Step by Step Guide on How to File a Summary Appeal in PA

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So you lost your case at the local neighborhood judge. Maybe you got screwed. Maybe you just want to fight to try to get a better result. Perhaps you got a notice from PennDOT assigning you points or ordering you to classes or a hearing or a loss of your license. That ruling by the MDJ is not the end of a summary offense. You can appeal. This is a step by step guide on how to file a summary appeal in PA.

What not to do with a Summary Traffic Offense Ticket or Summary Offense in PA

You just received a summary citation for speeding, careless driving, reckless driving or disorderly conduct, just to name a few. The easy thing to do would be to mail back your guilty plea, write a check to the magistrate district court, and move on with your life. You might think that it would all be behind you. Sounds like a good deal. You don’t have to go to court. Just pay a bit of money and it’s gone, right? WRONG.

how file summary appeal PA
how to file a summary appeal in PA

What they don’t tell you

These tickets or summary citations don’t tell you all of the consequences that come with simply pleading guilty or by paying a fine. If you pay a fine, you are admitting guilt to the offense as charged. No where on the ticket does it tell you that:

  1. Your driver’s license might be suspended with paying the fine.
  2. Your car insurance rates might go up dramatically. An insurance company may cancel your insurance.
  3. The record of the offense is public for anyone to search including nosey neighbors, employers and anyone else with an internet connection.
  4. You might be assigned points. If there are enough points, PennDOT might suspend your license or order you to a safe driving class.
  5. You might rack up a “serious traffic offense” on the CDL and have a strike against you in terms of a disqualification.
  6. If you don’t respond to the citation/summons, the Court will issue you a warrant for your arrest and PennDOT may suspend your driver’s license for failure to respond.

For example, if you plead guilty to a reckless driving, you will face a six-month driver’s license suspension automatically. It doesn’t say that anywhere on the ticket you get in the mail or on anything the Trooper/Officer hands you.

Lucky for you, you have a second chance to earn either a dismissal of your summary offense or reduced charges.

Step one: Knowing the time frame for an appeal

You cannot wait. If you do, you may have a much more difficult path to getting those negative results of paying the fine reversed. You must file a summary within 30 days of a magisterial district court judge finding you guilty or within 30 days of pleading guilty to a summary offense.

If you are outside of 30 days. good and experienced lawyers like us at The McShane Firm can still file for an appeal nunc pro tunc on your behalf. We may be able to get you a hearing in the Court of Common Pleas even though you are out of time. But the longer you wait, the harder it will be.

Step two: Knowing where to file the appeal.

A summary appeal must be filed in the jurisdiction where your summary offense took place. Let’s say for example that your summary trial took place in front of a magisterial district court judge in Dauphin County, you must file your appeal within 30 days at the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas in the Clerk of Courts office. This is so even if you live far away from Dauphin County or live in another state. If you file your notice of appeal anywhere else, your appeal will be denied. You not only will have lost the money of the filing fee, but filing it in the right place later will make you outside of the 30 day time limit.

Step three: Knowing what to file

There are strict requirements before the Court will accept your notice of appeal. If the requirements are not met, your appeal will be rejected. Each county courthouse has its own unique filing requirements and fees. Plus, if you file an appeal of the traffic offense, it will not automatically stop the license suspension or the points from going into effect. You have to file a separate type of appeal of the PennDOT action using separate forms and paying separate fees to do so. PennDOT loves to dismiss these types of actions if you don’t do it exactly right. It’s best to not try to do it yourself because PennDOT has no heart and does not care what your good or noble intentions were. PennDOT doesn’t care about you or your license or your job or anything outside of PennDOT’s rules.

A notice of appeal has several requirements that must be contained in the notice of appeal. Depending on which county you are filing your appeal, there may be a unique form for that particular county. If you do not file your notice of appeal, correctly, on the form required by that county, the Court will reject your appeal.

Step four: Getting ready for your court dates

If your driver’s license or points on your driver’s license is at issue, you should have filed two appeals. One for the traffic ticket with the Clerk of Courts and another one for the PennDOT action. The order that these two hearings happen in is vital. If you do not win the traffic ticket case, PennDOT will easily win its part of its case. You must make sure that you have the traffic ticket go first.

Once you have the court date for your summary appeal, the trial judge will hear your case de novo. An appeal de novo means that the trial judge hearing the appeal will start fresh. The prior ruling by the MDJ does not matter to this judge.

A summary criminal or traffic offense does not allow for a trial by jury. A Court of Common Pleas judge hears the case and rule.

Step five: Get the right attorney

Here’s a little secret. PennDOT is unmerciful. Courts like to dismiss cases as soon as possible. When you put these two together, it makes it very foolish to try to handle these appeals on your own. If you show up with no attorney, the DA will call your case last. The PennDOT attorney will call your case last. The judge will treat you at the same level of knowledge and skill that an attorney is responsible to have, if you show up on your own. No one will cut you any slack.

Here at The McShane Firm, all of our attorneys have the knowledge and training necessary to handle your summary appeal. Once you hire one of our highly trained attorneys, they will immediately file your appeal and reach out to the District Attorney to reach a possible resolution. Hiring an attorney can make a huge difference on whether you are facing a license suspension from a reckless driving, or a speeding ticket that carries a significant amount of points. Do not delay any longer on your summary appeal, or it may be too late.

Additional recommended reading:

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PA DUI attorney Justin J. McShane is the President/CEO of The McShane Firm, LLC - Pennsylvania's top criminal law and DUI law firm. He is the highest rated DUI attorney in PA as rated by Avvo.com. Justin McShane is a double Board certified attorney. He is the first and so far the only Pennsylvania attorney to achieve American Bar Association recognized board certification in DUI defense from the National College for DUI Defense, Inc. He is also a Board Certified Criminal Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Approved Agency.