2023 Pennsylvania Consolidated & Unconsolidated Statutes › Title 61 - PRISONS AND PAROLE › Chapter 61 - Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole › Section 6138 - Violation of terms of parole

§ 6138. Violation of terms of parole.
(a) Convicted violators.--
(1) The board may, at its discretion, revoke the parole of a paroled offender if the offender, during the period of parole or while delinquent on parole, commits a crime punishable by imprisonment, for which the offender is convicted or found guilty by a judge or jury or to which the offender pleads guilty or nolo contendere at any time thereafter in a court of record.
(1.1) In addition to paragraph (1), a parolee under the jurisdiction of the board released from a correctional facility who, during the period of parole or while delinquent on parole, commits a crime punishable by imprisonment for which the parolee is convicted or found guilty by a judge or jury or to which the parolee pleads guilty or nolo contendere or of any misdemeanor of the third degree or of any of the following offenses where graded as a summary offense, may at the discretion of the board be recommitted as a parole violator:
(i) Possession of a firearm in a court facility under 18 Pa.C.S. § 913(b)(3) (relating to possession of firearm or other dangerous weapon in court facility).
(ii) Harassment under 18 Pa.C.S. § 2709 (relating to harassment).
(iii) Retail theft under 18 Pa.C.S. § 3929 (relating to retail theft).
(iv) Disorderly conduct under 18 Pa.C.S. § 5503 (relating to disorderly conduct).
(v) Public drunkenness under 18 Pa.C.S. § 5505 (relating to public drunkenness and similar misconduct).
(vi) Cruelty to animals under 18 Pa.C.S. § 5533 (relating to cruelty to animal).
(vii) Aiding or abetting a minor to commit truancy under 18 Pa.C.S. § 6301 (relating to corruption of minors).
(viii) Selling or furnishing nonalcoholic beverages to minors under 18 Pa.C.S. § 6310.7 (relating to selling or furnishing nonalcoholic beverages to persons under 21 years of age).
(2) If the offender's parole is revoked, the offender shall be recommitted to serve the remainder of the term which the offender would have been compelled to serve had the parole not been granted and, except as provided under paragraph (2.1), shall be given no credit for the time at liberty on parole.
(2.1) The board may, in its discretion, award credit to an offender recommitted under paragraph (2) for the time spent at liberty on parole, unless any of the following apply:
(i) The crime committed during the period of parole or while delinquent on parole is a crime of violence or a crime listed under 42 Pa.C.S. Ch. 97 Subch. H (relating to registration of sexual offenders) or I (relating to continued registration of sexual offenders).
(ii) The offender was recommitted under section 6143 (relating to early parole of offenders subject to Federal removal order).
(2.2) Credit awarded under paragraph (2.1) is subject to forfeiture under this section if an offender is subsequently recommitted as a convicted parole violator.
(2.3) A parolee is at liberty on parole when the parolee is residing at a community corrections center, community corrections facility or group-based home for purposes of this section. This paragraph does not apply to parolees detained on the board's warrant or recommitted as a technical parole violator to a community corrections center or community corrections facility.
(3) The board may, in its discretion, reparole whenever, in its opinion, the best interests of the offender justify or require the offender's release on parole and it does not appear that the interests of the Commonwealth will be injured thereby.
(4) The period for which the offender is required to serve shall be computed by the board and shall begin on the date that the parole violator is taken into custody to be returned to the institution as an offender.
(5) If a new sentence is imposed on the offender, the service of the balance of the term originally imposed by a Pennsylvania court shall precede the commencement of the new term imposed in the following cases:
(i) If a person is paroled from a State correctional institution and the new sentence imposed on the person is to be served in the State correctional institution.
(ii) If a person is paroled from a county prison and the new sentence imposed upon him is to be served in the same county prison.
(iii) In all other cases, the service of the new term for the latter crime shall precede commencement of the balance of the term originally imposed.
(5.1) If the offender is sentenced to serve a new term of total confinement by a Federal court or by a court of another jurisdiction because of a verdict or plea under paragraph (1), the offender shall serve the balance of the original term before serving the new term.
(6) Any offender upon recommitment to a correctional facility shall be sent to the institution designated by the secretary or a designee.
(i) (Deleted by amendment).
(ii) (Deleted by amendment).
(b) Subsequent arrest.--
(1) The formal filing of a charge after parole against an offender within this Commonwealth for any violation of the laws of this Commonwealth shall constitute an automatic detainer and permit the offender to be taken into and held in custody.
(2) The automatic detainer shall dissolve 15 days after the offender is taken into custody unless sooner waived or otherwise superseded by direction of the department or its designee.
(3) The automatic detainer shall be in addition to and not in lieu of any other detainer that prior to the effective date of this chapter may have been lodged in such circumstances.
(c) Technical violators.--
(1) Subject to paragraph (1.3), an offender under the jurisdiction of the board who violates the terms and conditions of his parole, other than a convicted violator who has parole revoked under subsection (a), may be detained pending a hearing before the board or waiver of the hearing or recommitted after a hearing before the board or a waiver of the hearing. Detention and recommitment under this paragraph shall be in a community corrections center, community corrections facility or any secured facility operated or contracted by the department.
(i) (Deleted by amendment).
(ii) (Deleted by amendment).
(iii) (Deleted by amendment).
(iv) (Deleted by amendment).
(v) (Deleted by amendment).
(1.1) (Deleted by amendment).
(1.2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) and subject to paragraph (1.3), an offender under the jurisdiction of the board who violates the terms and conditions of his parole, other than a convicted parole violator who has parole revoked under subsection (a), may be arrested and detained without revocation of parole under a program to impose swift, predictable and brief sanctions. The program shall provide for immediate detention in a community corrections center, community corrections facility or any secured facility operated or contracted by the department for a period not to exceed seven days. The board shall adopt procedures governing appropriate detention under this paragraph, including identifying which offenders are eligible for the program and providing warnings to offenders to clearly communicate expectations and consequences.
(1.3) If the board determines that one of the following conditions is present regarding an offender who violates the terms and conditions of parole, the offender shall not be eligible for detention under paragraph (1.2) and shall be detained in or recommitted to a State correctional institution or contracted county jail:
(i) The violation was sexual in nature.
(ii) The violation involved assaultive behavior or included a credible threat to cause bodily injury to another.
(iii) The violation involved possession or control of a weapon.
(iv) The offender has absconded and the offender cannot be safely diverted to a community corrections center, community corrections facility or any secured facility operated or contracted by the department.
(v) There exists an identifiable threat to public safety, and the offender cannot be safely diverted to a community corrections center, community corrections facility or any secured facility operated or contracted by the department.
(vi) The violation involved an intentional and unexcused failure to adhere to recommended programming or conditions on more than three occasions, and the offender cannot be safely diverted to a community corrections center, community corrections facility or any secured facility operated or contracted by the department.
(1.4) Every offender's placement in a community corrections center, community corrections facility or parole violator center shall be subject to a condition that the offender comply with the rules of conduct applicable to the place where the offender is housed. The department may, at its discretion, place an offender accused of violating the rules of conduct in a State correctional institution or contracted county jail, pending an investigation or disciplinary hearing, or serve a disciplinary sanction under the department's procedures, or both.
(2) If the offender is recommitted under this subsection, the offender shall be given credit for the time served on parole in good standing but with no credit for delinquent time and may be reentered to serve the remainder of the original sentence or sentences. Credit awarded to a technical parole violator for time served on parole in good standing is subject to forfeiture if the offender is subsequently recommitted as a convicted parole violator.
(3) The remainder shall be computed by the board from the time the offender's delinquent conduct occurred for the unexpired period of the maximum sentence imposed by the court without credit for the period the offender was delinquent on parole. The offender shall serve the remainder so computed from the date the offender is taken into custody by the department's agent.
(4) Subject to subsection (e), the offender shall be subject to reparole by the board whenever in its opinion the best interests of the offender justify or require the offender being reparoled and it does not appear that the interests of the Commonwealth will be injured reparoling the offender.
(5) Parole violators shall be supervised in accordance with evidence-based practices that may include:
(i) Consideration of whether the offender poses a risk of safety to the community or himself.
(ii) The department's capacity to deliver programs that address criminal thinking behavior and related crime-producing factors.
(iii) Use of community-based sanctioning alternatives to incarceration.
(iv) Use of a graduated violation sanctioning process.
(v) Recommitment to:
(A) a State correctional institution;
(B) a contracted county jail;
(C) a community corrections center;
(D) a community corrections facility; or
(E) a parole violator center.
(6) (Deleted by amendment).
(7) (Deleted by amendment).
(8) An offender released from a county correctional facility by a parole order issued by a sentencing court, but supervised by the department, who violates the conditions of parole other than by the commission of a new crime of which the offender is convicted or found guilty by a judge or jury or to which the offender pleads guilty or nolo contendere in a court of record may be detained pending a hearing before the sentencing court or a waiver of the hearing. Detention and recommitment under this paragraph shall be to the county correctional facility from which the offender was released.
(d) Recommitment to correctional facility.--
A technical parole violator recommitted to a State correctional institution or a contracted county jail under subsection (c) shall be recommitted as follows:
(1) If paroled from a county prison, to the same institution or to any other institution to which the offender may be legally transferred.
(2) If paroled from a State correctional institution, to any State correctional institution, parole violator center or contracted county jail designated by the department.
(3) Except as set forth in paragraph (4) or (5), the offender shall be recommitted for one of the following periods, at which time the offender shall automatically be reparoled without further action by the board:
(i) For the first recommitment under this subsection, a maximum period of six months.
(ii) For the second recommitment under this subsection for the same sentence, a maximum of nine months.
(iii) For the third or subsequent recommitment under this subsection for the same sentence, a maximum of one year.
(4) The offender may be reparoled by the board prior to expiration of the time period under paragraph (3) if the board determines that it is in the best interest of the Commonwealth and the offender.
(5) The time limit under paragraph (3) shall not be applicable to an offender who:
(i) committed a disciplinary infraction involving assaultive behavior, sexual assault, a weapon or controlled substances;
(ii) spent more than 90 days in segregated housing due to one or more disciplinary infractions; or
(iii) refused programming or a work assignment.
(e) Recommitment to community corrections center, community corrections facility or parole violator center.--
(1) A technical violator recommitted to a community corrections center, community corrections facility or parole violator center under subsection (c) shall be recommitted for a maximum period of six months, after which the offender shall automatically be reparoled without further action by the board.
(2) An offender under paragraph (1) may be reparoled by the board prior to expiration of the six-month period if the board determines that it is in the best interest of the Commonwealth and the offender.
(3) This subsection shall not apply to an offender who:
(i) commits a disciplinary infraction involving assaultive behavior, sexual assault, a weapon or controlled substances;
(ii) spends more than 61 days in segregated housing due to one or more disciplinary infractions;
(iii) refuses programming or a work assignment; or
(iv) is not in compliance with all legal requirements applicable to the offender, including, but not limited to, maintaining registration in any applicable sex offender registry.
(f) Definitions.--
(Deleted by amendment).
(Oct. 27, 2010, P.L.931, No.95, eff. imd.; July 5, 2012, P.L.1050, No.122; Dec. 18, 2019, P.L.776, No.115; June 30, 2021, P.L.260, No.59, eff. imd.)
Special Provisions in Appendix.
See section 10 of Act 33 of 2009 in the appendix to this title for special provisions relating to applicability.
Cross References.
Section 6138 is referred to in sections 102, 5003, 6139 of this title; section 2153 of Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure).