JUVENILE DELINQUENCY AND DEPENDENCY MATTERS
All juvenile matters are heard by the judges and hearing officers of record. Matters are heard in-person with the assistance of Advanced Communication Technology, mainly utilizing Microsoft Teams, to reduce the number of individuals in the courtroom.
Detention hearings:
Heard on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday by the assigned Hearing Officer.
Shelter hearings:
Heard on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the assigned Hearing Officer and must be scheduled in advance. “Walk-in” shelter hearings are not permitted.
Emergency Custody Authorizations (ECAs):
After-hours procedures and Shelter requests are processed by the Hearing Officers. Shelter requests should be submitted via email to the juvenile hearing officers by 3:00 p.m. the day before.
Emergency and motions:
Heard in accordance with the weekly motions judge schedule. All motions shall be filed through normal electronic filing procedures and emailed to juvenilemotions@alleghenycourts.us.
Non-emergency motions will be handled on a case-by-case basis, as determined by the judge regularly assigned to the case and on his/her/their regularly assigned Dependency or Delinquency day.
Remote/Hybrid Proceedings
All juvenile proceedings, whether hybrid or remote proceedings are being conducted using Microsoft Teams. Please note that while the below generally follows the Protocol for Teleconference Hearings (attached) provided by President Judge Clark.
All juvenile matters are heard by the assigned judges and hearing officers. It is the presiding judge or hearing officer’s decision as to whether a party or witness can participate remotely.
Courtroom procedures for Teams hearings will be established individually by each judge. Inquiries regarding specific courtroom procedures should be directed to the presiding judge/judicial staff.
Witness lists:
All witness lists shall be emailed to juvenilemotions@alleghenycourts.us as soon as possible, but at least 24 hours prior to the proceeding. Witness lists for Shelter hearings ONLY shall be provided as soon as available, but no later than 8:30 AM the day of the hearing.
Protocol DURING the Hearing:
Participants must follow the Protocol for Teleconference Proceedings if he/she/they has been given permission to participate remotely by the Judge or Hearing Officer of Record.
Authorization for Medical Treatment of a Minor
Proceedings pursuant to 18 Pa. C.P.S. Section 3201 will be handled remotely. Staff will work with the attorneys and advocates to schedule a date in advance for the client to appear remotely before a Family Division Judge for these proceedings, and in accordance with the attached Protocol for Teleconference Hearings.