Montgomery County
Montgomery County was created in 1784 from part of Philadelphia County and named after General Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general. Colloquially referred to as “Montco,†it is Pennsylvania's third-most populous county with a population of over 868,700; its largest city is Norristown, which also serves as its county seat.
Montgomery County's trial court system falls under the 38th Judicial District of the state's Unified Judicial System and comprises a Court of Common Pleas and Magisterial District Courts. The Court of Common Pleas has five divisions - Civil, Criminal, Family, Juvenile, and Orphans – that handle a variety of legal matters. These include felonies, civil matters involving more than $12,000, family law and domestic affairs matters, juvenile delinquency and dependency cases, probate, guardianship, and conservatorship matters. The Magisterial District Courts handle criminal preliminary arraignments and preliminary hearings, summary criminal offenses, civil claims that do not exceed $12,000, traffic offenses, municipal code violations, and landlord/tenant cases.
Court records in Montgomery County refer to document information generated by or received during court proceedings and other related activities in the county. These generally include court orders, motions, transcripts, dispositions, case file information, subpoenas, summonses, judgments, and sentencing records. The Montgomery County Clerk of Court and Prothonotary are the official custodians of these records; the Clerk of Court manages records of criminal cases, while the Prothonotary does the same for civil cases. In addition to managing these Montgomery County court records, the Clerk of Court and Prothonotary are tasked with making them accessible to interested members of the public when necessary.
You can access Montgomery County public court records in person at either the Clerk of Court's or the Prothonotary's office, whichever is applicable. It is advisable to contact these offices beforehand at (610) 278-3346 and (610) 278-3364, respectively, for a stress-free experience. Keep in mind that you may be charged a fee to obtain copies of the required records.
Montgomery County also provides members of the public with access to online platforms that can be used to search for and view public court records.
