Pennsylvania State Constables

The office of the Pennsylvania State Constable is a municipally elected, sworn law enforcement officer throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania State Constables are elected in each borough, township, and city ward in the Commonwealth—except in Philadelphia (although constables may still exercise authority in the City of Philadelphia) — and serve six-year terms. Constables may be appointed by the Court of Common Pleas of the county to serve out a term when an elected position becomes vacant.

A Pennsylvania State Constable is a sworn peace officer who is directly elected by and answerable to the voters of their borough, city, ward, or township.

A court may summon a constable to appear before it and direct the constable to investigate a complaint of a violation of law.

A constable is prospective employing law enforcement agency that shall conduct a thorough background investigation on any applicant for deputy constable.

In the event of a vacancy, the court of common pleas of the county of the vacancy may appoint a constable. The common pleas court may also inquire into the official conduct of the constable for failure to discharge official duties or other violations and suspend or remove the constable from judicial assignments.

Constables are authorized by statute to perform judicial services for the judicial branch after being trained and certified by the Constables' Education and Training Program administered by The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, but are not an officer of the judicial branch, only the executive branch. Constables thus certified for judicial duty are empowered to serve civil and criminal complaints, summonses, and notices for the minor judiciary, levy personal property for public sale to satisfy judgments, execute orders of possession and ejectment, execute warrants of arrest, effectuate the payment of fines, take custody of and convey defendants and incarcerated prisoners, and provide for courthouse security.

Constables are charged with keeping order at the election polls and ensuring that no qualified voter is obstructed from voting. Constables are the only law enforcement officer permitted at the polls on election day, excepting those requested by the constable or judge of election for assistance. Constables are empowered to arrest without a warrant for felony crimes, offenses against any law for the protection of forests and timber land, any witnessed violation of any borough ordinance for which a fine or penalty is imposed, any unlawful act endangering personal security or property, and breaches of the peace committed in their presence, anywhere in the Commonwealth. Constables are "charged with conservation of the peace, and whose business it is to arrest those who have violated it... ."