Required county detention services.
42 Pa.C.S. § 27
in effect(a) General rule.--Each county, acting alone or in conjunction with other counties as provided in section 28, shall by December 31, 1978, submit to the Department of Public Welfare for approval a plan for the removal of children from adult facilities. If no such plan is submitted or accepted by the department within the allocated period, the department, after determining the detention needs of individual counties, shall thereafter take whatever steps it deems necessary to provide the required detention services for any such county or counties; including the construction of a regional detention facility to meet the needs of the counties insofar as is consistent with prohibitions against the use of adult facilities for juvenile offenders as provided in Chapter 63 of Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes (relating to juvenile matters). The department, after exhausting all other available funds including Law Enforcement Assistance Administration funds and any other Federal or State funds available for such purpose, shall charge the cost of establishing the necessary regional detention facilities to the counties that will utilize its services.
(b) Charges imposed upon counties.--The amount due the Commonwealth for the services or facilities provided pursuant to subsection (a) shall be paid by the county within 15 months after receipt of notice of the amount due. In determining the amount which each county shall be charged for the establishment of a regional detention facility, the department shall take into account the extent to which the participating counties shall utilize the facilities.
(c) Limitation on charges.--Except as provided in subsection
(d), the charges made by the department against any county pursuant to this subsection shall not exceed $50,000.
(d) Additional charges.--In addition to the charges authorized for the providing of regional detention facilities and notwithstanding the limitations on such charges set forth in subsection (c), the Commonwealth shall be entitled to an additional amount for providing such facilities equivalent to 7% of the costs imposed on the county.
(e) Disposition of charges.--All sums collected from the counties pursuant to this subsection shall be paid into the General Fund and credited to the Department of Public Welfare. References in Text. The Department of Public Welfare, referred to in this section, was redesignated as the Department of Human Services by Act 132 of 2014.
§ 28. Regional detention facilities.
(a) General rule.--Where the operation of an approved detention facility by a single county would not be feasible, economical or conducive to the best interest of a child needing detention care, the Department of Public Welfare shall:
(1) Make provisions directly or by contract with a single county for the implementation and operation, in accordance with the regulations promulgated by the Department of Public Welfare, of regional detention facilities serving the needs of two or more counties.
(2) Arrive at mutually agreeable arrangements with counties participating in the use of such regional detention facilities for the equitable sharing in the costs of constructing and operating such regional detention facilities, including necessary expenditures to transport children and, if financially indigent, their parents, guardians, or custodians to and from such regional detention facilities with funds contributed by the State and by such counties. The department shall only operate a regional detention facility, established under section 27(a), upon refusal of the counties participating in its use to operate the facility pursuant to department regulations.
(b) Use of Commonwealth facilities.--The Department of General Services shall make available any vacant Commonwealth building which the Department of Public Welfare certifies as appropriate for renovation as a regional detention facility. References in Text. The Department of Public Welfare, referred to in this section, was redesignated as the Department of Human Services by Act 132 of 2014.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://www.palegis.us/statutes/consolidated/view-statute?txtType=HTM&ttl=42Fetched: 10/16/2026