Pennsylvania Senate Bill SB916

Pennsylvania 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 7/31/25
• Refer: 7/31/25

Caption

In burglary and other criminal intrusion, further providing for the offense of burglary; and, in juvenile matters, further providing for definitions.

Summary

SB 916 would amend Pennsylvania’s burglary statute and juvenile definitions in the Judicial Code. On the burglary side, it would make burglary a first-degree felony when the intruder’s intent is to steal a firearm or ammunition. It also directs the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing to create sentencing enhancements for burglary cases in which a domestic animal is harmed or killed, or where a later crime is committed using a firearm or ammunition stolen during the burglary. The bill also revises the juvenile code’s definition of “child” and “delinquent act.” It would clarify that certain youth under age 21 can remain under juvenile court jurisdiction in dependency cases if they are pursuing education, career or technical training, employment, employment-readiness programming, or are unable to do so because of a medical or behavioral health condition. It also narrows and reorganizes the list of offenses excluded from the definition of delinquent act, including serious violent offenses committed by youth age 15 or older with a deadly weapon, and related repeat-offense provisions.

Impact

SB 916 would change Title 18 by increasing the severity of burglary involving theft of firearms or ammunition and by creating new sentencing-enhancement considerations tied to animal harm and downstream firearm misuse. It would also amend Title 42 juvenile law by updating who may remain a “child” under court jurisdiction and by refining which offenses are treated as delinquent acts, affecting juvenile court eligibility, jurisdiction, and disposition rules for certain older youth and serious offenses.

Sentiment

No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or formal support/opposition in the available materials. Based on the bill text, the measure appears to reflect a public-safety-oriented approach focused on firearm theft, burglary deterrence, and juvenile justice clarification, which may appeal to law-enforcement and victim-protection interests while raising policy questions about sentencing severity and juvenile system boundaries.

Contention

The main points of potential contention are the tougher burglary penalties and sentencing enhancements, especially the first-degree felony treatment for firearm or ammunition theft and the added enhancement when a domestic animal is harmed or when stolen guns are later used in another crime. In the juvenile provisions, possible debate centers on the scope of offenses excluded from juvenile treatment for 15-year-olds using deadly weapons, as well as the expanded age-21 dependency jurisdiction for youth in education, work, or treatment-related circumstances. No specific stakeholders were identified in the record, but the likely lines of disagreement would be between public-safety advocates favoring stricter penalties and juvenile-justice advocates concerned about over-criminalization or reduced rehabilitative discretion.