Rule 586 Court Dismissal Upon Satisfaction or Agreement

This rule applies only to courts of common pleas. Neither magisterial district judges, Philadelphia Municipal Court judges, nor any other issuing authority may dismiss a case under this rule, but rather only as provided in Rule 546.

This rule sets forth concisely the criteria a defendant must satisfy before the court has the discretion to order dismissal under this rule.

If a summary offense is joined with a misdemeanor, felony, or murder charge, and therefore is part of the court case, a dismissal of the case pursuant to this rule may include a dismissal of the summary offense. See the Comment to Rule 502 (Instituting Proceedings in Court Cases).

Rule 315 adopted June 30, 1964, effective January 1, 1965; amended September 18, 1973, effective January 1, 1974; renumbered Rule 314 and amended June 29, 1977 and November 22, 1977, effective as to cases in which the indictment or information is filed on or after January 1, 1978; amended January 28, 1983, effective July 1, 1983; renumbered Rule 586 and amended March 1, 2000, effective April 1, 2001; Comment revised March 9, 2006, effective September 1, 2006.

Final Report explaining the March 1, 2000 reorganization and renumbering of the rules published with the Court’s Order at 30 Pa.B. 1478 (March 18, 2000).

Final Report explaining the March 3, 2006 Comment revision concerning joinder of summary offenses with misdemeanor, felony, or murder charges published with the Court’s Order at 36 Pa.B. 1392 (March 25, 2006).