How to Fill Out and File a Private Criminal Complaint Form

To file a private criminal complaint in Pennsylvania, fill out Form AOPC 411A with the facts of the alleged crime and the statutes you say were violated, sign it under penalty of unsworn falsification, and bring it with a $25 filing fee to the magisterial district court covering the location where the offense happened. For misdemeanor and felony charges, the district attorney must approve the complaint before anything else happens; summary offenses go straight to the judge.

Get the Form

The form is AOPC 411A. You can download it in PDF or Word from the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania’s public forms page at pacourts.us,¹ or pick up a paper copy at any magisterial district court or your county district attorney’s office.² The content and format cannot be modified. One jurisdictional note before you start: this form cannot be filed in the Philadelphia Municipal Court. It is accepted only at magisterial district courts statewide.

What To Put on the Form

Identifying Information

At the top, enter your full legal name, address, and phone number. You are the complainant, also called the affiant, and the same rules that apply to a police officer filing charges apply to you.² Below your information, write the defendant’s full name and last known address. You must also identify the political subdivision (city, borough, or township) and the county where the alleged crime occurred.³

Charges and Statute Citations

Check the box indicating whether the charges are summary offenses or court-case offenses (misdemeanors and felonies). Then list the specific offenses. For summary offenses, cite the exact section and subsection of the statute or local ordinance the defendant allegedly violated. A bare statute number with no description of what happened is not enough.³ If you are unsure which statutes fit, Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes (the Crimes Code) is the main reference, and a lawyer can help you avoid a rejection for vague or incorrect charges.

The Probable Cause Statement

Section 2 is where most complaints succeed or fail. Write a factual narrative that gives the defendant fair notice of what they are accused of doing. Include the date, approximate time, and exact location, then describe what happened in order. Tie the defendant’s specific actions to each offense you listed.

Stick to what you personally witnessed or can document. “The defendant has been harassing me for months,” without concrete incidents, is weak. Stronger: “On March 14, 2026, at approximately 7:30 p.m., the defendant came to my front porch at [address] and threatened to break my car windows.” The standard you need to meet is probable cause: enough facts to show that a crime likely occurred and the defendant likely committed it.²

The form itself has no field or instructions for attaching evidence like photos, text messages, or witness statements.³ Still, many district courts and DA’s offices accept supporting documentation alongside the form. Bring copies when you file, and reference the evidence inside your narrative (“security camera footage from [business name] shows the defendant entering the property at 2:14 a.m.”) so the reviewer knows it exists.

Signing Under Penalty

You sign under a printed notice that false statements are punishable under 18 Pa.C.S. § 4904, Pennsylvania’s unsworn falsification statute. Filing a complaint you know contains false statements is a misdemeanor carrying a mandatory minimum fine of $1,000.⁴

Where To File and What It Costs

Take the completed form to the magisterial district court that covers the location where the alleged crime happened, not where you live or where the defendant lives.⁵ If you are unsure which court has jurisdiction, your county court website or the clerk of courts can direct you. Filing requires an in-person visit to the clerk’s office.

The filing fee is $25 under the magisterial district judge cost table published by the AOPC.⁶ If you cannot afford the fee, Pennsylvania courts have a petition to proceed in forma pauperis (as a person unable to pay costs); ask the clerk for it when you file.

What Happens After You File

What comes next depends on the type of charges.

Summary offenses go directly to the magisterial district judge. If the judge finds probable cause, the court issues a citation or summons to the defendant.⁷
Court cases (misdemeanors and felonies) must be forwarded to the district attorney for approval before any process issues. This is the Rule 506 review.⁸

Under Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 506, the district attorney must approve or disapprove a private complaint without unreasonable delay. The prosecutor reviews whether the facts you described actually constitute a crime and whether pursuing the case serves the interests of justice. If approved, the DA notes approval on the form and sends it to the magisterial district judge, who issues a summons or, in some cases, an arrest warrant. If disapproved, the DA must write the reasons for the disapproval on the complaint and return it to you.⁸

Common grounds for disapproval include insufficient evidence of probable cause, charges that don’t match the facts described, and civil disputes dressed up as criminal complaints. Using the process to collect a debt or settle a personal grudge is a frequent reason prosecutors refuse to move forward.

If the District Attorney Disapproves

Rule 506 gives you the right to petition the Court of Common Pleas in the same county for judicial review of the disapproval.⁸ Pennsylvania case law gives prosecutors a presumption of good faith when they exercise discretion, so overcoming a disapproval is difficult. You generally need to show the decision was arbitrary or fundamentally unreasonable, not just that you disagree with it. If the court finds the disapproval unjustified, it can overrule the DA and let the complaint proceed. The legal arguments are more technical than the complaint itself, so an attorney is worth the cost at this stage.

Deadlines To Watch

Your complaint must be filed within the applicable statute of limitations or the charges cannot go forward. Under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5552, the general rule is that prosecution for most offenses must begin within two years. Certain serious felonies, including aggravated assault, burglary, robbery, arson, kidnapping, theft offenses, forgery, and insurance fraud, carry a five-year limitations period.⁹ Murder has no statute of limitations. Summary offenses generally must be filed within 30 days of the incident, which closes fast.

If you are near a deadline, file now. A timely complaint can be strengthened later with additional evidence; a complaint filed one day past the limitations period is dead on arrival regardless of how strong the evidence is.

Your Role After Filing

Filing does not end your obligations. You must appear at every court proceeding that results from the complaint, and you are responsible for giving the court the names and addresses of any witnesses you want called on your behalf.¹⁰ For court-case charges, the next step after a summons is a preliminary hearing before the magisterial district judge, where the prosecution must show enough evidence to establish a reasonable inference that the defendant committed the crime charged.

1
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. For the Public – Forms
2
Monroe County Office of the District Attorney. Private Criminal Complaints
3
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Private Criminal Complaint Form
4
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 18 – Section 4904 – Unsworn Falsification to Authorities
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York County District Attorney’s Office. Private Criminal Complaints
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Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Magisterial District Judge Cost Table
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Wayne County, PA. Private Criminal Complaints
8
Pennsylvania Code. 234 Pa. Code Rule 506 – Approval of Private Complaints
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Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 42 – Section 5552 – Other Offenses
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Lancaster County, PA. Private Criminal Complaints