Offenses tab: Written Allegation

This tab is used to identify each of the offenses that the juvenile is alleged to have committed. Offenses must be added individually whenever any single detail pertains to one offense and not another.

All offenses are initiated through the Add Offense icon and the Add/Edit Offenses popup screen. In this popup screen, the following steps must be completed to add an offense:

1.	Use the three statute fields to enter the Title, Section, and SubSection for the offense. The Description field can be used along with, or separately from, the statute fields. If used, you must enter a word or phrase in the Description field that appears in the offense description (i.e. theft, movable, harassment, etc.).
2.	Click in the Date of Offense field and enter the date the offense specified in Step 1 occurred.
3.	Click the SEARCH button.
4.	When your search results appear, click the radio button that appears next to the offense that you want to add to the case and click the SELECT button. Tip: This action displays an expanded version of the popup screen that features additional fields for recording more specific information about the offense.
5.	In the Offense Information section, select the Is Lead Offense checkbox if it applies to the new offense. Tip: There can only be one lead offense on the written allegation.
6.	Click on the Grade dropdown and choose the appropriate option based on the seriousness of the offense. Tip: For some offenses, this field defaults automatically and cannot be changed.
7.	Verify that the County dropdown defaults to the same county selected in the Filing Type tab.
8.	Click on the City Town Boro dropdown and select the locality where the offense occurred.
9.	(Optional) Any additional information can be entered on this tab as it pertains to the offense, but none of these remaining fields are required. Some fields (ex. Drug Type) can only be used when it makes sense for the selected offense. Tip: If you change the number in the Number of Offenses to Create field, separate offenses are created to match the corresponding statute, but all offenses are created with the same exact information.
10.	(Optional) In the Incident Information section, enter any pertinent PennDOT details related to the offense and select the checkboxes for any appropriate Offense Incident Conditions in the grid. None, some, or all the fields can be populated. If entered, some of the information recorded (i.e. Accident Number, Safety Zone, and Work Zone) appears on the written allegation form that is created in the Filing Documents tab. Tip: Incident conditions only display in the grid for specific offenses.
11.	(Optional) If there are participants on the case that are assigned the role of Victim, and at least one is the victim of the new offense, select the appropriate name(s) in the Case/Offense Victims grid.
12.	Click the SUBMIT button appearing at the bottom of the Add/Edit Offenses popup screen.
13.	Repeat the preceding steps for any other offenses that apply to the allegation.
14.	(Optional) If known, enter the juvenile's Offense Tracking Number (OTN) and either the Allegation Number or Incident Number. Tip: If entered, PACFile verifies that the OTN is valid based on the corresponding information on file. As part of this, the participant name and date of birth on file must match the details in the Participants tab. If needed, you must update the juvenile’s details in the Participants tab.
15.	When all offenses have been added to the filing, click the NEXT button to proceed to the Filing Documents tab.

Note: The information recorded for each offense, and any OTN information, will automatically appear on the electronic version of the written allegation. If any of the non-required fields on an offense are left blank, this information cannot be typed into the electronic form later. Consequently, all offenses must be edited in this tab so they are reflected appropriately on the written allegation.