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Rule 202 – Approval of Search Warrant Applications by Attorney for the Commonwealth-Local Option

May 14, 2021 | Criminal Procedure, Pennsylvania

(A) The district attorney of any county may require that search warrant applications filed in the county have the approval of an attorney for the Commonwealth prior to filing.
(B) If the district attorney elects to proceed under paragraph (A), the district attorney shall file a certification with the court of common pleas, which certification shall specify the circumstances in which search warrant applications shall require prior approval and shall also specify the date such procedure is to become effective. The court of common pleas shall thereupon promulgate a local rule in the following form, setting forth the circumstances specified in the certification:

RULE

___

. APPROVAL OF SEARCH WARRANT APPLICATIONS BY ATTORNEY FOR THE COMMONWEALTH.

The District Attorney of

____________

County having filed a certification pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 202, search warrants in the following circumstances:

______________________________________

______________________________________

shall not hereafter be issued by any judicial officer unless the search warrant application has the approval of an attorney for the Commonwealth prior to filing.

(C) If an attorney for the Commonwealth disapproves a search warrant application, the attorney shall furnish to the police officer who prepared the application a written notice of the disapproval, in substantially the form set forth in Rule 507(C), and the attorney shall maintain a record of the written notice.
(D) No defendant shall have the right to relief based solely upon a violation of this rule.

234 Pa. Code ยง 202

Committee Explanatory Reports:

Report explaining the August 9, 1994 amendments published at 22 Pa.B. 6 (January 4, 1992) ; Final Report published with the Court’s Order at 24 Pa.B. 4325 (August 27, 1994) .

Final Report explaining the March 1, 2000 reorganization and renumbering of the rules published with the Court’s Order at 30 Pa.B. 1477 (March 18, 2000) .

Final Report explaining the February 26, 2010 Comment revision regarding electronic approval published with the Court’s Order at 40 Pa.B. 1397 (March 13, 2010) .