Clearfield County Court of Common Pleas
Pennsylvania's trial court of general jurisdiction is the Court of Common Pleas. Clearfield County is the 46th Judicial District. The county court system includes the county Court of Common Pleas and four Magisterial District Courts. The common pleas court handles civil, criminal, family, and appeal matters that exceed or move beyond the lower court level, while the Magisterial District Courts handle many first-contact court events for residents.
The Pennsylvania judiciary page for Clearfield County courts lists the Clearfield County Courthouse at 1 North Second Street, Clearfield, PA 16830, with public hours Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. County sources also identify a Courthouse Annex at 230 East Market Street and administrative offices at 212 East Locust Street. Before visiting, confirm which building houses the office tied to the case.
Clearfield County Court of Common Pleas
Clearfield County Courthouse
1 North Second Street
Clearfield, PA 16830
814-765-2641
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Clearfield County Court Locations
Clearfield County court records can come from the main common pleas court or from one of four Magisterial District Courts. The county's Magisterial District Courts are in DuBois, Clearfield, Kylertown, and Houtzdale. These lower courts are important for traffic citations, summary offenses, landlord-tenant cases, small civil claims, bail, preliminary arraignments, warrants, and preliminary hearings. A person searching by address or police agency should check which district court handled the first filing.
| Court number | Type | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| 46th Judicial District | Court of Common Pleas | 1 N. Second Street, Clearfield, PA 16830 | 814-765-2641 |
| 46-3-01 | Magisterial District Court, DuBois | 309 Maple Avenue, DuBois, PA 15801-2307 | 814-371-5321 or 814-371-5323 |
| 46-3-02 | Magisterial District Court, Clearfield | 900 Leonard Street, Clearfield, PA 16830 | 814-765-5335 or 814-765-0386 |
| 46-3-03 | Magisterial District Court, Kylertown | 131 Rolling Stone Road, PO Box 210, Kylertown, PA 16847-0210 | 814-345-6789 or 814-345-6444 |
| 46-3-04 | Magisterial District Court, Houtzdale | 251 Spring Street, Suite 3, PO Box 362, Houtzdale, PA 16651-0362 | 814-378-7160 |
The county court structure is local and spread across the county, so a single courthouse visit may not answer every district court question.
Common Pleas vs Magisterial Courts
Clearfield County does not use a separate county court or justice court structure like some states. The comparison that matters locally is Court of Common Pleas versus Magisterial District Court. The lower courts are often called the Minor Judiciary or People's Courts in the county material, and they may be the only court contact for many residents. Statutory support for MDJ jurisdiction appears in 42 Pa.C.S. Section 1515.
| Feature | Court of Common Pleas | Magisterial District Courts |
|---|---|---|
| Main role | General trial court for civil, criminal, family, and appeals from lower courts. | Local first-level court for summary, traffic, landlord-tenant, small civil, warrants, bail, and preliminary hearings. |
| Civil limit | Not limited to the MDJ small-claim cap in the research. | Civil claims in assumpsit and trespass not exceeding $12,000, excluding costs and interest. |
| Criminal role | Criminal case files, pleas, motions, sentencing, and post-conviction matters. | Preliminary arraignments, bail, warrants, preliminary hearings, summary offenses, and cases through the Misdemeanor III range. |
| Search path | CountySuite for civil records and UJS for criminal common pleas dockets. | UJS for magisterial district dockets, citations, complaint numbers, and calendar events. |
Clearfield County Case Flow
A Clearfield County case can move through different offices depending on the record type. A civil complaint filed in common pleas generally starts with the Prothonotary. A criminal charge may begin with law enforcement and an MDJ event, then move to common pleas for the full case file. A traffic citation may stay with an MDJ unless a higher-level issue or appeal arises. Probate and marriage matters use the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court instead of the common pleas clerk path.
Criminal flow: Complaint or arrest › Magisterial District Judge event › preliminary hearing › common pleas filing › arraignment › pretrial motions › plea or trial › disposition › sentence › appeal.
Civil flow: Complaint or petition filed with Prothonotary › service › response › motions or discovery › settlement, hearing, or trial › order or judgment › appeal if allowed.
For docket lookup, start with the record system tied to the stage. CountySuite is the local civil path. UJS is the main public path for criminal common pleas, magisterial district, citation, calendar, appellate, complaint number, OTN, SID, organization, and attorney searches. The Court of Common Pleas page can be read with the Clearfield County court dockets process when the main goal is event timing.
Clearfield County Court Divisions
The Court of Common Pleas record mix includes civil, criminal, family, and appeals from lower courts. Civil records include contracts, torts, real property, liens, judgments, writs of execution, road dockets, civil appeals, custody, divorce, PFA filings, and miscellaneous civil filings. Criminal records include charges as filed, pleas, motions, hearing events, verdict or plea, disposition, sentence, expungement, limited access, and probation or parole violation matters.
Family and protective-order matters can have public access limits. Divorce and custody categories appear in the county civil case search category list, but sensitive custody information, abuse details, minors' information, addresses, and sealed records may be redacted or unavailable. PFA records can also have limits where statutes or court orders protect victims. Juvenile and mental health records are not public in the same way as ordinary civil dockets.
Note: The common pleas court is the general trial court, but the office that gives access depends on whether the matter is civil, criminal, probate, marriage, or lower-court.
Search Clearfield County Court Records
Use the Clearfield County Civil Case Search for public civil common pleas records from the Prothonotary. Use the UJS Case Search for criminal common pleas docket sheets, magisterial district dockets, traffic and non-traffic citations, complaint number searches, OTN searches, SID searches, appellate docket sheets, and calendar events. Public UJS docket sheets provide search, view, and print access, while secure docket sheets contain additional content and require login.
Good search terms include docket number, case number, participant name, organization name, citation number, complaint number, incident number, OTN, SID, filing date, county, Judicial District 46, and MDJS Court Office. If a result is missing, use the fallback channel. For civil records, contact the Prothonotary & Clerk of Courts. For a specific MDJ case, contact the listed district court. For probate and marriage records, contact the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court.
The federal district court is not part of the Clearfield County Court of Common Pleas search system. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania handles federal trial court matters for the region.
This federal court source helps separate county common pleas records from federal civil and criminal dockets.
Clearfield County Appeals and Federal Cases
Appeals from Clearfield County common pleas cases generally move to Pennsylvania's intermediate appellate courts, usually the Superior Court for criminal and most civil or family matters and the Commonwealth Court for governmental or agency matters. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the state's highest court. Federal cases are different. They are not searched in CountySuite or UJS county filters unless a related state matter also exists.
PACER is the official federal records system for docket sheets and documents. Federal civil-rights suits, federal criminal cases, bankruptcy cases, federal habeas petitions, federal tax or agency cases, and federal prisoner matters will not be complete in Clearfield County portals. Bankruptcy records route to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and appeals from Pennsylvania federal district courts go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Federal docket access starts with PACER, not the Clearfield County courthouse.
PACER is useful only for federal records, while Clearfield County common pleas and MDJ records use county and Pennsylvania court systems.
Federal appeals from Pennsylvania federal district courts go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
The Third Circuit image belongs here because federal appeals are outside Clearfield County's Court of Common Pleas record path.