Crime Victims Information

NOTIFICATION REGISTRATION

You can register to be notified when a particular inmate is released, transferred, or escapes from a county jail or state prison.   For more information, go to www.vinelink.com and click “PA-SAVIN”, or contact The Crime Victims’ Center of Chester County.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR HELP IN UNDERSTANDING THESE RIGHTS, PLEASE CONTACT THE CRIME VICTIMS’ CENTER OF CHESTER COUNTY at 610-692-7420.  VICTIM ADVOCATES AT THE CRIME VICTIMS’ CENTER WILL BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN YOUR RIGHTS, WHICH CAN BE HARD TO UNDERSTAND.  THEY CAN ALSO HELP YOU WITH ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.

VICTIMS’ RIGHTS

Victims’ Rights are found in many different laws.  Below is a list of your rights.  You do not have to do anything to get most of these rights.   However, you must ask for the ones that are underlined.

If you are a victim of a crime in Pennsylvania, you have the right:

• To be notified of basic information on available services.
• To be notified of certain significant actions within the justice system pertaining to your case, including the granting or denial of bail to an adult offender, the detention or release of a juvenile, the filing of a petition alleging delinquency, and escape and subsequent apprehension of an adult prior to trial or a juvenile prior to adjudication.
• To be accompanied at all proceedings by a family member, a Victim Advocate, or other support person.
• To give prior comment on the sentencing decision regarding an adult offender or the disposition of a delinquent child and to receive help in preparing oral and written victim impact statements detailing the physical, psychological, and economic effects of the crime that will be considered by the courts.
• To collect restitution and to receive assistance with preparing, submitting, and follow-up with a claim for compensation.
• To be notified of an adult offender’s transfer from a state prison to a mental health facility and the discharge, transfer, or escape of the adult offender from that facility.
• To receive immediate notice of the release of an adult offender on bail who is incarcerated in a local prison for a violation of a Protection from Abuse (PFA) order or for a personal injury crime committed against the victim protected by the PFA.
• To have property returned that was seized as evidence but is no longer needed for prosecution.
• To have notice of and provide prior comment on the judicial recommendation that the defendant participate in a motivational boot camp.

Victims of personal injury crimes have the following additional rights:

• To receive notice of the arrest of a suspect or the filing or forwarding of a complaint relating to the crime, including notification in 24-hours or less of a complaint alleging delinquency of a juvenile.
• Upon request, to receive notice when an adult offender is released from incarceration at sentencing.
• To receive notice of the opportunity to give prior comment on and receive post-sentencing decisions involving a release from a state prison, such as work release, furlough, parole, pardon, or community treatment center placement.
• To receive notice of and provide prior comment on recommendations sought by the Department of Corrections that an offender participate in a motivational boot camp.
• To receive notice of the release of an adult offender from a local correctional facility including work release, furlough, parole, release from boot camp, or community treatment center placement.
• To receive immediate notice of an escape of an adult offender and subsequent apprehension.
• Upon request, to receive notice of the filing, hearing, or disposition of appeals.
• To receive notice of commitment to a mental health institution from a local or state institution.
• To receive notice of the termination of the court’s jurisdiction.

Victims of crimes committed by a juvenile have the following additional rights:

• To receive prior notice of delinquency hearings and notification of hearings about transfer of a juvenile to and from criminal proceedings.
• To receive notice of the details of the final disposition of a juvenile’s case.

Victims of personal injury or burglary crimes have the following additional rights:

To give prior comment on the potential reduction or dropping of charges or any changes of a plea in a criminal or delinquency proceeding, diversion of a case, including an informal adjustment or a consent decree.

Victims of a personal injury crime committed by a juvenile have the following additional rights, upon their request:

• To receive notice prior to the release of a juvenile from residential placement, a shelter facility, or a detention center.
• To be notified if and have the opportunity to submit a written objection prior to the transfer or release from a placement facility of a juvenile who has been adjudicated delinquent when such action is contrary to a previous court order or placement plan approved at a disposition review hearing.
• To be given immediate notice of a juvenile’s escape from residential placement, a shelter facility, or a detention center and subsequent apprehension.
• To submit written comment and oral testimony at a disposition review hearing.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AS A VICTIM OF A CRIME

In order to be kept informed about your case and to get information, you must give your address and telephone number to agencies that will assist you with your rights.  You must also tell them if your address or telephone number changes.

Only staff who work for the Police, District Attorney’s Office, Victim Services, or the Corrections Department will see your address and telephone number.