News Release
For Immediate Release
August 12, 2009
Contact:
Aaron Zappia
(215) 657-7700
Greenleaf’s Legislation to Codify Pennsylvania’s Prisons,
Probation and Parole Statutes is Signed into Law
HARRISBURG—Yesterday, Governor Rendell signed into law Senate
Bill 112, Senator Greenleaf’s legislation to codify the Pennsylvania statutes
dealing with prisons, probation, and parole. These acts will be consolidated
under Title 61 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, and be known as the
"Prisons and Parole Code". The passage of SB 112 is part of a greater effort,
largely led by Senate Greenleaf, to codify all of Pennsylvania’s laws. SB 112
also repeals statutes that have been rendered obsolete due to more recent laws.
The consolidation of Pennsylvania’s laws, or codification, is
the process of revising the general and permanent public statutes into a concise
code of laws that is clear, consistent and organized. The law on related
subjects is placed together and the language is simplified and put into a more
understandable and consistent format.
Pennsylvania remains the only state in the country without an
official compilation of consolidated statutes organized by subject matter. Though this dubious distinction is largely ignored by state lawmakers, and
little known to the public, the state’s legal community and good government
advocates have been asking lawmakers to complete a codification process that was
mandated by the General Assembly in 1970.
An unofficial compilation, Purdon’s Pennsylvania Statutes, is
published annually by Thomson / West Publishing and is available to the public
through the General Assembly website,
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/. The state annually publishes the Laws of
Pennsylvania, referred to as the "Pamphlet Laws" which are organized
chronologically. Purdon’s then organizes these laws into titles according to
subject matter. However, without official action, the laws may only be arranged
by subject matter, but lack an understandable editorial structure.
"The problem is that these laws lack a common editorial
structure," said Greenleaf. "Purdon’s has arranged the statutes by subject, but
the language and format varies dramatically. For example, we still have school
code laws from the 1940s that refer to the Secretary of Education as Secretary
of Public Instruction. Furthermore, acts are divided differently into sections,
chapters, subchapters, etc. These seemingly minor details add up to confusing,
unrelated, and vague text that is the bane of the state’s legal community and of
little use to the public. Our statutes are in need of an update, not in terms
of substance, but in their format and organization."
Senator Greenleaf has long been an advocate for codification,
having recently been awarded the William E. Zeiter Award from the Pennsylvania
Bar Association’s Statutory Law Committee. As the chairman of various state
task forces and commissions that focus on specific areas of law, Greenleaf has
been working to prioritize the statutes in need of consolidation.
"I am pleased that the legislature has recognized the need to
address this problem," said Senator Greenleaf. "Our state’s prison and parole
laws are particularly impactful pieces of legislation, and it is essential that
they be consolidated under a single title."
"I would like to thank the Department of Corrections,
Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, County Commissioners Association of
Pennsylvania, and other state and local agencies for their cooperation in
developing this legislation," said the Senator.
