Sobel and Collins Law Firm

What is an Arraignment? What happens? Do I need to attend?

What is Home Detention/Earned Time Credit/Work Release, am I eligible?

What is ARD? What happens if I get my ARD revoked?

What is an Expungement? Can my charges be Expunged?

What is Probation? Counseling? What happens if it gets revoked?

What is Sentencing? ARD Court? Do I need to attend? What happens?

*After you are charged with any type of crime, that is a Misdemeanor or a Felony of any degree, the Court will schedule you for a Preliminary Hearing. This is just a hearing to decide whether or not the Commonwealth has provided adequate evidence to proceed to trial (establish a prima facie case). If you have not been already taken into custody at this point and/or your bail is set, you will not go to jail at this time. You will not have to testify at this hearing. Your attorney will speak on your behalf. The hearings in Clearfield County are held at the Clearfield County Jail, the hearings in DuBois at held at District Justice Patrick Ford’s Office. Your attorney will meet you there. Before the hearing, your attorney will speak with the District Attorney to discuss your case and see if it can be worked out without having to proceed to a hearing. If your attorney decides that a Motion to Dismiss may be relevant to your case, your case will proceed to a hearing. This is just to gather the evidence/information we need to file any necessary motions on your behalf.

If your case is bound over to Court at the Preliminary Hearing, you will then be scheduled for a formal Arraignment with the Court. You need to make an appointment with your attorney to see which direction to proceed on your case.

After your arraignment, your attorney will be receiving and reviewing the Discovery, filing any necessary Motions and speaking with the District Attorney’s Office regarding your case. He will contact you if there are any new developments on your case. You need to call if you receive any notices from the Court or there has been a change in circumstances. Please contact us immediately if you receive or know you will be receiving any new charges whatsoever, including Summary Offenses such as Public Drunkenness or Disorderly Conduct, because they may interfere with your Bail and ultimately your case.

*If you are charged with a higher grade of an offense, like an assault or certain types of drug cases, rapes, so forth you will be arrested and taken to the District Magistrate for an Arraignment and to set bail. If you can, contact an attorney as soon as you are arrested or have someone contact an attorney for you. At the initial Arraignment bail is set. If you cannot make bail you will be taken to the County Jail to await your Preliminary Hearing.

After your Preliminary Hearing, whatever charges are held over to Court, you will have a Formal Arraignment. This is just to advise you of your charges and your rights. If you hire an attorney, you will not need to attend this Arraignment, your Attorney will waive it on your behalf. If you do not have an attorney or cannot afford one, you need to attend the Formal Arraignment or a bench warrant will be issued. At the Formal Arraignment, the Judge and District Attorney are not there. It is just a procedural hearing, that the Court Administrator handles. If you have not been taken into custody at this point and/or your bail is set, you will not go to jail at this time.

*Whenever you are charged with a crime there is a Bail set. If you receive your papers/charges in the mail by Certified Mail there will be a Bail set at your Preliminary Hearing. For smaller offenses and DUI’s, you should not have to pay a Bail, just give your word that you will show up for Court. There will be Bail Provisions though, so check your paperwork to make sure you follow the terms and conditions of your Bail. For larger offenses such as Felonies, you will be taken to the District Magistrate for an initial Arraignment and Bail will be set at that time. The District Magistrate’s for higher Felonies and depending on the nature of the charges, will generally set the Bail high initially. Your attorney at your Preliminary Hearing can ask for a Bail reduction if the Bail is extremely high and you cannot afford the Bail.

In order to post Real Estate as Bail in our county, you need to get President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman’s prior approval. Your attorney will request this for you. If you have the cash amount to post the Bail, you can go to the Clerk of Court’s Office at the Clearfield County Courthouse with either cash or a certified check. If you do not have sufficient funds to post the entire bail, you can contact a bail bondsman. Most of them require 7-8% of the entire bail, non-refundable and for higher bail amounts 7-8% non-refundable plus equity in or about the amount of the entire bail.

*If a plea agreement is thirty (30) days or more incarceration at the Clearfield County Jail, you may be eligible for Home Detention or Earned Time Credit. (LINK TO ADOBE FORM EARNED TIME CREDIT) The Earned Time Credit is a Jail Program, your attorney has no authority whatsoever on whether or not you are a candidate for that program or meet the criteria. If you are eligible for the Earned Time Credit, it is a better way to go then the Home Detention. DUI’s and mandatory sentences are excluded from the Earned Time Credit Program. If it is a mandatory sentence or DUI and/or you want to apply for the Home Detention Program you will need to have an IPP evaluation done before Sentencing to see if you meet the criteria for that program. These evaluations can be done at Gateway Institute and Clinic (814)371-1100 x 221. The cost of the evaluation is $80.00. You also need to request to Mike Moskel at Adult Probation in writing to be placed on the program. There are fees associated with this program. If you have a prior record of any Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Indent Assault, etc., you are not eligible for the Home Detention Program.
For the Work Release program, generally anyone with a county sentence and local employment is eligible for Work Release. You need to be drug free when you enter the Jail in order to participate in the program. For an application, click HERE (LINK TO WORK RELEASE APP)

*ARD (Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition) is a program for first time offenders that after successful completion of the program, the charges may be expunged (taken off your criminal record). ARD is not a conviction or admission of any crime on your criminal record. Any and all Expungement in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania must be done through the ARD Program.
There are certain requirements of the program, and certain conditions you must follow in order to successfully complete the program and have your charges dismissed. If you fail to complete the program, or are charged with a new offense or violate any other condition imposed by the Court, you may be removed from the ARD program and your case shall proceed pursuant to the Rules of Criminal Procedure.
Prior to the acceptance of the program, you first must receive an evaluation to determine your involvement with drugs or alcohol and to assist the Court in determining what conditions of ARD would benefit you and the public. Those evaluations are called CRN (Court Reporting Network) Evaluations. Those in Clearfield County are done by Daghir Diagnostics (814)375-4335. You will also need to contact Probation to do a Pre-Sentence Investigation. You may do this by phone. This is to obtain some general background information before you are scheduled for ARD Court. They may ask you to do further evaluations to determine your drug or alcohol involvement or determine what type of counseling the Court would recommend for you. You must do whatever evaluations or counseling Probation asks of you or you will not be eligible for the program.
You will be placed into the program at ARD Court. At this time a period of probation that the Court determines will start. You need to follow all terms and conditions of Probation or your ARD application can be revoked. For DUI’s, your will not need to surrender your license at the time of Court. You will get a letter from PennDOT sometime after ARD Court to advise when your suspension will start. This usually takes about a month. A requirement of the program is Community Service, which amount will be determined by the Court. You may do that on your own. You may also do that before ARD Court at your own accord. If you wish to do this on your own, please have a Supervisor of the Community Service Organization sign on how many hours you completed. You may ask Probation as to see what they may accept as Community Service.
After you have completed all requirements of the program, your record will be expunged from your criminal record. It will NOT be expunged from your driving record. There is no way to expunge this from your driving record.
If you violate any terms and conditions of your probation or fail to complete any requirements of the program, your ARD will be rejected and your case will be re-prosecuted. If this happens, you will not get credit for any part of the program or probation that you may have already completed.

*In Pennsylvania, the only way you can get an Expungement (a withdrawal of the criminal charges off your criminal record) is if you have/had an ARD Probation. If it was not an ARD Probation or Program, you will need to get a pardon from the Governor in order to clear your criminal record of the charge/offense.

*Probation is a term determined by the Court at Sentencing or ARD Court that is supervised by the Probation Department. The supervision can be daily/weekly/monthly reporting depending on the terms of your Sentence and/or any other offenses were committed since the time of your arrest or prior to your arrest. During Probation you will need to refrain from any criminal activities, refrain from drug and/or alcohol use and attend any counseling sessions that the Court or Probation has determined necessary for your rehabilitation. You could be drug or alcohol tested at any time while on Probation so it is important to refrain from any drug or alcohol use. During your term of Probation, depending on the offense, you may be required to attend Drug and Alcohol Counseling, Driver’s Safety School, Anger Management and/or any other counseling/evaluations the Court and/or your Probation Officer deem necessary. You do need to complete any and all counseling the Court and/or your Probation Officer asks of you. Any non-compliance will result in a revocation of the terms and conditions of your Probation.
If you are being revoked from your Probation/ARD, you need to contact any attorney right away. You can and will go to jail, even state prison from a violation. Most Probation/ARD Revocations in Clearfield County are from drug or alcohol use. If it is an ARD Probation that is revoked, you will be re-prosecuted for the original offense. If it is not an ARD Probation, you will be re-sentenced by the Judge for your violation. This is usually jail time. It can range from 10 days to 2 years depending on the violation, the times of violations and the nature of the violation. It is not unheard of, actually quite likely for the Clearfield County Judges to send you to State Prison for an alcohol/drug violation while on Probation. If you know you will pass a drug/alcohol test and are accused of using drugs or alcohol by your Probation Officer do not admit to anything without an attorney. An admission is an admission of guilt and it will be held against you.

*At ARD Court you are formally placed into the ARD (Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition). Your term of Probation will start at this time. For DUI’s, your license suspension will NOT start at this time. You will later be receiving an letter from PennDOT regarding any license suspensions and when to turn over your license. If for any reason your ARD application is rejected by the Court, your attorney will be notified before the hearing. If your application is rejected, we will withdraw your ARD application and your case will be put back on the list of Court.
At Sentencing Court unless special arrangements are made prior to Sentencing, you will start your incarceration period at that time. So please be prepared to be taken right from Court to the Clearfield County Jail. You will need to have a friend or family member take your clothes/supplies/money to the jail for you. You will need to surrender your license at Sentencing Court as well if a license suspension is part of your Sentence. Please refer to Work Release/Home Detention/Earned Time Credit for additional information on Sentences. If you signed a plea agreement and your plea agreement has been rejected by the Judge, your attorney will be advised of this before Sentencing and you will have the option to withdraw your plea and place your case back on the list of Court. You cannot take medications out to the jail. When you are initially taken to the Clearfield County Jail to start your incarceration, within 48 hours you are booked into the system and will then first see the nurse at the Jail. If medications are taken on a daily basis, the nurse will fax a request to your doctor to return what medications need to be taken on a daily basis. NO NARCOTIC medications can be taken at the jail, whether they are prescribed by your physician or not. For Additional Jail procedures and/or visiting hours, please contact the Clearfield County Jail at (814)765-7891. Please do not overwhelm the jail with phone calls from your family members. If your family has additional questions or requests as to your Sentence or other matters, and is not jail procedures, please have them contact your attorney.
You do need to attend theses hearings. Failure to attend will result in a bench warrant for your arrest. Your attorney will attend these hearings and will meet you at the Courthouse. If you require any special arrangements to be made regarding your Sentence, you need to notify your attorney before Sentencing or ARD Court. You cannot Continue/postpone these hearings without a Motion requesting it to the Judge with an adequate reason for why you cannot attend on that date and time.
Special arrangements include:
Spitting up time on weekends for work purposes
Arranging for Work Release to be started immediately
Delaying your Sentence for work or medical purposes- Please note Sentences will not be delayed longer then a 30 day period.
Arranging for a Home Detention evaluation (if not done before Sentencing)
Please note: Special Arrangements can be requested by your attorney but are ultimately up to the Judge presiding over your case.

Any Sentence over six (6) months in Clearfield County can be State incarceration. To attempt to remain in the County Facility, you will need to have local employment and/or letters of recommendation/good character. Any County Sentence over six (6) months can be requested by your attorney but is ultimately up to the presiding Judge.

Frequently Asked Questions