the elements of the offenses, lesser included offenses, and any defense upon which the jury has been charged.
  
  
• adopt new Rule 1037 regarding appeals for trial de novo  from the Philadelphia Traffic Court.
  
  
• approve the revisions of the Comments to Rules of Criminal Procedure 430, 455, and 456. These changes would clarify the treatment under the Criminal Procedural Rules of cases involving a child, as defined in the Public School Code of 1949, 24 P.S., § 1-102 et seq., who has failed to pay fines and costs following a summary conviction for truancy.

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objections to this proposal was Friday, June 19, 2009.

• amend Rules of Criminal Procedure 409, 414, 424, 454, 456, and 706 that would add a provision to these rules providing for the imposition of a fee for issuance of an installment payment plan

• amend Rule 590 to provide for more detailed standards regarding the areas of inquiry that are required to be part of all guilty plea colloquies

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objections to this proposal was Friday, April 10, 2009.

• amendments to Rules 409, 414, 424, 460, 462, and 550 to provide, in summary and court cases in which a defendant withdraws a plea or appeals for a trial de novo, for the reinstatement of charges dismissed as a result of a plea agreement.

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objections to this proposal was Friday, January 23, 2009.

• (1) amendment to Rule 513 to provide for the temporary delay in the dissemination of arrest warrant information to the public prior to execution and (2) adoption of new Rule 513.1 to provide for the sealing of arrest warrant information and (3) approval correlative changes to Rules 504, 540, and 547.

The deadline for suggestions, comments or objections to these proposals was Friday, November 14, 2008.

• amendment to Rule 644 to make permanent the procedures permitting jurors to take notes in criminal cases

The deadline for comments to this recommendation was Friday, May 30, 2008.