PA HR63

Joint State Government Commission directed to study criminal justice diversion programs and provide recommendations for improving existing programs and establishing new ones within one year of the resolution's adoption

Report must identify successful diversion programs from other states that could be implemented in Pennsylvania, along with facilitators and barriers to existing programs

Four types of diversion programs identified for study: prepolice encounter diversion (crisis hotlines/civilian responders), prearrest diversion (law enforcement discretion for low-level offenses), precharge diversion, and pretrial diversion (problem-solving courts, deferred adjudication)

Resolution cites racial and gender disparities in incarceration, particularly disproportionate incarceration of Black individuals and people of color, as justification for examining alternatives to punitive approaches

Introduced February 10, 2025 by Representative Khan and 12 co-sponsors; referred to House Judiciary Committee