House arrest and electronic monitoring in Pennsylvania are means of supervision that the court can use instead of having a defendant or offender go to jail or prison. House arrest, for example, would often be used post-trial, meaning that the defendant has already been found guilty or convicted of the crime. The house arrest would be used, say, either as an alternative to jail or prison or in addition to a jail or prison sentence, depending on the nature of the case. It can also be used pretrial in the sense of the offender or defendant being able to remain at home while the case proceeds forward before a person, say were to be convicted or found guilty.
If the case were to reach that point, electronic monitoring is similar, where a person, for example, would wear an ankle monitor, so that their whereabouts would be tracked by the appropriate authority. Often, say the probation department, for example, who would monitor electronic monitoring. Again, it would be, say in lieu of a jail or prison sentence, or possibly say pretrial to know where a defendant would be.
House arrest can also come with, say work release where a defendant can go to work. Having an experienced Pennsylvania criminal defense attorney can help you understand what the options may be regarding house arrest and electronic monitoring. They should be involved from as early as possible in your case.
