---
type: "Bill"
title: "An Act amending Titles 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) and 53 (Municipalities Generally) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in recordings by law enforcement officers, further providing for definitions; in employees, further providing for definitions; and providing for automatic certification by the Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission."
description: "An Act amending Titles 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) and 53 (Municipalities Generally) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in recordings by law enforcement officers, further providing for definitions; in employees, further providing for definitions; and providing for automatic certification by the Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission."
jurisdiction: "us/states/pa"
legislature: "Pennsylvania General Assembly"
session: "2021-2022"
identifier: "HB 1988"
citation: "Pennsylvania HB 1988 (2021-2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Owlett"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 24
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-10-22T04:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2022-11-03T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c573fe04-361b-445a-9920-1017f3c5e8b6"
source_url: "http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2021&sind=0&body=H&type=B&BN=1988"
source_hash: "a431380698d9e6ba94eb71fc619c271efa82cef36e58751bd1d7fb95198fafaf"
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 1988 (2021-2022) — An Act amending Titles 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) and 53 (Municipalities Generally) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in recordings by law enforcement officers, further providing for definitions; in employees, further providing for definitions; and providing for automatic certification by the Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission.

## Version chain

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

1. **Printer's No. 2293** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2021&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=1988&pn=2293)
2. **Printer's No. 3147** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2021&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=1988&pn=3147)
3. **Printer's No. 3570** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2021&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=1988&pn=3570)
4. **Printer's No. 3592** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2021&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=1988&pn=3592)

## Votes

- FINAL PASSAGE — **200–0** (pass) · lower
- Committee vote (APPROPRIATIONS): Re-Reported as Committed — **24–0** (pass) · upper
- HB 1988 PN 3592, CONCURRENCE — **199–0** (pass) · lower
- Committee vote (LAW AND JUSTICE): Reported as Amended A05748 — **10–0** (pass) · upper
- HB 1988 PN 3592, Final Passage — **49–0** (pass) · upper
- Committee vote (LAW AND JUSTICE): Adopt Amendment A05748 — **10–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Owlett — primary (person)
- Bernstine — cosponsor (person)
- Causer — cosponsor (person)
- Ciresi — cosponsor (person)
- Cook — cosponsor (person)
- D. Williams — cosponsor (person)
- Herrin — cosponsor (person)
- James — cosponsor (person)
- Lawrence — cosponsor (person)
- Mizgorski — cosponsor (person)
- Moul — cosponsor (person)
- Oberlander — cosponsor (person)
- Otten — cosponsor (person)
- R. Brown — cosponsor (person)
- Rader — cosponsor (person)
- Sappey — cosponsor (person)
- Smith — cosponsor (person)
- Snyder — cosponsor (person)
- Struzzi — cosponsor (person)
- Wheeland — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-10-22T04:00:00+00:00** PN 2293 Referred to JUDICIARY `referral-committee`
- **2022-05-24T04:00:00+00:00** PN 3147 Reported as amended `amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2022-05-24T04:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2022-05-24T04:00:00+00:00** Laid on the table
- **2022-06-21T04:00:00+00:00** Removed from table
- **2022-06-22T04:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2`
- **2022-06-22T04:00:00+00:00** Re-committed to APPROPRIATIONS `referral-committee`
- **2022-06-27T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2022-06-27T04:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2022-06-29T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to LAW AND JUSTICE `referral-committee`
- **2022-10-19T04:00:00+00:00** PN 3570 Reported as amended `amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2022-10-19T04:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2022-10-24T04:00:00+00:00** PN 3592 Second consideration, with amendments `reading-2`
- **2022-10-24T04:00:00+00:00** Re-referred to APPROPRIATIONS `referral-committee`
- **2022-10-25T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2022-10-25T04:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2022-10-26T04:00:00+00:00** Referred to RULES `referral-committee`
- **2022-10-26T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported on concurrence, as committed `committee-passage`
- **2022-10-26T04:00:00+00:00** House concurred in Senate amendments
- **2022-10-26T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in House
- **2022-10-26T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in Senate
- **2022-10-27T04:00:00+00:00** Presented to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2022-11-03T04:00:00+00:00** Approved by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2022-11-03T04:00:00+00:00** Act No. 121 of 2022

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c573fe04-361b-445a-9920-1017f3c5e8b6`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Pennsylvania legislature records).