Philadelphia County Clerk of Courts
In Philadelphia County, the criminal Clerk of Courts function sits within the Office of Judicial Records rather than a stand-alone county clerk office. It is distinct from the Prothonotary / Office of Judicial Records - Civil, which handles civil, judgment, family, and divorce filings. The criminal clerk function is tied to Common Pleas criminal records and Philadelphia Municipal Court criminal records, including public docket sheets, criminal case events, and official copy requests for criminal court files.
The most important local detail is Philadelphia's two-court criminal path. The Philadelphia Municipal Court processes every criminal arrest at the initial stage, conducts misdemeanor trials, and holds preliminary hearings for felony cases. Felony cases that are held for court then move to the Court of Common Pleas for arraignment, motions, plea, trial, disposition, and sentencing. The same incident may therefore show both an MC docket number and a CP docket number.
Office of Judicial Records - Criminal
Function: Clerk of Courts criminal records
Justice Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice
1301 Filbert Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Use docket data from UJS before requesting official copies.
Criminal Court Location
Common Pleas criminal judges and courtrooms
Justice Juanita Kidd Stout Center
1301 Filbert Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Public docket search: UJS Case Search
Philadelphia County Criminal Docket Search
The main public search path for Philadelphia County criminal clerk records is UJS Case Search. The Pennsylvania courts public records page states that UJS includes appellate case information, Common Pleas criminal case information, and magisterial district case information. In Philadelphia, the portal also covers applicable Philadelphia Municipal Court and Court of Common Pleas cases when the user searches by other criteria.
UJS docket sheets are public case summaries, not full criminal-history reports. They can show the docket number, court type, county, caption, filing or initiation date, case status, processing status, complaint number, OTN, judge, cross-court docket number, charges, pleas, dispositions, sentences, warrants, and docket entries where public. The cross-court docket number is especially important in Philadelphia County because it links the Municipal Court record to the Common Pleas record when a felony case moves forward.
| Field | Type | Philadelphia Use |
|---|---|---|
| Search by | Radio or tab | Docket number, participant name, OTN, complaint number, police incident number, organization, or date filed. |
| Court Type | Dropdown | Select Common Pleas or Philadelphia Municipal Court when the case level is known. |
| County | Dropdown | Select Philadelphia for a county-limited search. |
| Docket Number | Text | Use CP or MC docket format when known. |
| Participant Name | Text | Use last name and first name for public name searches. |
| OTN | Text | Searches by Pennsylvania offense tracking number. |
| Date Filed Range | Date | Narrows broad name searches or common names. |
Certified Criminal Clerk Copies
A certified criminal court copy is different from a public web docket sheet. The docket sheet can identify the case, charges, court events, and disposition, but an employer, licensing agency, immigration filing, pardon packet, expungement filing, or appellate record may require a certified court document. Philadelphia County criminal copy requests should start with the docket number and should include both MC and CP numbers if the case appears in both courts.
When the record is tied to a felony, search Municipal Court first if the arrest was recent or if only the preliminary hearing record is visible. Then search Common Pleas for the case that followed. If the UJS docket sheet shows a cross-court docket number, include it in the request. That prevents a copy request from returning only the preliminary docket when the final disposition or sentencing order is on the Common Pleas docket.
- Search UJS by name, docket number, OTN, complaint number, or police incident number.
- Open each Philadelphia Municipal Court and Common Pleas result for the same incident. Compare the cross-court docket number.
- Identify the exact record needed, such as a docket sheet, sentencing order, disposition, bail order, or certified case record.
- Contact the criminal clerk channel through the Office of Judicial Records with the docket number, party name, date, document type, and copy type.
- Ask for the current certification fee, copy fee, payment method, and pickup or mail options before sending payment.
Criminal Request Field Inventory
The research identifies UJS fields and criminal docket fields rather than one universal Philadelphia criminal copy form. A complete request should mirror the information used by UJS and by the criminal clerk. That means the requester should give enough data to find the right docket and enough detail to produce the correct document.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CP or MC docket number | Strongly recommended | Use both if a felony moved from Municipal Court to Common Pleas. |
| Defendant name | Yes | Use full legal name and any known prior name. |
| OTN or complaint number | Recommended | Helps connect arrests, charges, and court dockets. |
| Document requested | Yes | Docket sheet, disposition, sentencing order, certified copy, or other specific record. |
| Copy type | Yes | Plain or certified. Ask if exemplified authentication is available or needed. |
| Case date or offense date | Optional | Useful when a name search returns many records. |
| Requester contact and delivery | Yes | Phone, email, mailing address, pickup preference, and payment contact. |
Philadelphia Criminal Clerk Fees
The research file located detailed Office of Judicial Records fees for certifications, exemplifications, name searches, docket reports, photocopies, and electronic records. Those are civil/family fee schedule items, but they are the best researched local benchmark for official clerk copy costs. Criminal requesters should verify the current criminal clerk total before payment because the final amount can depend on document type, page count, certification, and whether the request is handled at the counter or through another records channel.
| Item | Located Amount | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Certification or certificate | $41.58 | Official clerk authentication when required. |
| Exemplification | $83.16 | Higher authenticated copy, if accepted for the record type. |
| Name search | $58.52 | Search fee located in Office of Judicial Records schedule. |
| Non-party docket report | $5.50 | Docket report item from the researched fee table. |
| Photocopy of records | $0.25 per page | Per-page copy benchmark. |
| Electronic records | $0.25 per page | Electronic copy benchmark. |
Note: The criminal clerk should confirm the final fee because the research did not locate a separate criminal-only public fee schedule.
Criminal Clerk Record Limits
Philadelphia County criminal docket sheets are not Pennsylvania State Police criminal-history reports. The research cites 18 Pa.C.S. Section 9121 for criminal history dissemination and explains why a docket sheet does not replace a background check. Public UJS docket sheets may also omit confidential, sealed, expunged, newly filed, or restricted data. Juvenile matters, abuse-victim data, personal identifiers, sealed filings, and expunged records are not treated as ordinary public records.
Expungement and sealing create another boundary. Under 18 Pa.C.S. Section 9122, eligible Philadelphia criminal records may be expunged after a court order. Limited access or sealing can restrict public view without destroying every agency record. A requester checking completion should use court orders, docket updates, and official state channels rather than a private background-check result.
The split clerk structure matters here. Use the criminal Clerk of Courts function for criminal case files, charges, pleas, dispositions, and sentencing records. Use the Prothonotary for civil, family, divorce, and judgment records. Use Orphans' Court for probate, guardianship, trust, and estate files.