---
type: "Bill"
title: "An Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in juvenile matters, further providing for definitions, for summary offenses and for adjudication."
description: "An Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in juvenile matters, further providing for definitions, for summary offenses and for adjudication."
jurisdiction: "us/states/pa"
legislature: "Pennsylvania General Assembly"
session: "2017-2018"
identifier: "HB 159"
citation: "Pennsylvania HB 159 (2017-2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Nesbit"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 21
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2017-01-23T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2018-06-28T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7edc8bc8-c358-424f-8956-57e062c45986"
source_url: "http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2017&sind=0&body=H&type=B&BN=159"
source_hash: "c91c3e7663cfd566efdc60b91c72fa110832541893f73465be4d76ea7a546d05"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-pa"]
---

# Pennsylvania HB 159 (2017-2018) — An Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in juvenile matters, further providing for definitions, for summary offenses and for adjudication.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Printer's No. 0123** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2017&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=0159&pn=0123)
2. **Printer's No. 3607** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2017&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=0159&pn=3607)

## Votes

- FINAL PASSAGE — **49–0** (pass) · upper
- FINAL PASSAGE — **200–0** (pass) · lower
- Committee vote (JUDICIARY): Reported as Amended — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- HB 159 PN 3607, CONCUR — **192–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Nesbit — primary (person)
- A. Harris — cosponsor (person)
- Barbin — cosponsor (person)
- Benninghoff — cosponsor (person)
- D. Costa — cosponsor (person)
- Davis — cosponsor (person)
- Gabler — cosponsor (person)
- Jozwiak — cosponsor (person)
- Kortz — cosponsor (person)
- Marsico — cosponsor (person)
- Miccarelli — cosponsor (person)
- Rader — cosponsor (person)
- Rozzi — cosponsor (person)
- Ward — cosponsor (person)
- Watson — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-23T05:00:00+00:00** PN 0123 Referred to JUDICIARY `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-25T05:00:00+00:00** Reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2017-01-25T05:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2017-01-25T05:00:00+00:00** Laid on the table
- **2017-01-25T05:00:00+00:00** Removed from table
- **2017-02-06T05:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2`
- **2017-02-06T05:00:00+00:00** Re-committed to APPROPRIATIONS `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-07T05:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2017-02-07T05:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-02-15T05:00:00+00:00** Referred to JUDICIARY `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-05T04:00:00+00:00** PN 3607 Reported as amended `committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2018-06-05T04:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2018-06-11T04:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2`
- **2018-06-22T04:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2018-06-22T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to RULES `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-22T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported on concurrence, as committed `committee-passage`
- **2018-06-22T04:00:00+00:00** House concurred in Senate amendments
- **2018-06-25T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in House
- **2018-06-27T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in Senate
- **2018-06-27T04:00:00+00:00** Presented to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2018-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** Approved by the Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7edc8bc8-c358-424f-8956-57e062c45986`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Pennsylvania legislature records).