Pretrial Screening Unit

The Pretrial Screening Unit of the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office creates the information which is the final document that sets out the charges filed against a defendant in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.

The Assistant District Attorneys assigned to the Pretrial Screening Unit review the police reports and any laboratory reports to determine whether the facts included in those reports support the charges contained in the information. The information is filed with the Department of Court Records and provided to the defendant at the formal arraignment.