Philadelphia Common Pleas Court
Pennsylvania's Courts of Common Pleas are the general jurisdiction trial courts. Philadelphia County is the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, and its county court system is unusual because it contains two courts: the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and Philadelphia Municipal Court. Common Pleas handles major civil cases, felony criminal cases after preliminary proceedings, family matters, and Orphans' Court matters. Municipal Court handles many lower-court functions that magisterial district courts handle elsewhere in Pennsylvania.
The court's work is spread across several Philadelphia buildings. City Hall houses civil and Orphans' Court functions, the Office of Judicial Records - Civil, and many chambers. The Justice Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice is the criminal court hub. Family Court is at 1501 Arch Street. Traffic Division filings and public inspection are at 800 Spring Garden Street, but that division belongs to Municipal Court rather than Common Pleas.
Philadelphia Court Division Table
The table below follows the First Judicial District structure found in the research file. It separates Common Pleas divisions from Municipal Court and from state appellate courts because each level produces different records and uses different search channels.
| Court or Division | Address | Contact | Records and Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common Pleas Civil Trial Division | City Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19107 | Civil Admin 215-686-8326; OJRCivil 215-686-6652 | Civil cases, judgments, filings, court listings, and civil docket reports. |
| Common Pleas Criminal Trial Division | Justice Juanita Kidd Stout Center, 1301 Filbert Street | First Judicial District criminal contacts | Felonies, CP criminal docket sheets, pleas, dispositions, sentencing, and appeals. |
| Common Pleas Family Division | Family Court Building, 1501 Arch Street | FJD family contacts | Divorce, custody, support, dependency, juvenile, and related family matters with access limits. |
| Common Pleas Orphans' Court Division | City Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19107 | Register 215-686-6255; clerk 215-686-6250 | Estates, wills, guardianships, trusts, Orphans' Court dockets, and probate records. |
| Philadelphia Municipal Court | City Hall and related court facilities | President Judge T. Francis Shields listed at 640 City Hall, 215-686-4175 | Initial criminal processing, misdemeanor trials, felony preliminary hearings, landlord-tenant, small civil, and code cases. |
| Municipal Court Traffic Division | 800 Spring Garden Street | Traffic citation systems and counter | Moving violation citations. Parking and camera tickets go to the Philadelphia Parking Authority. |
| Superior Court of Pennsylvania | State appellate court | pacourts.us | Most criminal and civil appeals from Common Pleas. |
| Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania | State appellate court | pacourts.us | Government and agency-related appellate categories. |
| Supreme Court of Pennsylvania | State court of last resort | pacourts.us | Discretionary and selected mandatory final review. |
Common Pleas vs Municipal Court
Philadelphia's lower-court structure differs from most Pennsylvania counties. Statewide, magisterial district courts handle many local civil, criminal, traffic, and landlord-tenant functions. Philadelphia uses Municipal Court for most of those local lower-court functions. The distinction affects record searches because a criminal incident or civil dispute may start in Municipal Court and later connect to Common Pleas.
| Question | Court of Common Pleas | Philadelphia Municipal Court | Traffic Division |
|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal role | Felony adjudication after preliminary proceedings, pleas, trials, sentencing, and appeals. | Initial processing for every criminal arrest, misdemeanor trials, and felony preliminary hearings. | Moving violation citations, pleas, hearings, fines, and appeals to Common Pleas. |
| Civil role | Major civil cases, judgments, filings, and civil docket reports. | Landlord-tenant, small civil, and code enforcement matters. | Not a general civil court. |
| Search path | Civil docket access for civil; UJS for criminal CP dockets. | UJS for public MC docket sheets and lower-court criminal/civil data. | PAePay and the Traffic Division hearing list. |
| Copy path | Office of Judicial Records, Register of Wills for Orphans' Court, or division-specific counter. | Municipal Court records channels or UJS docket data for starting detail. | Traffic Division counter at 800 Spring Garden Street for public inspection and copies. |
Philadelphia County Case Flow
Criminal case flow is the place where Philadelphia County's court structure matters most. Police arrests and complaints begin in Municipal Court processing. The District Attorney's charging work and related prosecution units manage formal charging decisions. Misdemeanor trials may remain in Municipal Court. Felony cases move forward after preliminary hearing activity and then proceed in Common Pleas for the main trial-court record.
Criminal flow: Arrest or complaint › Municipal Court processing › preliminary arraignment or hearing › held for court if felony charges move forward › Common Pleas information and arraignment › motions and hearings › plea or trial › disposition and sentence › appeal.
Civil flow: Civil complaint or petition filed › service and answer › motions › discovery or conference › hearing or trial › order or judgment › post-judgment filings › appeal when available.
Traffic flow: Moving citation › guilty or not-guilty plea within the required window › payment or hearing › judgment › payment plan if needed › written appeal to Common Pleas within the allowed period.
Common Pleas Record Search
For civil Common Pleas records, use Philadelphia Civil Docket Access. It offers person and company search, judgment search, civil docket reports by Case ID, and court listings. The civil portal is the right starting point for major civil cases, judgments, civil case status, court listings, and document purchase where available. Official copies, certifications, exemplifications, name searches, and non-party docket reports go through the Office of Judicial Records - Civil.
For criminal Common Pleas records, use UJS Case Search. A Philadelphia County search can return Philadelphia Municipal Court and Common Pleas cases. The cross-court docket number field is important because a felony incident may have both an MC docket and a CP docket. Use that link before requesting a certified disposition or sentence, or the request may miss the final Common Pleas record.
The statewide Common Pleas judge directory lists President Judge Nina N. Wright Padilla at 360 City Hall, phone 215-686-7038. It also lists Administrative Judge - Orphans' Court Division Sheila A. Woods-Skipper at 519 City Hall, phone 215-686-7910. Multiple Common Pleas criminal judges are listed at the Stout Center, which confirms the separate criminal court location for many trial-level events.
Appeals and Separate Federal Courts
Appeals from Philadelphia trial courts generally go to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania for most criminal and civil matters, or to the Commonwealth Court for government-related categories. Review by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania may be available by right in limited categories or by discretionary review. These appellate courts are state courts, not federal courts, and they are separate from the Philadelphia County trial courts.
The manifest includes federal and appellate screenshots under the district-court source group. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit are separate federal courts. Their records are searched through federal systems such as PACER or other federal docket tools, not the Philadelphia Office of Judicial Records.
The U.S. District Court source page is separate from Philadelphia County Common Pleas records.
Use the federal court only when the case is actually filed in federal court.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court source page is another separate federal record channel.
Bankruptcy filings can affect state civil collections, but they are not Common Pleas case files.
The Third Circuit source page is relevant for federal appeals, not state Common Pleas appeals.
State appeals from Common Pleas usually follow Pennsylvania appellate channels.
The PACER source page identifies the federal account system for docket access.
PACER is not a substitute for Philadelphia County civil or criminal docket searches.
CourtListener is a federal and broader public docket research tool, not the county trial clerk.
Check the filing court before using any docket database.