What Happens at a Preliminary Hearing in Dauphin County, PA?

Night Court and Central Court on Mall Road

The county separately designates two Mall Road facilities:

• · Dauphin County Night Court, district 12-0-00, at the Dauphin County Judicial Center, 451 Mall Road, Harrisburg.
• · Dauphin County Central Court, district 12-0-01, at 501 Mall Road, Harrisburg.

Dauphin County Local Rule 117 is the Night Court duty and coverage rule. It concerns preliminary arraignments, not preliminary hearings, and it does not require that arraignments go to Night Court. It provides that "Any preliminary arraignment presented to an MDJ after 4:00 P.M. Monday through Friday may be handled by the MDJ or may be held for Night Court," and that each magisterial district judge "shall be responsible to handle his/her own arraignments" at 8:30 A.M. each weekday morning for defendants arrested after Night Court closed, with Night Court sitting Monday through Thursday from 5:00 P.M. to midnight and Friday from 5:00 P.M. through midnight Sunday.

The county does not publish what case types are routed to the Central Court facility at 501 Mall Road. Confirm the hearing location on the notice you receive rather than assuming it is the neighbourhood district court.

Why the hearing date matters for ARD

The county publishes that an ARD application is completed "either at his/her preliminary hearing, or at his/her formal arraignment," and that applying at the preliminary hearing requires waiving arraignment. Hearings are typically scheduled about 90 days after application. The county publishes that the District Attorney "will review the facts of each case, conduct a background investigation on the defendant, and, if applicable, seek victim input as required," and will recommend an appropriate candidate to the court. Under Pa.R.Crim.P. 310 it is the attorney for the Commonwealth who may move for ARD consideration[5] , and the Adult Probation Department's A.R.D. Unit handles intake after admission. DUI applicants must be evaluated using Court Reporting Network instruments.

The acceptance-fee schedule published by Dauphin County, as of November 2026, is below. These are the county's figures, not a quotation of legal fees, and the county states this "will not be all of the costs and fees associated with a case."

• · Non-DUI: $500.00 indigent; $1,200.00 non-indigent.
• · DUI: $750.00 indigent; $1,500.00 non-indigent.

Under Pa.R.Crim.P. 316(b), an ARD program "shall not exceed two years."[6] More on ARD in Dauphin County and the Pennsylvania ARD program.

What the hearing decides

Pa.R.Crim.P. 542(D): "At the preliminary hearing, the issuing authority shall determine from the evidence presented whether there is a prima facie case that (1) an offense has been committed and (2) the defendant has committed it."[1]

It is not a trial and there is no finding of guilt or innocence. The question is only whether the Commonwealth has made out a prima facie case on each charge.

What you may do at the hearing

Pa.R.Crim.P. 542(C) provides that "The defendant shall be present at any preliminary hearing except as provided in these rules," and that the defendant may:

• · be represented by counsel;
• · cross-examine witnesses and inspect physical evidence offered against the defendant;
• · call witnesses on the defendant's behalf, other than witnesses to the defendant's good reputation only;
• · offer evidence on the defendant's own behalf, and testify; and
• · make written notes of the proceedings, or have counsel do so, or make a stenographic, mechanical, or electronic record of the proceedings.

The Comment limits 542(C)(3): a defendant "may call witnesses at a preliminary hearing only to negate the existence of a prima facie case, and not merely for the purpose of discovering the Commonwealth's case."

Hearsay

Pa.R.Crim.P. 542(E): "Hearsay as provided by law shall be considered by the issuing authority in determining whether a prima facie case has been established. Hearsay evidence shall be sufficient to establish any element of an offense, including, but not limited to, those requiring proof of the ownership of, non-permitted use of, damage to, or value of property."

The Comment adds that "hearsay, whether written or oral, may establish the elements of any offense" and that "The presence of witnesses to establish these elements is not required at the preliminary hearing." It then adds a counterpoint: "But compare Commonwealth ex rel. Buchanan v. Verbonitz, 525 Pa. 413, 581 A.2d 172 (Pa. 1990) (plurality) (disapproving reliance on hearsay testimony as the sole basis for establishing a prima facie case)." Verbonitz is a plurality decision, as the Comment notes.

The possible outcomes

Under Pa.R.Crim.P. 543(B), the issuing authority holds the defendant for court on the offenses for which a prima facie case was established, and "If there is no offense for which a prima facie case has been established, the issuing authority shall discharge the defendant." Under Rule 543(E), where the Commonwealth does not establish a prima facie case and no continuance is sought or warranted, "the issuing authority shall dismiss the complaint."[2]

A dismissal is not necessarily the end of the case. Rule 543's Comment states: "Nothing in this rule would preclude the refiling of one or more of the charges, as provided in these rules."

The Comment also states that the issuing authority may hold a defendant for court on a lesser offense where the Commonwealth made out a prima facie case only as to that lesser offense, but "may not sua sponte reduce the grading of any charge."

Under Rule 543(F)(1), where a summary offense is joined with a misdemeanor, felony or murder charge and the Commonwealth establishes a prima facie case, the issuing authority does not dispose of the summary offense but forwards it to the court of common pleas with the charges held for court. And under Rule 543(G): "Except as provided in Rule 541(D), once a case is bound over to the court of common pleas, the case shall not be remanded to the issuing authority."

Waiving the hearing has its own consequence: under Pa.R.Crim.P. 541(A)(1), a defendant who waives is thereafter precluded from raising the sufficiency of the Commonwealth's prima facie case unless the parties agreed at the time of the waiver that the defendant later may challenge it. Rule 541(A)(2) adds that where the waiver was given by way of an agreement made in writing or on the record and the agreement is not accomplished, the defendant may challenge the sufficiency.[3]

If you miss the hearing

Under Pa.R.Crim.P. 543(D)(3), if the issuing authority finds that the defendant's absence is without cause and after notice, the absence is deemed a waiver of the right to be present "at any further proceedings before the issuing authority," and the issuing authority proceeds "in the same manner as though the defendant were present." The Comment adds that "The duration of this waiver only extends through those proceedings that the defendant is absent" — it is not a waiver of the right to be present in the court of common pleas. Notice is given by first class mail. If the hearing is conducted and the case is held for court, (D)(3)(b) requires notice by first class mail of the results and that a bench warrant has been requested, and requires the issuing authority, pursuant to Rule 547, to transmit the transcript to the clerk of courts with a request that a bench warrant be issued by the court of common pleas. If the hearing is conducted and the case is dismissed, (D)(3)(c) requires only notice of the results by first class mail.

Central courts in Pennsylvania

Centralized preliminary-hearing arrangements are governed by Pa.R.Crim.P. 131(B), which since December 2022 requires the president judge to petition the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, with the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania making the ultimate decision, while the Comment preserves central courts established under earlier orders.[4] We do not represent when or on what basis any particular county's central court was approved.

Dauphin County magisterial district courts

Dauphin County has fourteen numbered magisterial districts with their own elected judicial seats, listed below; the two Mall Road court numbers above, 12-0-00 and 12-0-01, are separate designations and are not among them. There is no district 12-1-03. District 12-3-02, formerly on Peters Mountain Road in Dauphin, was eliminated effective January 1, 2024 by order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania at No. 516 Magisterial Rules Docket. The same order realigned Magisterial Districts 12-3-01 and 12-3-05 effective the same date. Any directory still listing 12-3-02 is out of date.

• · 12-1-01 — 2125 Paxton Church Road, Harrisburg
• · 12-1-02 — 2967A North 7th Street, Harrisburg
• · 12-1-04 — 1520 Walnut Street, Harrisburg
• · 12-1-05 — 538 South 29th Street, Harrisburg
• · 12-1-06 — 5925 Locust Lane, Harrisburg
• · 12-2-01 — 1201 South 28th Street, Harrisburg
• · 12-2-02 — 102 Agnes Street, Harrisburg
• · 12-2-03 — 50 Canal Street, Royalton
• · 12-2-04 — 1805 North Cameron Street, Harrisburg
• · 12-2-05 — 1300 Rolleston Street, Harrisburg
• · 12-3-01 — 185 Manors Road, Suite 1, Elizabethville
• · 12-3-03 — 5925 Stevenson Avenue, Suite B, Harrisburg
• · 12-3-04 — 576 East Main Street, Hummelstown
• · 12-3-05 — 8010 Bretz Drive, Harrisburg

Districts and addresses as published by Dauphin County, verified November 2026.

Related pages

• · Dauphin County DUI defense
• · Dauphin County criminal defense
• · Pennsylvania preliminary hearings