Pennsylvania Statutes Title 50 P.S. Mental Health § 4425. Escapes

(a) Whenever any committed person who may be dangerous to the safety of the public or himself escapes from a facility, it shall be the duty of the director to promptly notify the local, county and State law enforcement officers.

(b) Upon receipt of such notice, it shall be the duty of the local, county and State law enforcement officers to direct an officer to apprehend the escapee.

(c) Any patient who escapes from an institution may be apprehended and returned thereto by any sheriff, constable or police officer, or by any officer or employe of the facility.

(d) Any person being charged with crime who is detained in a facility under order of court pursuant to section 407,  1 or commitment pursuant to sections 408 or 410  2 who escapes from such facility or otherwise departs therefrom in violation of the commitment or any order of court relating to such detention is guilty of prison breach and upon conviction thereof shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or undergo imprisonment not exceeding two years or both.

(e) Any person who has been sentenced for crime who is detained in a facility pursuant to sections 411 or 412  3 who escapes from such facility is guilty of prison breach and upon conviction thereof shall be sentenced in accordance with section 309 of the act of June 24, 1939 (P.L. 872),  4 known as “The Penal Code.”