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Rule 584 – Motion for Change of Venue or Change of Venire

May 14, 2021 | Criminal Procedure, Pennsylvania

(A) All motions for change of venue or for change of venire shall be made to the court in which the case is currently pending. Venue or venire may be changed by that court when it is determined after hearing that a fair and impartial trial cannot otherwise be had in the county where the case is currently pending.
(B) An order for change of venue or venire shall be certified forthwith to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court shall designate and notify the county of transfer or the county from which the jury is to be impanelled. Unless otherwise ordered by the Supreme Court, a judge from the county in which the complaint was filed shall preside over all proceedings in the trial court.
(C) Whenever a change of venue has been ordered, the docket entries and all original papers in the proceedings shall be certified and transmitted to the clerk of courts of the county of transfer immediately prior to trial.
(D) Whenever a change of venire has been ordered, the jury shall be summoned, selected, and impanelled in the designated county of impanelment. The trial judge shall conduct the voir dire, unless otherwise ordered by the Supreme Court. The jury shall be transported to the county of the court where the case is currently pending.
(E) All costs accruing from a change of venue or from a change or venire shall be paid by the county in which the complaint was filed.

234 Pa. Code ยง 584

Committee Explanatory Reports:

Final Report explaining the March 1, 2000 reorganization and renumbering of the rules published with the Court’s Order at 30 Pa.B. 1478 (March 18, 2000) .

Final Report explaining the September 21, 2012 amendment correcting a typographical error in paragraph (A) published with the Court’s Order at 42 Pa.B. 6251 (October 6, 2012) .