Search Clearfield County Court Records

Search Clearfield County Court Records

Clearfield County court records split into two main public search routes. Civil Court of Common Pleas records are searched through the Clearfield County Civil Case Search, a CountySuite portal tied to the Prothonotary side of the Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts office. Criminal common pleas dockets, magisterial district court dockets, traffic citations, appellate matters, calendar events, complaint numbers, incident numbers, OTN searches, SID searches, and attorney searches use the Pennsylvania UJS Case Search.

The Prothonotary page says the same public civil information shown online is also available in the office through public terminals and by inspection of physical case files. That matters when a Clearfield County court records search gives a docket result but not the document image needed for filing, proof, or case review. For criminal and magisterial matters, UJS public docket sheets are the public route, while secure docket sheets and secure calendar schedules include additional content for authorized users.

1. Identify the record type first. Use the county civil search for civil common pleas filings and UJS for criminal, MDJ, traffic, appellate, and calendar records.
2. Search by the strongest identifier available, such as case number, docket number, citation number, OTN, complaint number, incident number, or participant name.
3. Filter by Clearfield County or Judicial District 46 when the statewide portal offers county and district filters.
4. Open the result and compare the case category, parties, filing date, court office, and status before relying on it.
5. Contact the Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts or the specific Magisterial District Court if a document, certified copy, or restricted item is not online.

The UJS Case Information page also points users to PAeDocket, a free mobile app for public case and docket searches by case number, participant name, organization name, offense tracking number, police incident or complaint number, or state ID number. PAeDocket is useful for mobile checks, but it does not replace the local clerk for certified copies.

Clearfield County Court Records Fields

CountySuite is the narrow but local civil search. It is useful for Clearfield County court records involving contracts, liens, judgments, custody, divorce, PFA categories, quiet title, torts, real property, and other civil filings. UJS is broader because it crosses court levels and supports more identifiers. The field set below reflects the local civil portal because it is the county-specific search screen that distinguishes Clearfield County from the statewide docket search.

The UJS Case Records Public Access Policy is the source shown in the manifest for public access rules in Pennsylvania. The captured policy page helps explain why some Clearfield County court records are visible online while confidential information remains restricted.

The policy source is important because public access is not the same as full remote access to every filed paper.

Types of Clearfield County Records

Clearfield County court records include more than one docket system. Civil common pleas records include contracts, torts, real property, professional liability, quiet title, liens, judgments, writs of execution, road dockets, district justice judgments, tax claims, civil appeals, custody, divorce, and PFA filings. Criminal common pleas records include charges, pleas, motions, sentencing, post-conviction relief, probation and parole violations, extradition, fugitive matters, expungements, limited access orders, and warrants when those matters are public.

Magisterial District Courts add another layer. Clearfield County has four MDJ offices serving DuBois, Clearfield, Kylertown, and Houtzdale. These offices handle traffic citations, non-traffic citations, landlord-tenant matters, small civil claims, summary offenses, preliminary arraignments, bail, warrants, and preliminary hearings. Probate and Orphans' Court files route through the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court, while state-level appeals and federal cases are outside the county search tools.

• Civil records: lawsuits, judgments, liens, divorce, custody, and PFA matters filed through the Prothonotary.
• Criminal records: court case files, charges, pleas, hearings, dispositions, sentences, and post-conviction items.
• Magisterial records: traffic, non-traffic, landlord-tenant, small civil, preliminary criminal, bail, and warrant events.
• Family records: divorce and custody categories, with access limits for sensitive information.
• Probate records: estates, wills, letters, guardianships, adoptions, and Orphans' Court proceedings.

What Clearfield Court Records Show

A public Clearfield County court records result usually gives enough information to identify the case, but it may not show every document. Civil CountySuite results are expected to show case number, case category, participant names and categories, opened date, status, judgment filters, and reference numbers when available. UJS criminal and MDJ dockets can show docket number, charges, offense tracking number, complaint number, incident number, citation number, police agency, disposition, sentence, bail, hearing events, costs, and fines when public.

Pennsylvania uses terms that can be easy to misread. A plaintiff brings a civil claim, a defendant responds or is accused, a petitioner asks for an order, and a respondent answers a petition. A disposition is the result of a charge or case. A docket is the dated list of court activity, not always the full document file.

Public Access to Clearfield Records

Clearfield County court records follow Pennsylvania court access rules. The public access policy generally treats case records as open, but remote access can be narrower than courthouse access. The county Prothonotary page states that online public civil information is also available through public terminals and physical case files in the office, except for items closed by law or court order. County administrative records follow Right-to-Know routing, but judicial case records follow court access policy and should be requested through the proper court custodian.

The local Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts office is tied to Suite 124 at 1 North Second Street, Clearfield, PA 16830. The office phone is 814-765-2641 ext. 5013, with alternate extension 5014. Public hours from the Pennsylvania judiciary and county pages are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Civil records can be searched online, at public terminals, or through the physical file route when the file is open to public inspection.

Restricted Clearfield County Records

Not all Clearfield County court records are public. The Prothonotary page excludes sealed cases, sealed documents by court order, juvenile records, and mental health records. The Register of Wills page says completed adoption files are closed to the general public, and only a judge can open one after completion. Public access policy also protects confidential personal information, so filers use confidential information and confidential document forms rather than placing protected identifiers into public pleadings.

The Pennsylvania expungement statute governs eligible criminal history expungement, while limited access petitions can shield qualifying records from most public dissemination. Expungement, limited access, and sealing are different. Expungement can remove eligible records, limited access restricts dissemination, and sealed files remain closed unless a court order or law allows access.

The manifest image for the Pennsylvania expungement statute links to the statute source used for Clearfield County court records access limits.

That statute applies to eligible criminal history information, not every civil or family filing in the county court system.

The manifest also includes Pennsylvania's limited access statute, which is a separate shielding path for qualifying records.

Limited access does not erase the case, but it can change who may receive the record after the court grants relief.

Clearfield Court Record Requests

When an online result is incomplete, the access channel changes. Civil common pleas records route to the Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts. Criminal common pleas records are searched through UJS first, then handled through the Clerk of Courts side when a certified copy or file request is needed. Magisterial District Court records may require contact with the specific MDJ office that handled the citation, landlord-tenant case, summary case, bail event, or preliminary hearing. Probate, marriage, estates, guardianships, and adoptions route to the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court.