Offenses tab: Petition of Delinquency

This tab is used to verify or edit the list of offenses the juvenile is alleged to have committed and add any missing offenses. The list of offenses that appear defaults automatically from the information available in the court's case tracking database, the Common Pleas Case Management System (CPCMS).

The following offense-related actions can be completed in this screen and you can click on one of these scenarios to learn more about steps required to complete that task:

Update (Verify/Edit) - At a minimum, this process must be completed for all offenses.
Withdraw
Replace
Add
Reinstate a Replaced Offense
Reinstate a Withdrawn Offense
Resequence

Update (Verify/Edit) an Offense

All offenses are assigned a status of Unedited. At a minimum, each offense must be opened and reviewed for accuracy. This requirement is a policing measure designed to reconcile the information that appears on the case in CPCMS. The act of updating an offense is anything related to viewing or editing it, short of withdrawal or replacement.

All offenses are updated through its corresponding Edit/View Offense icon . This opens the Add/Edit Offenses popup screen. In this screen, the following steps must be completed to update an offense:

1.	Review the Offense Information section and verify or change the information displayed as required (ex. the grade).
2.	Review the Incident Information section and Offense Incident Conditions tab and verify or change the information displayed as required. Tip: Selectable checkboxes will only display in the Offense Incident Conditions tab for appropriate offenses.
3.	Review the Case/OffenseVictims tab and verify or change the information displayed as required.
4.	If, after reviewing and possibly editing the offense, it does not need to be withdrawn or replaced, click the UPDATE button. Tip: It is appropriate to click the submit button even if no changes have been made to the offense. This action updates the status of the offense to Added to Petition on the Offenses tab.
5.	Repeat the preceding steps for any other offenses that apply to the petition.

If the offense needs to be withdrawn or replaced, proceed to the appropriate section below for more information.

Withdraw an Offense

If an offense is being withdrawn from the petition, complete the following steps:

1.	In the Offenses tab, click the Withdraw Offense icon .

Replace an Offense

If an existing offense is being replaced with an entirely different offense, complete the following steps:

2.	Click the Replace Offense icon associated to the appropriate offense.
3.	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.).
4.	Click the SEARCH button.
5.	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.
6.	In the Offense Information section, select the Is Lead Offense checkbox if it applies to the new offense. There can only be one lead offense on the case.
7.	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.
8.	Verify that the County and City Town Boro dropdowns display the correct localities where the offense occurred.
9.	(Optional) Any additional information can be entered on this screen 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.
10.	(Optional) Review the Incident Information section and Offense Incident Conditions tab and enter any pertinent information related to the offense. None, some, or all the fields can be populated. If entered, some of the information (i.e. Accident Number, Safety Zone, and Work Zone) will appear on the petition form that is created in the Filing Documents tab. Tip: Selectable checkboxes will only display in the Offense Incident Conditions tab for appropriate 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 them in the Case/Offense Victims tab.
12.	Click the SUBMIT button appearing at the bottom of the Add/Edit Offenses popup screen. Tip: In the Offenses tab, both the original and replacement offense will appear. The original offense has a status of Replaced and the new offense has a status of Replacement. The new offense does not need to undergo the Update process.

Note: The information recorded for each offense will automatically appear on the electronic version of the petition. 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 petition.

Add an Offense

If an offense is missing from the list, complete the following steps to add it:

All offenses are initiated through the Add Offense icon , which opens 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, 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 used for recording information about the offense.
5.	In the Offense Information section, select the Is Lead Offense checkbox if it applies to the new offense. There can only be one lead offense.
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 Select Filing screen.
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 screen 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 number, but all offenses are created with the same exact information.
10.	(Optional) Review the Incident Information section and Offense Incident Conditions tab and enter any pertinent information related to the offense. None, some, or all the fields can be populated. If entered, some of the information (i.e. Accident Number, Safety Zone, and Work Zone) will appear on the petition form that is created in the Filing Documents tab. Tip: Selectable checkboxes will only display in the Offense Incident Conditions tab for appropriate 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 them in the Case/Offense Victims tab.
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 petition.

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

Reinstate a Replaced Offense

In the Offenses tab, any offense with a status of Replaced can be reinstated by removing the offense that was created to replace it. Complete the following step to perform a reinstatement:

1.	Click the Delete icon that appears next to the appropriate offense that has a status of Replacement. Tip: Once this offense is removed, the status of the original offense changes from Replaced to Added to Petition.

Reinstate a Withdrawn Offense

In the Offenses tab, an offense that is withdrawn in error can be reinstated. Complete the following step to perform a reinstatement of a withdrawn offense:

1.	Click the Reinstate Offense icon that appears next to the appropriate offense that has a status of Withdrawn. Tip: Once the offense is reinstated, the status changes from Withdrawn to Added to Petition.

Resequence an Offense

Resequencing is used to adjust the order in which the offenses are displayed on the petition. This might occur as a result of the withdrawal, replacement, or addition of an offense. If needed, it is always recommended to complete this step last so it does not have to be repeated with any additional changes. Resequencing is completed manually, directly through the Offenses tab, by changing the numbers displayed in the Seq. No. field. After updating the sequence numbers for two or more offenses, click the Resequence Offenses icon Resequense Offense icon to save your changes. No two offenses can have the same sequence number.