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court records are housed at the Courthouse. Copies of many 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. FamilySearch films may be ordered at a local FamilySearch Center.

Court of Common Pleas
The Courts of Common Pleas are the trial courts of Pennsylvania. Major civil and criminal cases are heard in these courts. Judges also decide cases involving adoption, divorce, child custody, abuse, juvenile delinquency, estates, guardianships, charitable organizations and many other matters.

The Common Pleas courts are organized into 60 judicial districts, most of which encompass a single county. Seven judicial districts, in lightly populated areas of the Commonwealth, include two counties. Judges of the Common Pleas courts are elected to 10-year terms. A president judge and a court administrator serve in each judicial district.