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

Where York County criminal cases are heard

Court of Common Pleas criminal matters in York County — arraignment, pleas, trial and sentencing after a case is held for court — are heard at the York County Judicial Center, 45 North George Street, York, in the Nineteenth Judicial District, which is York County. The Clerk of Courts is at the same address. Your preliminary hearing is not held there: it is held at the magisterial district court where the charges were filed. Do not go to the York County Administrative Center at 28 East Market Street — that is county government, not the courthouse.

Separately, the York County Sheriff's Office operates a Central Processing Center at 3400 Concord Road, Suite 102, York, where the Sheriff's Office completes all fingerprinting. It is an intake facility, not a court, and no preliminary hearings are held there. Your preliminary hearing is a separate, later proceeding before the magisterial district judge.

York County falls within Pennsylvania State Police Troop J, not Troop H, and the Troop J station serving York County is at 101 North Main Street, York.

ARD in York County

The District Attorney's published page, revised November 2, 2026, describes ARD as "a pre-trial diversion program administered by the York County District Attorney's Office." It states that "ARD participants are ordered to a 12-month period of supervision," supervised by the DA's ARD Unit rather than Adult Probation.

• · The application is filed with the Clerk of Courts after the preliminary hearing, and must be submitted within 30 days from the original arraignment date, absent an excusal by the Court; applications received 31 days after the arraignment date will be rejected. Applications must be PACFiled unless the defendant is pro se.
• · The applicant and counsel receive either a recommendation for acceptance or a rejection, by mail, within approximately four to six weeks after the scheduled arraignment date. A recommendation is not admission: a recommended applicant is scheduled for a placement hearing before the Court.
• · The York County District Attorney does not publish an ARD fee amount. The only dollar figure on the published page is a restitution limit: applicants are not submitted for placement when more than $1,000.00 in total restitution is due, and restitution in excess of that amount must be paid at the placement hearing.

Under Pa.R.Crim.P. 316(b), "The period of such program for any defendant shall not exceed two years."[5] More on ARD in York County.

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.

York County magisterial district courts

There are 19 magisterial district courts, and the numbering is non-consecutive: there is no 19-3-02 and no 19-3-08. The Supreme Court's reestablishment order for the Nineteenth Judicial District, dated December 27, 2022 at No. 523 Magisterial Rules Docket, lists the districts without explaining the gaps. That order realigned districts 19-1-01, 19-1-04, 19-2-05, 19-3-05 and 19-3-06 effective January 2, 2023.

One correction most directories still get wrong: district 19-1-05 moved to the Human Services Center at 100 West Market Street, Suite 1116, York, as of September 30, 2025. Listings still showing it at 745 West Mason Avenue are out of date.

Related pages

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