A Pennsylvania summary offense is the lowest level of criminal charge in the state, carrying a maximum of 90 days in jail and a fine set by the specific statute. It sits below misdemeanors and felonies, and most cases end with a fine plus court costs rather than incarceration. But it is still a criminal conviction, and it shows up on background checks run by employers, landlords, and licensing boards until you get it expunged or sealed.
Common summary charges include disorderly conduct, public drunkenness, underage drinking, first-offense retail theft under $150, certain forms of harassment, and driving on a non-DUI suspension.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. 18 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes 5503 – Disorderly Conduct2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 18 Section 5505 – Public Drunkenness3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 18 Section 6308 – Purchase, Consumption, Possession or Transportation of Liquor or Malt or Brewed Beverages4Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 18 Section 3929 – Retail Theft5Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 18 Section 2709 – Harassment6Pennsylvania General Assembly. 75 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes 1543 – Driving While Operating Privilege Is Suspended or Revoked One important distinction: an ordinary speeding ticket is a non-criminal traffic citation handled through PennDOT, while a summary offense like driving under suspension is a criminal charge that lands on your record even though both move through the same Magisterial District Court. Some harassment conduct is not summary either. Repeated anonymous communication or contact at extremely inconvenient hours is graded as a third-degree misdemeanor.
Responding to the Citation
Most cases begin with a citation handed to you on the spot by a police officer. You have 10 days from receiving it to respond. You can plead guilty and pay the fine, or plead not guilty and request a hearing before a Magisterial District Judge. At that hearing the prosecution has to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, and you can cross-examine the officer, call witnesses, and introduce evidence. There is no jury.
If you lose, you have 30 days to appeal to the Court of Common Pleas.7Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. 234 Pennsylvania Code Rule 460 – Notice of Appeal The appeal produces a completely new trial, called a trial de novo, heard fresh by a Common Pleas judge as if the first hearing never happened.8Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. 234 Pennsylvania Code Rule 462 – Trial De Novo You can present new evidence and raise arguments you did not make below.
Do not ignore the citation. Missing the 10-day window causes the court to issue a bench warrant, and that warrant stays active indefinitely. Any future traffic stop or police contact can result in your being taken into custody on the spot for what started as a minor charge. Respond within the deadline even if you plan to fight the case.
Fines, Jail, and Court Costs
The maximum jail sentence for any summary offense is 90 days.9Pennsylvania General Assembly. 18 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes 1105 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Summary Offenses Judges almost never impose jail time on a first conviction. Incarceration is reserved for repeat offenders, people who ignore court orders, or cases with aggravating facts.
Fine amounts depend on the specific offense:
- Public drunkenness: up to $500 for a first violation, up to $1,000 for a second or later violation.
- Underage drinking: up to $500 for a first offense, up to $1,000 for later offenses.
- Driving under a non-DUI suspension: a flat $200 fine.
- First-offense retail theft under $150: fine plus mandatory restitution to the store.
The fine is not the whole bill. Pennsylvania’s Magisterial District Courts add mandatory surcharges to every summary case. Court costs on a non-motor-vehicle summary run roughly $63.50, and Title 18 (Crimes Code) offenses carry an additional $60 Crime Victim Services assessment, bringing court costs to about $123.50 before the fine itself.10Pennsylvania Courts. Magisterial District Judge Cost Table A $500 underage drinking fine can easily total $600 or more once costs are added.
Driver’s License Consequences
Several summary offenses trigger license suspensions through PennDOT, and this is where the real disruption often comes from.
An underage drinking conviction carries a 90-day license suspension for a first offense, one year for a second, and 18 months for a third or later offense. For a teenager focused on the fine, the suspension is usually the penalty that actually changes daily life.
Some summary traffic violations also add points to your driving record. Six or more points triggers a written warning from PennDOT, and higher totals can lead to a departmental hearing or a mandatory suspension. Points typically push insurance premiums up as well, sometimes for years.
Commercial drivers face steeper consequences. Federal regulations treat certain traffic violations as “serious traffic violations” for CDL holders, including speeding 15 mph or more over the limit, reckless driving, and improper lane changes. A second serious traffic violation within three years disqualifies your CDL for 60 days, and a third disqualifies it for 120 days.11eCFR. 49 CFR Part 383 Subpart D – Driver Disqualifications and Penalties For someone who drives for a living, a summary-level ticket can mean months without income.
How It Shows Up on Your Record
Summary offenses are criminal convictions. They appear in the Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository and show up on background checks run by employers, landlords, and licensing boards. Calling a charge “only” a summary offense does not keep it off the report.
A single old summary conviction is rarely disqualifying on its own for most jobs. Federal guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission directs employers to weigh the nature of the offense, how much time has passed, and the demands of the specific job, rather than imposing blanket bars.12U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII Employers in healthcare, education, law enforcement, and financial services scrutinize criminal history closely, and a disorderly conduct or theft conviction can raise concerns even years later.
Alcohol-related summary offenses can complicate professional licensing. Nursing, teaching, and pharmacy boards in Pennsylvania ask about criminal history on their applications, and a pattern of alcohol-related offenses can delay or block licensure. A single old public drunkenness charge is unlikely to be a dealbreaker, but it still has to be disclosed.
A Warning for Non-Citizens
If you are not a U.S. citizen, talk to an immigration attorney before pleading guilty to any charge in Pennsylvania, including a summary offense. Federal immigration law does not defer to Pennsylvania’s classification. What matters is whether the underlying conduct qualifies as a crime involving moral turpitude or an aggravated felony under federal standards.
Two convictions for crimes involving moral turpitude arising from separate incidents can make a non-citizen deportable, regardless of how minor the state penalty was.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens Retail theft is frequently treated as a crime involving moral turpitude because it involves intent to deceive, so two summary retail theft convictions from different incidents could in theory trigger removal proceedings. Generic advice is genuinely dangerous here; an immigration lawyer can tell you whether a plea or a trial is the safer route on the specific charge.
Getting a Summary Offense Off Your Record
Pennsylvania gives you three paths to limit or erase the record: ARD before conviction, expungement afterward, and Clean Slate sealing as a backstop.
Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition
Some counties offer Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) for qualifying first-time offenders. The program usually requires community service, restitution where applicable, and sometimes educational courses. Successful completion dismisses the charges, which means no conviction and immediate eligibility for expungement. Not every offense qualifies, and the district attorney has discretion over admission. When ARD is available, it is almost always the best outcome, because it prevents the conviction in the first place.
Expungement
Under 18 Pa. C.S. 9122, you can petition to remove a summary offense from your criminal record entirely. Once granted, the offense stops appearing on background checks run by employers, landlords, and licensing boards.14Pennsylvania General Assembly. 18 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes 9122 – Expungement Eligibility depends on how the case ended:
- Conviction: petition after five years free of arrest or prosecution.
- Not guilty or dismissed: petition immediately, with no waiting period.
- Under 18 at the time: petition at age 21, once all sentencing requirements are complete.
You file the petition with the Court of Common Pleas in the county of conviction. The district attorney can object. If there is no objection, the court usually grants the petition without a hearing; if the DA objects, a judge decides after a hearing.
Clean Slate Automatic Sealing
Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate Law (18 Pa. C.S. 9122.2) automatically seals summary offenses after 10 years without a subsequent conviction, without any petition on your part.15Pennsylvania General Assembly. 18 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes 9122.2 – Clean Slate Limited Access Sealing is not the same as expungement. The record still exists but is hidden from most public background checks, while law enforcement and the courts retain access. If you qualify for expungement, that is the stronger remedy. If you never pursue it and enough time passes, Clean Slate acts as a safety net.