Pa. courts consider statewide constable standards

[HiredGoon]

Since PA Constables often come up in discussions here, I thought I'd post this in case anyone hasn't seen it.

Pa. courts consider statewide constable standards

MARK SCOLFORO
The Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Pennsylvania's chief justice said Tuesday that he is considering whether to impose uniform standards to improve the state's troubled constable system.

Chief Justice Ronald Castille told The Associated Press that he has directed the court's Minor Court Rules Committee to study a handbook for constables currently used in Chester County to see if it can be adopted statewide.

"That's something we're looking into without having to go through legislation, or constitutional amendments or anything of that nature," Castille said.

Pennsylvania has about 1,200 active constables , fully trained and insured , who serve legal papers, transport prisoners and perform other duties for magisterial district courts.

Shortcomings in their training and oversight were identified in a two-part series by The Associated Press in July that described dozens of cases of serious misconduct by constables over the past decade.

Chester County is one of the few Pennsylvania counties that maintains a handbook for constables.

Castille distributed the county's guidelines within the past week. If the committee's report is favorable and it is adopted, the president judges of each county could end up having to enforce it.

"If we were to do the statewide handbook, they would still be independent contractors but the president judge would be able to discipline them," said Castille. He said the court would also seek input from the constables, trial judges and district judges before adopting a new system.

"I'm sure a lot of (the constables) wouldn't mind, and they're probably complying already," Castille said.

In another indication that changes may be ahead, a key state lawmaker met last week with officers of the state constables' association about his strategy for pursuing reform.

Rep. Tom Caltagirone, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the "first round in probably a 10-round fight" will be to collect in a single code the elements of various state laws that deal with constables.

"The next step really would be to meet with somebody from the Supreme Court , preferably the chief justice , to see if they would consider taking them under their wing and allow the president judges from each county to be responsible for them," said Caltagirone, D-Berks.

Castille said he was amenable to such a meeting.

The "third leg," Caltagirone said, could involve mandated improvements to constables' education, training and equipment.

At least four counties , Chester, Crawford, Berks and Westmoreland , have issued constable rules. But most constables are independently elected, and a 1991 state Supreme Court decision declared them part of the executive branch, not the judicial.

A 1999 administrative order by the Crawford County president judge requires constables to wear uniforms, display photo identification, pass criminal background and child-abuse history checks and maintain a phone with an answering machine.

Other potential areas for constable rules include a mandatory retirement age, psychological testing and physical fitness.

Many constables currently are allowed to transport prisoners without a caged vehicle and are not required to have two people handling women prisoners or prisoners taken from a jail.

The AP series found cases over the past decade in which constables have molested children, had sex with prisoners, violated federal weapons laws and even shot and killed people.

State law allows for removal of constables by county president judges under certain circumstances, but the procedure is rarely used.

Tom Impink, a Berks County constable who became president of the state constables' association earlier this month, said Tuesday the AP stories convinced many of the state's constables the system needed to be improved.

"That gave them the proverbial swift kick in the pants," he said. "I think they finally realized , the guys out there , that there are problems."

Impink and association executive director Emil Minnar, who also met with Caltagirone, both said there is wide support for codification and expanded court supervision.

"If anything, the creation of a system of that nature would flush out those that seem to feel they don't have to abide by the law or that they should even pursue activities that are not those of a constable," Minnar said.

But they said members worry about mandated equipment upgrades, particularly if they are imposed across the state instead of county-by-county.

"'You have to have an approved cage in your car.' What is an 'approved cage,' who says it's approved, and who examines it?" Impink said.

[djturnz]

I agree that every constable should have a cage, so I guess I'm ok with requiring it for PRISONER transports. I don't know about requiring it for every constable though.

I don;t like the idea of requiring the same uniform though. Constables should be able to run their AGENCY as they see fit, and that includes uniforms.

[US Militiaman]

Uniforms and regulations do not need to be uniform across the state, but...

there should be a uniform understanding of the law and a check on their power.

[tes151]

While I think that if required to install a cage in their vehicle it should be subsidized by the county they serve, I believe there should be strict uniform codes of conduct. Without statewide uniform regulations on what authority they do or don't have, who they answer to, and what training they must receive, then any mall ninja that can convince enough people to vote for them could be whatever kind of constable they want to. If they are going to purport to be LE, then they should be held to the same standards. IMHO I also think that " independent contractor " thing is giving some of them the idea that they can do more than they have authority to do.