UJS Susquehanna County Court Records Search
The main statewide starting point is Pennsylvania UJS Case Search. It searches public docket information for appellate courts, Courts of Common Pleas, and Magisterial District Courts. In Susquehanna County, that means Common Pleas civil and criminal dockets may appear alongside MDJ traffic, summary, landlord-tenant, small civil, and preliminary criminal matters. UJS is free, but it is a docket search. It does not replace a certified file from the Prothonotary or Clerk of Courts.
Use a narrow search when possible. A docket number, citation number, OTN, complaint number, or date range can cut down statewide matches. If only a name is known, set County to Susquehanna or Judicial District to Susquehanna - 34. For MDJ matters, the court office may be 34-3-01 in Montrose, 34-3-02 in New Milford, or 34-3-03 in Clifford, depending on where the citation, complaint, or preliminary hearing was filed.
The Pennsylvania judiciary describes its public record access through the public records page, including online access and request channels.
That state-level access point helps explain why a Susquehanna County court records lookup may use both UJS and a local courthouse office.
- Open UJS Case Search and choose the search mode that best matches the known fact, such as Participant Name, Docket Number, Citation Number, Complaint Number, Incident Number, OTN, or Organization.
- Enter the known value, then use Advanced Search if more filters are needed.
- Set County to Susquehanna or Judicial District to Susquehanna - 34 to avoid statewide results that share the same name.
- For MDJ cases, choose the Susquehanna County magisterial court office if the citation or complaint identifies it.
- Open the docket sheet and read it as a public summary. Request copies or certified records from the correct local clerk when the docket is not enough.
Susquehanna County Court Records Search Fields
UJS exposes more search paths than a simple name box. That matters in Susquehanna County because the same person may have a Common Pleas criminal docket, a civil judgment, a traffic citation at an MDJ office, or an appellate entry. The fields below are the useful public-facing options captured in the research.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search By | selector | yes | Includes Appellate, Attorney, Calendar Event, Citation Number, Complaint Number, Date Filed, Docket Number, Incident Number, Organization, OTN, Participant Name, SID, and more. |
| Docket Number | text | conditional | Best for an exact Common Pleas, appellate, or MDJ docket. |
| Citation Number | text | conditional | Useful for traffic and summary matters that began by citation. |
| OTN | text | optional | Offense tracking number used in Pennsylvania criminal case records. |
| Date Filed Start / End | date | optional | Narrows results by filing period. |
| County | dropdown | optional | Select Susquehanna to limit statewide results. |
| Judicial District | dropdown | optional | Select Susquehanna - 34 for the local judicial district. |
| Participant Role | dropdown | optional | Roles include defendant, petitioner, respondent, prosecution, surety, decedent, juvenile, attorney, and others. |
Civil and Criminal Susquehanna County Court Records
Civil court records in Susquehanna County are maintained by the Prothonotary. The office handles lawsuits, judgments, municipal liens, state liens, federal liens, license suspension appeals, appeals to higher courts, arbitration-board appointments, and civil filing revenue. Civil searches can begin with UJS, but civil document purchasing, e-filing, and some local civil access use CountySuite Civil Portal, which requires login or registration before case search access.
The CountySuite portal is the county-specific civil system rather than the statewide docket sheet. It is tied to the Susquehanna County Prothonotary and gives users access to civil court cases, document purchase, and e-filing tools after account setup.
The UJS Case Records Public Access Policy is the source for the online access limits shown in the public case-record screenshot.
The public-access policy source is important because it explains why some Susquehanna County court records appear online while documents or confidential data stay limited.
Criminal court records are maintained by the Clerk of Courts. That office keeps criminal, juvenile, miscellaneous, administrative, subpoena, bench warrant, bail, appeal, fine, cost, restitution, and expungement filings. For a written county criminal search, the Clerk of Courts requires name, date of birth, Social Security number, and a $15 per-name fee by check payable to Clerk of Courts. Mail requests go to Susquehanna County Clerk Of Courts, Attn: Criminal Search, PO Box 218, Montrose, PA 18801. UJS case information is available from 1996 forward.
- Civil files: lawsuits, judgments, liens, license suspension appeals, PFA-related costs, and higher-court appeals through the Prothonotary.
- Criminal files: filed charges, subpoenas, bench warrants, bail, dispositions, fines, restitution, and expungement matters through the Clerk of Courts.
- Traffic and summary files: usually start in Magisterial District Court and can be searched by citation or docket number.
- Family and domestic files: include support docketing through Domestic Relations, while divorce files are civil records subject to limits.
- Probate and Orphans' Court matters: involve estates, guardianships, adoptions, and marriage-license records through the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court.
What Susquehanna County Court Records Show
A docket sheet is the public index and timeline for a case. A full file may include pleadings, motions, orders, notices, exhibits where public, and certified copy options. UJS warns that recent filings may not appear right away, so a clerk's counter request may be needed when timing matters. The same warning applies when using dockets for screening, employment, housing, licensing, or any purpose that requires a formal background check.
The UJS docket sheets page is a useful source for understanding the fields that appear in a public docket view.
For Susquehanna County court records, those docket fields show case progress, but not always every document in the file.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Docket number | The case identifier used by UJS, Common Pleas, an MDJ office, or an appellate court. |
| Court and county | The court level, Susquehanna County setting, and judicial district when shown. |
| Filing date and status | When the case opened and whether it is active, closed, decided, or otherwise resolved. |
| Parties and roles | Names and roles such as defendant, plaintiff, petitioner, respondent, prosecution, surety, attorney, or decedent. |
| Charge or case metadata | Citation number, complaint number, incident number, OTN, SID, statute, offense, or civil case type. |
| Docket entries | Filings, hearings, motions, notices, orders, continuances, dispositions, sentencing, appeals, judgments, and payments. |
| Financial entries | Fines, costs, restitution, bail, payment plans, and PAePay eligibility when public and approved for online payment. |
| Restrictions | Redactions, sealed items, limited access, juvenile limits, and confidential information removed from public view. |
Request Susquehanna County Court Records
Online dockets are only one access channel. For civil copies, contact the Prothonotary counter. For criminal copies or a county criminal name search, contact the Clerk of Courts. Both offices use the county courthouse address at 31 Lake Avenue, PO Box 218, Montrose, PA 18801, and the main courthouse phone is 570-278-4600. Civil records use extension 6641, criminal records use extension 6642, and collections use extension 6677. Public counter hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Written and mail requests should identify the record type, party name, docket number if known, date range, copy type, and return contact information. Criminal name searches have a specific local rule: include name, date of birth, Social Security number, and $15 per name, with checks payable to Clerk of Courts. For civil document access through CountySuite, registration is the practical route when the file is available through the portal.
Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts
31 Lake Avenue, PO Box 218
Montrose, PA 18801
570-278-4600
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Public Access to Susquehanna County Court Records
Pennsylvania court case access is governed first by the Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System. That policy controls remote access, public inspection, confidential information, and case-record limits. The Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law applies to many state and local agency records, but court case records often follow judicial access rules rather than ordinary agency records request rules.
The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records provides a plain-language overview of the Right-to-Know Law.
For court case files in Susquehanna County, that open-records framework must still be read with the judiciary's case-record access policy.
The 18 Pa.C.S. Section 9121 rule is important for criminal-history data because dissemination is controlled by the Criminal History Record Information Act. Formal criminal-history checks come from Pennsylvania State Police, not from a docket sheet. Expungement, limited access, and juvenile-record rules appear in 18 Pa.C.S. Sections 9122, 9122.1, 9122.2, and 9123.
The state statute text for the Right-to-Know Law is a key Pennsylvania source for public-record requests outside ordinary court docket access.
That distinction keeps Susquehanna County court records separate from county administrative records requested through Right-to-Know channels.
Note: Use UJS for public docket review, but confirm certified copies, sealed-file access, and criminal-history checks with the proper issuing office.
Restricted Susquehanna County Court Records
Some Susquehanna County court records are public only in part, or not public at all. The county FAQ says adoptions are sealed and may be opened only by court order. Military discharges are not open to the public, though they are available to the veteran for the veteran's own use. Juvenile files are maintained by the Clerk of Courts but are restricted by state law. Domestic and family matters may show docket summaries while personal data, support details, custody-sensitive material, or sealed documents remain limited.
Sealed, expunged, and limited-access criminal records need special care. A public docket may show a prior event before the case is sealed or updated, and a statewide criminal-history result may follow different rules from court docket access. In Susquehanna County, a person seeking expungement or limited access normally identifies the docket and disposition first, then files through the court that handled the case, often the Clerk of Courts for criminal matters. The Title 18 Chapter 91 provisions control eligibility and the effect of those orders.