Find Pike County Clerk Records

Pike County Clerk of Courts

The Pike County Clerk of Courts is the custodian of criminal court records. The county page describes criminal records as motions, pleadings, transcripts, and any other filing related to a criminal case. It also lists criminal, summary appeals, juvenile, dependency, and miscellaneous petitions such as constable and basic bonds among the filings maintained by the office.

The county page names Yvonne Merrill as Clerk of Orphans' Court and Victoria Horacek as First Deputy, and the office uses the same phone and courthouse address as the Prothonotary. The practical distinction is record type. Criminal filings, summary appeals, expungement petitions, bench-warrant fee lines, bonds, and criminal docketing belong here. Civil claims, divorce, custody, PFA, judgments, mechanics liens, and tax liens belong with the Pike County Prothonotary.

Pike County Criminal Record Custodian

The Clerk of Courts dockets criminal records filed in Pike County Common Pleas and maintains custody of court records for that criminal docket. Local criminal matters often begin in a Magisterial District Court with a complaint, preliminary arraignment, bail, or preliminary hearing, then move to Common Pleas when charges are held for court. Once the Common Pleas criminal case opens, filings such as motions, pleadings, transcripts, dispositions, sentencing entries, summary appeal papers, and bench-warrant events are part of the Clerk of Courts record set.

The county Clerk of Courts source identifies the criminal record custodian and the Orphans' Court duties kept by this office.

Use that source when the request concerns a Pike County criminal docket, summary appeal, juvenile or dependency access question, or Clerk of Orphans' Court file.

• Docket all criminal records filed with the Pike County Court of Common Pleas.
• Maintain custody of criminal court records and related filings.
• Collect fees on summary appeal cases and criminal matters listed in the fee schedule.
• Prepare motor-vehicle forms for PennDOT when required by the court process.
• Maintain constable bonds and administer oaths.

Pike County Clerk of Orphans' Court

The Clerk of Orphans' Court role is separate from the criminal case role but housed in the same county office listing. It covers dockets and files for incapacitated persons, appointment of guardians, adoptions, and other Orphans' Court Division issues. The county page states that adoption records are confidential. Marriage-license applications and certified marriage certificates also route through this Clerk of Orphans' Court function.

This role should not be confused with the Register of Wills. Probate estates, inheritance tax, wills, letters, short certificates, and detailed probate records are handled by the Register of Wills at the county Administration Building. Guardianship, adoption, incapacity, and marriage-license work belongs with the Clerk of Orphans' Court. Estate probate details are covered through Pike County Orphans' Court and Register of Wills materials.

Search Pike County Clerk Records

The county Clerk of Courts page states that all records may be viewed on the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania Web Portal except juvenile and dependency cases and certain filings under seal or filed confidentially. For a public criminal docket, use UJS Case Search to search by participant, case number, docket number, offense tracking number, police incident or complaint number, state ID number, county, court, and filing date where those options are exposed.

1. Search the UJS portal for the Common Pleas criminal docket or Magisterial District Court docket.
2. Confirm the county and court, since Pike County uses both Common Pleas and four Magisterial District Courts.
3. Read the docket for charges, entries, disposition, sentence, warrants, and payment-plan events when available.
4. Contact the Clerk of Courts for certified copies, transcript-related filings, expungement filings, or records not available remotely.
5. Use PATCH through the Pennsylvania State Police for an official criminal-history background check, because UJS dockets are not background reports.

Pike County Certified Copy Steps

A certified copy is an office-issued copy with the custodian's certification. It is different from an online docket printout. In Pike County criminal matters, start with the docket number or party name, then identify the exact filing or docket entries needed. For Clerk of Orphans' Court records, state whether the record is a guardianship filing, marriage certificate, adoption-related matter, or other Orphans' Court file.

1. Collect the docket number, defendant or party name, case type, and filing date if known.
2. State the requested record: docket entries, motion, order, transcript filing, certified marriage certificate, or other specific document.
3. Ask the Clerk of Courts whether the record is public, confidential, sealed, juvenile, dependency, or adoption-related.
4. Confirm the fee for certification, copies, criminal filing, or Orphans' Court service before sending payment.
5. Request office certification when the copy must be used for court, agency, licensing, or official filing purposes.

Note: Adoption, juvenile, dependency, sealed, and confidential files may require authorized access or a court order.

Pike County Clerk Fee Table

Pike County's fee schedule separates Clerk of Courts criminal fees from Clerk of Orphans' Court fees. Criminal lines revised effective December 1, 2025 include administration fees, summary matters, felony or misdemeanor disposition fees, expungement fees, bench-warrant fees, and subpoenas. Orphans' Court lines include adoption, guardianship, petitions, small estate matters, marriage licenses, and certified marriage certificates.

Pike County Clerk Access Limits

Not every Clerk of Courts record is remotely accessible. The county page excludes juvenile and dependency cases from the general UJS viewing statement and also excludes filings under seal or filed confidentially. Pennsylvania's public access policy also limits remote access to sensitive identifiers, many family materials, probate and fiduciary materials beyond selected docket-level items, transcripts lodged of record, and in forma pauperis petitions.

The Clerk of Courts fee schedule also points to record events that may not be obvious from a simple docket search. Summary conviction appeals, adult expungement petitions, juvenile expungement petitions, subpoenas, judgments and satisfactions, and bench-warrant issuance can all create office activity even when the public sees only a few docket entries. That is why a certified-copy request should describe the actual filing, not just the case name.

For errors on public docket sheets, the research describes a clerical-error process under the UJS public access policy. A party or attorney may submit a written correction request to the applicable custodian. The custodian responds within 10 business days or may need up to 30 additional business days. That process is for clerical mistakes, not for changing a judge's ruling or rearguing the disposition.

Pike County Clerk Request Fallback

For court case records, contact the Clerk of Courts or Clerk of Orphans' Court first. For county records outside court-case custody, Pike County's Right-to-Know form directs requests to Shannon DeVuyst, Right to Know Officer, 506 Broad Street, Milford, PA 18337, email sdevuyst@pikepa.org, phone 570-296-9826, and fax 570-296-6055. The form requires a record description and warns that RTKL requests must seek records rather than ask questions.

When the request involves a criminal case, include the docket number if known, the defendant name, the filing requested, and whether the copy must be certified. When the request involves an Orphans' Court function, identify whether it is marriage, guardianship, incapacity, or adoption-related. Adoption and other confidential files may not be available to a general public requester.