1. (a) Venue in actions for claims against a Commonwealth party as defined in 42 Pa.C.S. § 8501 (relating to definitions) shall be in the county in which one of the following exists:

   1. (1) The cause of action arose.
   2. (2) A transaction or occurrence took place out of which the cause of action arose.
   3. (3) The principal office of the Commonwealth party is located.
   4. (4) The local office of the Commonwealth party is located.
2. (b) The principal offices of Commonwealth parties are the same as those offices designated in § 111.1(b) and (c) (relating to service of process).
3. (c) For purposes of subsection (a)(4), the local office of the Commonwealth party is the local office located in that county where the cause of action arose or where a transaction or occurrence took place out of which the cause of action arose.
4. (d) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to change or alter the judicial discretion granted under 42 Pa.C.S. § 8523 (relating to venue and process) which permits a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County to transfer an action to an appropriate county where venue would otherwise lie, if venue is obtained in the Twelfth Judicial District (Dauphin County) solely because the principal office of a Commonwealth party is located there.

Notes of Decisions

Local Office

For purposes of determining venue within which the Commonwealth may be subject to suit, a ‘‘local office’’ was defined so as to restrict venue to the county where the cause of action arose, not simply any county within which the Commonwealth had an office. Bogetti v. Department of Transportation, 601 A.2d 421 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1991).

Third-Party Proceedings

Section 8523 of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 8523, which required actions against a Commonwealth party be brought in and only in a county in which the principal or local office of the party was located, was not applicable to third-party proceedings in which the Commonwealth was joined as a defendant by the original defendants against whom the action was brought. Chen v. Philadelphia Elec. Co., 661 A.2d 25 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1995); appeal dismissed 680 A.2d 1156 (Pa. 1996); overruled, Ribnicky v. Yerex, 701 A.2d 1348 (Pa. 1997).

Cross References

This section cited in 37 Pa. Code § 111.1 (relating to service of process).