The Montgomery County Clerk of Courts
Lori Schreiber has served as Montgomery County Clerk of Courts since January 2020. The office is the elected official responsible for the official records of criminal cases in the Court of Common Pleas. It handles court filings, tracks case documents, and keeps complete and accurate criminal records for the county. Under Schreiber's leadership, the office describes a focus on transparency, accessibility, and support for people who interact with the criminal justice system.
Pennsylvania splits its court clerks, so the Clerk of Courts holds only the criminal side. Civil cases, divorce, and judgments live with the Prothonotary. Wills and marriage records live with the Register of Wills. So a criminal docket, a bail question, or an expungement belongs here, while a lawsuit or a lien does not. This split is unusual to people from states that use a single county clerk, and it is the most common source of wrong-counter trips in Montgomery County.
What the Clerk of Courts Keeps
The office is built around the tasks a public user actually needs. Its own guidance groups the work into clear categories, and that grouping is a good map of what the office can do for you.
- Criminal record information and certified court-document copies
- Bail, plus court costs and fines
- Appeals from Common Pleas decisions
- Expungements and limited access
- Suspended driver's license reinstatement
- Address updates and juvenile case support
That list shows the office is more than a file room. It is the place to pay a criminal court cost, file an appeal, start an expungement, or get the certified disposition an employer or agency asked for.
The appeals role is easy to miss. When a Common Pleas criminal case is appealed, the Clerk of Courts handles the record on its way up, and appeals to the Superior Court generally must be filed within a set time after the decision. The office can explain the filing window and what the appeal record needs. Driver's license reinstatement after a suspension tied to a case also runs through here, which surprises people who expect to handle it only at PennDOT.
Searching Criminal Court Records
Public criminal docket sheets for Common Pleas cases are searchable for free on the Pennsylvania UJS portal. The Clerk of Courts points users there for case information, docket sheets, and status. The office is clear about one limit, though: a UJS docket is not an official background check.
For a verified criminal history, the official path is Pennsylvania State Police PATCH, not a court docket. A certified disposition from the Clerk of Courts can satisfy some employment, licensing, or school requirements, but it is case-specific rather than a statewide history. The arrest records page explains the difference between a docket, a certified copy, and a background check.
There is also a gap a docket search cannot close. Some cases will not appear online at all, because they are juvenile, expunged, or sealed under limited access. So a clean UJS result does not prove a clean record, and a single docket does not prove a full one. That is exactly why employers and agencies are pointed to PATCH or to a certified disposition rather than a free docket print.
How to Request a Certified Criminal Copy
A certified copy carries the office seal and is the version courts and agencies accept. A free UJS printout is not certified. The steps below outline how to get a certified criminal record from the Clerk of Courts.
- Find the case by docket number or name on the UJS portal.
- Note the document you need, such as a disposition or order.
- Contact or visit the Clerk of Courts on the courthouse second floor.
- Pay the copy and certification charge with an accepted payment type.
- Receive the certified copy from the office.
Bring the case details below to speed the request along.
- Docket number, such as a CP-46-CR number, if you have it
- Full name of the defendant
- The specific document you want certified
- Whether you need one copy or several
- Your contact information and payment
Expungement and Clean Slate
The Clerk of Courts receives expungement petitions, and the office explains the three main paths. Pa.R.Crim.P. 490 covers summary offenses that stayed at the district court. Pa.R.Crim.P. 790 covers Common Pleas misdemeanor and felony cases. Pa.R.Crim.P. 791 covers limited access, which hides certain misdemeanor convictions from public view while police and courts still see them.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Expungement filing (includes one agency served) | $176.50 |
| Each additional agency on the order | $13.50 |
| Certified criminal copy | Set by the office; call to confirm |
Clean Slate is different from expungement. It limits public access but does not erase the record, and AOPC sends qualifying convictions to the State Police monthly for sealing. The program grew through Act 56 of 2018, Act 83 of 2020, and Act 36 of 2023, which expanded automatic sealing and shortened some waiting periods, in some cases to seven years for misdemeanors and five years for summary offenses when obligations are met and no new charges arise.
Help is available for the filing itself. Current and former Public Defender clients can use the Public Defender Expungement Clinic, and other low-income residents may check Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania for record-clearing help. The Clerk of Courts still receives the actual petition and collects the filing and service fees, so the office stays at the center of the process even when an outside group helps prepare the paperwork.
Bail, Fines, and Court Costs
Money matters in a criminal case run through the Clerk of Courts. The office handles bail, and it tracks court costs and fines tied to a case. If a defendant owes costs or has a payment plan, the Clerk of Courts is the office that keeps those records and processes payments.
Some payments can be made online. The statewide judiciary links PAePay for court costs, fines, bail, and traffic tickets where a case is eligible. A case marked limited access cannot be paid online, because it is no longer publicly visible on the portal, so those payments go through the court directly. When in doubt about a balance or a plan, the office can confirm what is owed and how to pay it. Paying on time also matters because unpaid costs can lead to further court action, and in some cases a bench warrant, which the warrant search page explains.
Juvenile Clerk of Courts
Juvenile records are kept apart and stay restricted. The Juvenile Clerk of Courts sits at the Montgomery County Youth Center at 540 Port Indian Road in Eagleville. It keeps custody of delinquency, dependency, and miscellaneous juvenile files. Access requires advance contact and a valid photo ID for the juvenile or a person entitled to the file.
Juvenile payment dockets use a CP-46-JV format, but public search access to juvenile cases is blocked by law. Juvenile expungement is not automatic in most cases, apart from informal adjustments or approved consent decrees handled through Juvenile Probation. The juvenile office can be reached at 610-630-2252.
Clerk of Courts Office and Hours
The main office sits in the courthouse in downtown Norristown, on the second floor. It keeps regular weekday hours and accepts expungement filings during set hours, excluding holidays.
Montgomery County Clerk of Courts
Court House, 2 E. Airy Street, 2nd Floor
Norristown, PA 19404-0311
610-278-3346
Mon-Fri 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Mail goes to P.O. Box 311, Norristown, PA 19404-0311, and the office fax is 610-278-5188. Expungement petitions are accepted Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding holidays.
Clerk of Courts vs Prothonotary
The two offices split the court record down the middle. The Clerk of Courts is criminal. The Prothonotary is civil. A criminal docket, a bail matter, or an expungement is a Clerk of Courts record. A lawsuit, a divorce, or a judgment is a Prothonotary record.
People often land at one office needing the other. If you came here for a civil suit, a divorce, a lien, or a name change, the Prothonotary page is the right next stop. If you need a will or a marriage record, that is the Register of Wills. Matching the record to the office is the single biggest time-saver in a Pennsylvania county search.