Local Government Commission
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 worked 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, the Commission introduced Senate Bill 1039 in early 2020. The Title 16 bill substantively was the same as the County Code as amended by Act 154 of 2018, but was 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 was signed into law by the Governor on May 8, 2024, as Act 14 of 2024, and the new consolidated statute is effective on July 7, 2024.
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