---
type: "Bill"
title: "An Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in depositions and witnesses, further providing for expert testimony in certain criminal proceedings."
description: "An Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in depositions and witnesses, further providing for expert testimony in certain criminal proceedings."
jurisdiction: "us/states/pa"
legislature: "Pennsylvania General Assembly"
session: "2021-2022"
identifier: "SB 81"
citation: "Pennsylvania SB 81 (2021-2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Langerholc"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 19
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2021-01-22T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2021-06-30T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/13595edf-ff4b-4a8e-a703-110f22c0c337"
source_url: "http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2021&sind=0&body=S&type=B&BN=81"
source_hash: "2deeccb7bf572098625bdbefd4b4f00d94d18a7c7cdd75b85c861a8c5dbd641c"
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 SB 81 (2021-2022) — An Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in depositions and witnesses, further providing for expert testimony in certain criminal proceedings.

## Version chain

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

1. **Printer's No. 0059** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2021&sessInd=0&billBody=S&billTyp=B&billNbr=0081&pn=0059)

## Votes

- FINAL PASSAGE — **201–0** (pass) · lower
- Committee vote (JUDICIARY): Reported as Committed — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 81 PN 59, Final Passage — **49–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Langerholc — primary (person)
- Baker — cosponsor (person)
- Bartolotta — cosponsor (person)
- Cappelletti — cosponsor (person)
- J. Ward — cosponsor (person)
- K. Ward — cosponsor (person)
- Martin — cosponsor (person)
- Mastriano — cosponsor (person)
- Mensch — cosponsor (person)
- Muth — cosponsor (person)
- Phillips-Hill — cosponsor (person)
- Santarsiero — cosponsor (person)
- Stefano — cosponsor (person)
- Tartaglione — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-22T05:00:00+00:00** PN 0059 Referred to JUDICIARY `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-25T05:00:00+00:00** Reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-25T05:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2021-01-26T05:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2`
- **2021-02-03T05:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-04T05:00:00+00:00** Referred to JUDICIARY `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-22T04:00:00+00:00** Reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2021-06-22T04:00:00+00:00** First consideration `reading-1`
- **2021-06-22T04:00:00+00:00** Laid on the table
- **2021-06-23T04:00:00+00:00** Removed from table
- **2021-06-24T04:00:00+00:00** Second consideration `reading-2`
- **2021-06-24T04:00:00+00:00** Re-referred to APPROPRIATIONS `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-25T04:00:00+00:00** Re-reported as committed `committee-passage`
- **2021-06-25T04:00:00+00:00** Third consideration and final passage `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-06-25T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in Senate
- **2021-06-25T04:00:00+00:00** Signed in House
- **2021-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** Presented to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-06-30T04:00:00+00:00** Approved by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2021-06-30T04:00:00+00:00** Act No. 52 of 2021

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/13595edf-ff4b-4a8e-a703-110f22c0c337`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Pennsylvania legislature records).