FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject Pennsylvania/Tasks-Court 2

WikiProject Pennsylvania Progress Chart  Wiki Project Pennsylvania Tasks - Court Records: 2

Description
The purpose of this task is to add the county clerk of court information.

Instructions
1. Add the clerk of court information by adding. Place this template in wikitext directly under the heading Clerk of Court.

2. Verify that the link to Courthouse within the template is working for your county. If it is not and you need help fixing this link, contact Lisa.

3. Verify that the address for the clerk of court is the same as the county courthouse. Use this link to verify the clerk of court address:

http://www.pacourts.us/T/CommonPleas/ClerksOfCourts.htm

4. If the address is different, the Clerk of Court address should be added under the courthouse information in the Repository-Courthouse information for your county page. Also add other contact information such as telephone number.

5. Some Pennsylvania courts share a Judicial District. However, it appears that all counties maintain a Clerk of Courts. It may be that the Prothonotary also performs the duties of Clerk of Courts. If this is the case in your county, you should add a sentence about the shared duties.

5. Your task is complete.

Clerk of the Court
The Clerk of Court prepares and maintains the records for the Criminal Division of the Court of Common Pleas. The Clerk signs and affixes the Seal of the Courts to all writs and processes, administers oaths and affirmations, and assumes custody of the seal and records of the Court. The Clerk certifies and distributes orders of the Court. The Clerk also certifies and prepares bills of costs for the defendants and utilizes the computerized financial management system to disburse fines, costs and restitution. For the Green County, Pennsylvania Clerk of Court address see the Courthouse section on this page.

Courthouse
Greene County Courthouse 10 East High Street Waynesburg, PA 15370 Phone: 724-852-5280

Clerk of Court/ Orphan’s Court: 1st Floor Phone: 724-852-5281 or 724-852-5282

Prothonotary 1st Floor Phone: 724-852-5288 or 724-852-5289

Court of Common Pleas
Green County, Pennsylvania court records are housed at the Green County, Pennsylvania Courthouse. For many counties copies of court records may be found at the Pennsylvania State Archives and in the FamilySearch collection. Note that within these collections some films may contain the same records, but have different titles. Other titles are not duplicates. See Finding Court Records at other repositories within this section for links to the online catalogs for these two collections. Films at the Pennsylvania State Archives are not available for inter-library loan. If court records are available FamilySearch films may be ordered at a local Family History Center.

Clerk of the Court
The Clerk of Court prepares and maintains the records for the Criminal Division of the Court of Common Pleas. The Clerk signs and affixes the Seal of the Courts to all writs and processes, administers oaths and affirmations, and assumes custody of the seal and records of the Court. The Clerk certifies and distributes orders of the Court. The Clerk also certifies and prepares bills of costs for the defendants and utilizes the computerized financial management system to disburse fines, costs and restitution. For the Green County, Pennsylvania Clerk of Court address see the Courthouse section on this page.

The Clerk of Court's Office encompasses the criminal, juvenile and orphans’ divisions of the Court of Common Pleas.

Prothonotary
The office of the Prothontary is the custodian of all civil matters in the county. This includes naturalization, immigration, equity actions, judgements, federal and local tax leins, city liens, family court, arbitrations, license suspension appeals, appeals to higher court, commercial code filings, applications for passports and divorce proceedings. See the Courthouse section on this page for the Green County, Pennsylvania County Prothonotary office information.

The Prothonotary is the keeper/clerk of the records of the Court of Common Pleas civil division.

Orphans' Court
See Vital Records The Orphans' Court is responsible for a wide range of matters. The name of the Court is derived from the more general definition of "orphan," that being a person or thing that is without protective affiliation or sponsorship. This would include those not capable of handling their own affairs, minors, incapacitated persons, decedents estates, nonprofit corporations and trusts. It is the role of the Court to ensure that the best interests of the person or entity are not compromised.

It is believed the name of this court was borrowed from the Court of Orphans of the city of London, England which had the care and guardianship of children of deceased citizens, in their minority. For Green County, Pennsylvania Orphans' Court contact information see the Courthouse section on this page. Finding Court Records at Other Repositories

Additional court records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Green County, Pennsylvania Court Records in online catalogs like:


 * Historical Society of Pennsylvania
 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
 * Do a Green County, Pennsylvania Place-name search for these and other records in the Family History Library Catalog. (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search).