TITLE 1: GOVERNMENT
DIVISION 1: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
§ 1306. Contempt. (a) A person shall be in contempt if the person: (1) Fails or refuses to appear in compliance with a subpoena or, having appeared, fails or refuses to testify under oath or affirmation; (2) Fails or refuses to answer any relevant question or fails or refuses to furnish any relevant book, paper, or other document subpoenaed by or on behalf of an investigating committee; or (3) Exhibits disrespect of an investigating committee by unlawfully, knowingly, and wilfully interfering directly with the operation and function of the committee by open defiance of an order in or near the meeting place of the committee, by disturbing the peace in or near the meeting place, by interfering with an officer of the committee in the lawful performance of his or her official duties, or by unlawfully detaining or threatening any witness of the committee because of that person’s duty as a witness. (b) An investigating committee may, by majority vote of all its members, report to the legislative house by which it was established any instance of alleged contempt. The president or speaker shall certify a statement of the contempt under his or her signature as president or speaker, as the case may be, to the Attorney General who shall prosecute the offender in the Commonwealth Trial Court. If the legislature is not in session, a statement of the alleged contempt shall be certified by the chairman or acting chairman of the committee concerned, under his or her signature, to the Attorney General who shall prosecute the offender as aforesaid. An instance of alleged contempt shall be considered as though committed in or against the particular house or the legislature itself. Source: See 2 TTC § 274, modified. Commission Comment: Section 4 of PL 6-25, the “Commonwealth Judicial Reorganization Act of 1989,” provides that “[w]herever the term ‘Commonwealth Trial Court’ appears in the Commonwealth Code, it is henceforth to be interpreted and understood to refer to the Commonwealth Superior Court.”