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Washington County

210,802 people, served by 34 police agencies that report to the FBI.

How a case moves here

Washington County follows Pennsylvania law on arrests, release, and courts. These rules are the same in every county in the state; the full set covers prosecutors, defense, and jails too.

Who decides release first

Outside Philadelphia, a magisterial district judge sets bail at the preliminary arraignment. In Philadelphia, an arraignment court magistrate appointed by the Municipal Court sets it; magistrates need not be lawyers if they complete a training program. Neither may set bail for murder or voluntary manslaughter; a Common Pleas judge does.

Pa.R.Crim.P. 51942 Pa.C.S. 1515(a)(4)42 Pa.C.S. 1123(a)(5)
Time to see a judge

A person arrested without a warrant must have a preliminary arraignment without unnecessary delay. The rule sets no hour limit. The U.S. Supreme Court's 48-hour rule for a probable cause finding applies as the federal floor.

Pa.R.Crim.P. 516(A)
Money bail

Money bail is allowed. The rules list five kinds of release, from release on recognizance to a money condition no larger than needed to ensure the person appears.

Pa.R.Crim.P. 524(C)
Courts

The Court of Common Pleas, organized in 60 judicial districts, tries felonies and misdemeanors. Magisterial district judges hear summary offenses, the lowest grade, and hold first arraignments and preliminary hearings. In Philadelphia, the Municipal Court tries crimes punishable by up to five years without a jury.

Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, Courts of Common Pleas42 Pa.C.S. 151542 Pa.C.S. 1123
Judges and magistrates

Common Pleas judges win a contested election for a 10-year term, then run in yes-or-no retention elections without party labels. Magisterial district judges are elected in contested elections to six-year terms and need not be lawyers. All other judges must be members of the bar.

Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, How Judges Are Elected

Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. The prison board statute covers counties of the third to fifth class and those that opt in; Philadelphia and Allegheny run jails under other arrangements not read here.

What this county does differently

Pretrial practice

Mapping Pretrial Injustice listed its risk tool in 2021 as a county-specific tool (not named in the list).

MediaJustice and Movement Alliance Project, Mapping Pretrial Injustice county map (data as of fall 2021)

From Mapping Pretrial Injustice, a map compiled by MediaJustice and the Movement Alliance Project, advocacy groups that campaign against pretrial risk assessment tools. Its data is from fall 2021; CrimeDB uses it only where no court, government, or research list covers the county.

Cities and towns

Every city, village, town, and township with any of its land in Washington County, largest first. Population, the whole place's: Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024.

Police agencies

Agencies: FBI NIBRS master file 2025 batch headers; names from the FBI agency list, pulled 2026-09-29. An agency that serves several counties appears on each. Population served is the FBI's figure.

Crime

The crime index

Crime index offenses reported by agencies in Washington County, 2021 to 2025
Offense20212022202320242025Per 100kPennsylvania
Violent crime9472608696124270
Murder6243Too few for a rate: the count is under 20.6.8
Rape24222222233431
Robbery5451038.261
Aggravated assault594433506777170
Property crime3003883794242985431,445
Burglary536473653889133
Larceny2172832663172384011,108
Motor vehicle theft304140422253204
Arson1194551012

Outside the crime index

Offenses outside the crime index reported by agencies in Washington County, 2021 to 2025
Offense20212022202320242025Per 100kPennsylvania
All offenses outside the crime index1,4411,3211,3851,2701,3572,0562,703
Simple assault and intimidation357411467493523683897
Vandalism167189186135157253580
Fraud288195163103143271415
Drug abuse violations445360378414410609475
Weapons: carrying, possessing, etc.646267544890158
Stolen property: buying, receiving, possessing9122710142227
Forgery and counterfeiting1316173121931
Embezzlement9108961316
Sex offenses (except rape and prostitution)51322723164551
Prostitution and commercialized vice121Too few for a rate: the count is under 20.4.9
Gambling1621Too few for a rate: the count is under 20.1.8
Other Group A offenses22314226274544
Manslaughter by negligence (not in the total)123Too few for a rate: the count is under 20.1.2

Offenses agencies in Washington County reported to the FBI in incident detail (NIBRS), each year, the second table by the arrest class each offense falls in. Per 100k: offenses per 100,000 people the reporting agencies police, 2021 to 2025 added together, beside Pennsylvania's rate over the same years. Agencies that reported part of a year are counted with their people, as the state's rates count them. – means too few for a rate: the count is under 20.

Source: FBI NIBRS national master files, each agency's offenses and the FBI's population for it. Pennsylvania: the crime index: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, CrimeDB's chosen value per year (the state page's figures); outside it: FBI NIBRS, agencies that sent incident detail.