Local Government Commission

of the  

Pennsylvania General Assembly

Incorporation of County Code into Title 16 of Pa.C.S.

The comprehensive County Code and Second Class County Code Consolidation and Revision, as the latter code pertains to second class A counties, became law as Act 154 of 2018 on October 24th and went into effect 60 days thereafter on December 24th. The Second Class County Code remains in effect for second class counties.

As the next step, Commission staff is working with the Legislative Reference Bureau to place the County Code into Title 16 (Counties) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes as has similarly occurred with the Borough Code (Title 8) and the Third Class City Code (Title 11). Upon completing the draft legislation, staff plans to propose its introduction by the Commission in early fall of 2019. The Title 16 bill substantively would be the same as the County Code as amended by Act 154 of 2018, but would be restructured to conform to consolidated statute format. 

The purpose of an initial omnibus amendment to the County Code with Act 154 of 2018 was to make all the changes transparent to the Members of the General Assembly. Those changes would not have been transparent had the omnibus amendment been part of a recodification of the County Code into Title 16.

The consolidation of the County Code into Title 16 (Counties) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes was previously introduced in the 2019-2020 (Senate Bill 1039) and the 2021-2022 (Senate Bill 831) Legislative Sessions. The consolidation was re-introduced in both chambers as Senate Bill 945 and House Bill 1762 in the 2023-2024 Legislative Session. Senate Bill 945 passed the Senate unanimously on November 15, 2023, and was referred to the House Local Government Committee. House Bill 1762 was referred out of the House Local Government Committee and was subsequently tabled after 1st consideration in the House. 

MORE INFORMATION

Executive Summary

Derivation Table

Disposition Table