Commonwealth ex rel. Ransom Township v. Mascheska

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Roberts,

On November 19, 1965, a summons was issued through a justice of the peace in the Township of Ransom charging appellant Mascheska with a violation of one of the township’s zoning ordinances. A fine of $25 was assessed. Since a suit instituted by a municipality for a violation of one of its ordinances is a suit for a collection of a penalty and thus civil in nature, an appeal from the justice of the peace’s action was properly taken to the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas. See Commonwealth v. Ashenfelder, 413 Pa. 517, 198 A. 2d 514 (1964); York v. Baynes,…