Template:PA Court Intro

The office of the Prothonotary is the custodian of all civil matters in County. This includes naturalization, immigration, passport applications, equity actions, judgments, liens, family court, divorces, and more.

County court records are housed at the Courthouse. Copies of court records may be found at the Pennsylvania State Archives and in the FamilySearch collection. See Pennsylvania Court Records for more information.

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 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  Court Records in online catalogs like:


 * Historical Society of Pennsylvania
 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
 * Do a Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

Finding Court Records at Other Repositories

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


 * Historical Society of Pennsylvania
 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
 * (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).