The role of the constable in any particular area in Pennsylvania depended largely on the form of municipal government in that particular area. In the township or ward, the constable's duties were established and uniform from one township or ward to the next. Constables in townships and wards were chosen annually, and on the same day as the selection of other local officers. The names of the men chosen to be constable by the electorate were then submitted to their governing court of Quarter Sessions. The man chosen by the local electorate was then sent to the Court of Quarter Sessions where his eligibility was determined by the Judge of that court.
Among other things, the candidate had to have a freeshold estate of the value of at least $1,000. Those candidates chosen for the office in the township or ward were required by law to make an appearance before the Court of Quarter Sessions in order to accept the office and wait for Judge's determination eligibility. If the man selected did not attend the court at the prescribed time, he was fined forty dollars. If he declined to serve after election he was penalized sixteen dollars.
Constables of towns, wards or townships were cloaked with the duties of local peacekeeper. They were required to maintain the peace, execute all warrants directed to them by the local justice and to assure that no unruly crowds were allowed to gather. If while in office any constable refused to perform his duties heavy fines were provided for in law.
While the office of constable was fairly uniform within towns, townships, and wards, the duties of the constable were not uniformly established in the borough system in the colony of Pennsylvania. In the Borough of Bristol, established in the early eighteenth century, the constable aside from all his peace-keeping duties was also clerk of the market, and in addition, regulated the sale of bread, wine, beer, and wood. In Lancaster and Carlisle boroughs the constable along with the burgess and their assistants were permitted to convene town meetings, to pass local ordinances and levy fines.
By 1830 with the establishment of police forces in many of the larger municipalities in Pennsylvania the duties and powers of the constables began to erode, out of disuse (not by statue), in many of the larger cities.
By 1873 constables were given uniform powers throughout the state.
The newly passed revision of the Pennsylvania's constitution called for a regularization of all laws dealing with borough government. Constables of the boroughs of Pennsylvania were now given uniform authority to make arrests on view as their counterparts in towns, townships and wards were allowed to do.