§ 9102. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this chapter shall have, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the meanings given to them in this section:
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"Administration of criminal justice." The activities directly concerned with the prevention, control or reduction of crime, the apprehension, detention, pretrial release, post-trial release, prosecution, adjudication, correctional supervision or rehabilitation of accused persons or criminal offenders; criminal identification activities; or the collection, storage dissemination or usage of criminal history record information.
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"Criminal justice agency." Any court, including the minor judiciary, with criminal jurisdiction or any other governmental agency, or subunit thereof, created by statute or by the State or Federal constitutions, specifically authorized to perform as its principal function the administration of criminal justice, and which allocates a substantial portion of its annual budget to such function. Criminal justice agencies include, but are not limited to: organized State and municipal police departments, local detention facilities, county, regional and State correctional facilities, probation agencies, district or prosecuting attorneys, parole boards, pardon boards, the facilities and administrative offices of the Department of Public Welfare that provide care, guidance and control to adjudicated delinquents, and such agencies or subunits thereof, as are declared by the Attorney General to be criminal justice agencies as determined by a review of applicable statutes and the State and Federal Constitutions or both.
Why this section decides the NCIC question. Section 9102 has no “police officer” element. Its own list of qualifying agencies includes probation agencies and district attorneys, neither of which makes arrests. So the June 2026 Vehicle Code holding in Commonwealth v. Wiggs, that a constable is not a “police officer” under 75 Pa.C.S. § 102, does not reach it. A different title, a different statute, a different definition.
The constable office is created by statute, 44 Pa.C.S. Ch. 71, which specifically authorizes warrantless arrest for felonies and breaches of the peace, warrant execution, prisoner transport, and courthouse security. “Administration of criminal justice” begins, in the statute’s own words, with the prevention, control or reduction of crime; a civil standby or peacekeeping detail is exactly that. And a constable spends nearly the entire cost of holding the office on that function: vehicle, duty firearm and annual qualification, ammunition, body armor, restraints, uniforms, communications, liability insurance, mandated continuing education.
The last clause matters too. The Attorney General may declare an agency or subunit a criminal justice agency after reviewing the applicable statutes and constitutions. That is a route that could reach the entire class of constables in a single determination.
Statutory text reproduced from the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes (Title 18). The official source is the Pennsylvania General Assembly's online statute repository. This page is not legal advice; consult a licensed Pennsylvania attorney for guidance on specific legal questions.
