In Re: Order Amending Rule 409 of PA Juvenile Court Procedure

• Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Decided: April 23, 2018
• Docket: 763 Supreme Court Rules
• Status: Published

Opinion

JUVENILE COURT PROCEDURAL RULES COMMITTEE FINAL REPORT1

Amendment of Pa.R.J.C.P. 409

On April 23, 2018, the Supreme Court amended Rule of Juvenile Court Procedure 409 to change the outcome from “termination of jurisdiction” to “dismissal of petition” when the court finds the juvenile is “not in need.”

The amendment is not intended to have a substantive impact on current procedure. Rather, it represents a change in terminology to more precisely identify the procedural outcome, to avoid conflation of “jurisdiction” with its use in other Rules of Juvenile Court Procedure, see e.g., Pa.R.J.C.P. 630, and to enhance correlation with Rule 170(A)(2).

The amendment will become effective July 1, 2018.

1 The Committee’s Final Report should not be confused with the official Committee Comments to the rules. Also note that the Supreme Court does not adopt the Committee’s Comments or the contents of the Committee’s explanatory Final Reports.