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The Administrative Office of
Pennsylvania Courts
A G U I D E T O
C O L L E C T I O N S
I N T H E
P E N N S Y LVA N I A
C O U R T S
and
other
One of the primary administrative functions
of the Pennsylvania courts is to ensure that
defendants
responsible
individuals carry through on the obligations
to pay costs, fines, and restitution on their
cases. This guide will introduce you to the
different methods of collection available to
the Pennsylvania courts that are managed
through
Judge
the Magisterial District
System (MDJS) and Common Pleas Case
Management System (CPCMS) computer
applications.
W H A T A R E
M D J S A N D C P C M S ?
The Magisterial District Judge System (MDJS) and
Common Pleas Case Management System
(CPCMS) are the computer systems used by the
Magisterial District and Common Pleas Courts.
The systems were created at the discretion of the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania by
the
Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts
(AOPC) to record and track the business of the
courts.
ore than systems for recording docket numbers,
these are case management systems that provide
judges, court staff, probation, accounting and
other departments with case administration,
reporting, and accounting functions. With regards
to collections in particular, MDJS and CPCMS
provide functions to record assessments, receipt
create payment plans, manage
payments,
delinquent accounts and
follow up with
enforcement measures. The systems also interact
with other state and federal criminal justice
systems, providing information to a wide range of
agencies and officials.
M
The case management systems provide court staff
with the ability to monitor payments made on
cases and manage delinquent accounts through
the use of a wide range of reports. Three different
types of reports are available:
Payment Reports:
Payment reports are used to monitor information
about active payment plans, payments made
against them, and find assessments that are not on
payment plans.
nforcement Reports:
Enforcement reports can identify payment plans
that are overdue and are used by the courts to
take proactive measures.
ollection Agency Reports:
Collection Agency reports are used to monitor
payment plans referred to collections and view
payments made on referred payment plans.
E
C
F I S C A L R E P O R T S
Public Access
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has estab-
lished standards and protocols for public access
to court records. For information on these poli-
cies, click the Public Access button at the bottom
Judiciary’s website
of
(www.pacourts.us).
Pennsylvania
the
As the administrative arm of the Pennsylvania
the Administrative Office of
Supreme Court,
Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) carries out
the
court’s policy and management directives while
also providing policy guidance, administrative
support,
legal
representation for jurists and court administrators
within the 60 judicial districts. The AOPC is led by
the Court Administrator of Pennsylvania.
assistance,
technical
and
he AOPC also manages
the network of
information exchanged with other state and
federal agencies such as the Department of Public
Police,
Welfare,
the
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Justice Network,
Commission on Sentencing, and the Juvenile Court
Judges’ Commission.
Pennsylvania
State
or more information on the AOPC and the
departments that support the courts, visit the
at:
Pennsylvania
www.pacourts.us.
Judiciary’s
website
T
F
Court staff can use MDJS or CPCMS to track the payment schedules for all remitters in order to monitor for payment
delinquency. These systems also provide tools that are used to notify the remitters that they need to bring their accounts up to
date.
verdue Payment Notices
At the Magisterial District Courts, MDJS will automatically generate lists that prompt the court to take action when payments are
late. These lists are used to generate overdue payment notices for the responsible remitters to inform them that a warrant may
be issued, their license may be suspended, or, for juveniles, their case will be transferred to Common Pleas for further action, if
payment is not made within a specified time period.
n CPCMS, Common Pleas court staff can utilize any of three overdue payment notices that can be sent periodically when the
responsible individual fails to remit. These letters indicate that payments are past due and requests that they be brought up to
date or paid in full. As matters escalate, a collections letter is available to inform individuals that they are being referred to a
collection agency. The value of overdue payment notices is that they give the remitter the opportunity to resume timely
payments or, alternatively, attend a hearing in order to avoid additional enforcement actions.
earings
Hearings may be held before a judge when other measures have failed to procure payment from the responsible remitter. At a
hearing, this individual works with the judge to establish a payment plan, if one was not previously created, or make any
modifications to an existing plan to make it possible for the individual to make timely payments. Failure to appear for a hearing
can result in a warrant being issued for the remitter or referral to a collection agency.
n the Court of Common Pleas, hearings for payment delinquency may also be held before a probation officer, as a preemptive
enforcement measure, since nonpayment is a violation of the conditions of probation.
DJS and CPCMS help facilitate hearings by allowing court staff to schedule the hearings on the court calendar, produce
hearing notices, and record the outcome of the hearing.
A P P L Y I N G A D D I T I O N A L E N F O R C E M E N T M E A S U R E S
If an individual with an outstanding case balance cannot be located or refuses to remit, the courts may choose additional
enforcement measures.
Both the Magisterial District and Common Pleas courts can issue driver license suspensions as a consequence to nonpayment
and both case management systems can produce notices that warn of this potential action. If the defendant fails to respond to
the notice, the courts can request license suspensions from PennDOT.
icense Suspension
arrants
W
Warrants can also be issued through MDJS and CPCMS for nonpayment in order to compel the individual to appear before a
judge. Warrants increase the likelihood of the individual being found because, for those cases that apply, MDJS and CPCMS
transmit warrant information to the state and national databases used by law enforcement. When the individual is brought
before the court, the judge can determine additional sanctions and remedies.
ollection Agencies
The courts may also choose to use collection agencies in order to locate responsible remitters and obtain payment. Courts often
choose to use a collection agency because the third-party program can be instituted at no cost, since collection fees are
assessed against the responsible remitter, and require less management and fewer court resources. County court offices can also
use more than one collection agency in an attempt to escalate the collection methods used to obtain payment. In CPCMS, the
process for referring payment plans to collections can be automated to allow data to be sent electronically to collection
agencies.
O
I
H
I
M
L
C
The courts offer, or may require, additional payment
options that can be utilized to make the remittance
process more practical for individuals with a case
balance.
Depending on the sum of fines, costs, and restitution
levied on a case, an individual may not be able to remit
the payment amount in a single lump sum. To assist
these individuals with the challenge of repaying these
assessments, a remitter can work with court staff or the
judge to determine a periodic payment schedule that
fits within their financial means. This agreement, referred
to as a payment plan, is then recorded by the court in
the case management system to provide a systematic
way to track payment amounts and due dates. For
individuals who owe money on multiple cases, payment
plans can also be used to consolidate those separate
assessments so payments can be remitted for all
outstanding debts
simultaneously. All payments
recorded on a payment plan are automatically applied
by the case management systems according to the UDS.
ayment Plans
P
AePay
P
PAePay is a service provided on the UJS Portal that can
be used to make payments on a case or payment plan,
via the internet, with a credit or debit card. PAePay is
highly convenient to defendants because it is a 24-hour
a day service that eliminates the need to pay by mail or
at a court office. PAePay is used by all Magisterial
District and Common Pleas Courts across the state and
is systematically integrated with MDJS and CPCMS so
these electronic payments can be applied to the
appropriate cases or payment plans.
A L T E R N A T E P A Y M E N T
O P T I O N S
A N I N T R O D U C T I O N T O
T H E F I S C A L A S P E C T S O F
T H E C O U R T S
the
ruling
court’s
recording
Fines, costs, and restitution are frequently ordered by
a judge when an individual has entered a guilty plea
or has been found guilty of an offense. These orders
are then passed on to court staff who are responsible
for
any
accompanying monetary assessments. The case
management systems used by
for
recording
information, MDJS and CPCMS,
provide numerous fiscal functions that manage and
track all court-levied assessments and generate the
corresponding receipts. The
flexibility of these
systems provide the courts multiple ways to accept
payment and, conversely, to facilitate payment if an
individual fails to remit.
the courts
and
this
hen an individual makes a payment on a case
balance, cash, checks, and money orders are some of
the more common methods of remittance. For each
of these methods, the remitter can mail their
payment to the court or make payment in person at
the court office. In these instances, the court can
record their payment in the case management
system and produce a receipt for the remitter. Any
payment recorded on a case will automatically be
applied to the assessments on the case according to
the Uniform Disbursement Schedule (UDS). However,
if these payment methods or the overall payment
amount is prohibitive to the remitter, alternative
methods are available.
W
What is the UDS?
The UDS was instituted by the Pennsylvania Supreme
Court to direct the disbursement of all fines, fees,
costs, penalties and restitution. The established
disbursement schedule
in compliance with
legislation that gives priority to the payment of
victims and collection agency fees. The UDS ensures
that payments are disbursed appropriately on all
cases.
is
What is the UJS Portal?
The UJS Portal (https://ujsportal.pacourts.us) is a web
the Administrative Office of
site developed by
Pennsylvania Courts that provides access to electronic
services. These services include, but are not limited to,
docket sheets, court scheduling information, the rules
of court, and PAePay. Docket sheets, which represent a
record of all legal actions on a case, also reflect case
financial information including a history of payments
and payment plan details.
C O L L E C T I O N S I N T H E P E N N S Y L V A N I A C O U R T S
M A N A G I N G D E L I N Q U E N T A C C O U N T S
