No Juvenile Court Jurisdiction; Direct file "Offenses"; Summary Offenses
Certain "direct file" offenses do not come within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, and are referred directly to criminal court for prosecution. Examples of a “direct file” offense include murder and:
a. Any of the following offenses where a juvenile was 15 years or older at the time of the offense, and a deadly weapon was used during the commission of the offense:
- Rape
- Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse
- Aggravated assault
- Robbery
- Robbery of a motor vehicle
- Aggravated indecent assault
- Kidnapping
- Voluntary manslaughter
- Attempt, conspiracy or solicitation to commit the above crimes
b. Any of the following offenses where the juvenile was 15 years of age or older at the time of the offense, and the juvenile has been previously
adjudicated delinquent for one of the following offenses (even without a deadly weapon):
- Rape
- Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse
- Robbery
- Robbery of a motor vehicle
- Aggravated indecent assault
- Kidnapping
- Voluntary manslaughter
- Attempt, conspiracy or solicitation to commit the above crimes
It should be noted that a juvenile may request to be transferred from criminal proceedings, to juvenile proceedings, for any direct file offense.
Summary offenses are also not included within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court unless the juvenile fails to comply with a lawful sentence imposed by a
magisterial district judge, or unless they arise out of the same incident as a misdemeanor or felony offense.