Perry County Clerk of Courts Office
The Perry County Clerk of Courts is the criminal and juvenile records office for the county. Perry County lists Zoe Burd as Clerk of Courts. The office was established by the Pennsylvania Constitution and is an independently elected office serving a four-year term. The county page describes the office as responsible for recording and processing criminal and juvenile records, maintaining accurate records, and preserving record security and integrity.
Most Clerk of Courts business comes from cases bound over from Perry County's three Magisterial District Judges and from courtroom dispositions. That means many criminal matters begin at the MDJ level for preliminary arraignment, bail, or preliminary hearing, then move to Common Pleas if held for court. Once in Common Pleas, the Clerk of Courts maintains the criminal record. Civil files belong to the Perry County Prothonotary.
Perry County Clerk of Courts
Clerk: Zoe Burd
2 East Main Street, PO Box 325
New Bloomfield, PA 17068
717-582-2131
Fax: 717-582-5167
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Perry County Criminal Court Records
Clerk of Courts records include criminal and juvenile case processing in the Court of Common Pleas. The office prepares prison commitments, bail, and bench warrants; processes motions and petitions; handles summary appeals; processes appeals to the Pennsylvania Superior and Supreme Courts; assesses court-imposed costs and fines; and handles private detective licensing.
The MDJ-to-Common-Pleas path is important in Perry County because the county has three local Magisterial District Judge offices. A misdemeanor or felony complaint may first show as an MDJ docket with bail, preliminary hearing, and issuing-authority details. If the case is held for court, the Common Pleas criminal file becomes a Clerk of Courts record. Summary appeals also connect the lower court record to this office.
- Criminal cases bound over from Magisterial District Judges.
- Juvenile records, with access limits under law and court policy.
- Bail, bench warrants, prison commitments, motions, and petitions.
- Summary appeals and criminal appellate processing.
- Court-imposed costs, fines, and related payment records.
- Private detective licensing handled by the office.
Public docket sheets can be searched through Pennsylvania UJS Case Search. Public dockets may show charges, statute citations, grading, pleas, dispositions, sentencing events, bail activity, costs, fines, and hearing entries. Complete files and certified copies still route through the Clerk of Courts.
Request Perry County Criminal Copies
Certified criminal copies may be needed for appeals, licensing, employment-related disclosure, immigration, expungement filings, or another court process. A certified copy proves that the copy was issued from the official Clerk of Courts record. A plain docket printout from UJS may help identify a case, but it is not the same as a certified clerk copy.
- Search by name or docket number in UJS and narrow results to Perry County and the correct court level.
- Write down the docket number, defendant name, case status, and document or entry needed.
- Call, mail, fax, or visit the Clerk of Courts to confirm copy availability and access limits.
- State whether the request is for a plain copy, certified copy, criminal search, or expungement-related filing.
- Pay the fee required by the current Perry County Prothonotary / Clerk of Courts fee schedule.
Perry County Clerk Request Fields
A criminal record request should be specific. The Clerk of Courts may need enough information to distinguish defendants with similar names and to determine whether the requested document is public, sealed, juvenile, expunged, or subject to limited access. A docket number is the cleanest search key.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Docket number | Strongly recommended | Common Pleas criminal dockets often use CP coded formats. |
| Defendant name | Yes | Use full name and any known date range. |
| Document requested | Yes | Commitment, order, sentence, docket, motion, or appeal record. |
| Copy type | Yes | Plain, certified, criminal search, or expungement filing. |
| Requester contact | Yes | Mailing address, phone, or fax return details. |
| Access authority | Conditional | Needed for restricted juvenile, sealed, or limited-access matters. |
Perry County Clerk of Courts Fees
Perry County's Clerk of Courts and Prothonotary pages announce a JCS fee increase under Act 45 of 2025, effective November 19, 2025, and link the January 1, 2026 fee schedule. The criminal clerk amounts below are those captured in the assigned research. Criminal costs, fines, restitution, and payment plans are separate from copy and filing fees.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Certification | $9.10 |
| Copies | $0.40 per page |
| Microfilm copies | $1.00 per page |
| Criminal search | $18.25 |
| Expungement / limited access | $229.65 |
| Appellate court fee | $91.25 plus Perry Prothonotary fee of $45.65 |
Perry County Costs and Fines
The Clerk of Courts assesses court-imposed costs and fines in criminal cases. The public UJS docket may show payment entries or balances where public. Pennsylvania also provides UJS ePay for eligible costs, fines, restitution, and traffic-related balances. Not every payment can be made online, and a payment entry does not erase the underlying court record.
When a docket shows a missed hearing, bench warrant, payment default, or appeal event, contact the Clerk of Courts or the issuing court before assuming the case can be resolved through payment alone. Bench warrants and bail entries involve court orders, and the clerk can identify the local record but cannot give legal advice about surrender, recall, plea, sentencing, or appeal strategy.
Perry County Criminal Appeals
The Clerk of Courts page identifies summary appeals and appeals to the Pennsylvania Superior and Supreme Courts as part of the office's work. A summary appeal often follows an MDJ-level conviction or disposition, while a Common Pleas criminal appeal can involve post-sentence motions, appellate notices, transcript issues, and record transmission. The clerk's role is to maintain the official criminal record and process the appeal paperwork that belongs in the court file.
Appeals are not the same as a new search request. A person checking appeal status should gather the docket number, defendant name, lower court or Common Pleas case number, disposition date, and the appellate document or order being requested. If a transcript is needed, Perry County court forms include a transcript request form, and the District Court Administrator's office may be relevant for court administration questions.
Restricted Perry County Juvenile Records
The Clerk of Courts page says the office records and processes juvenile records, but juvenile files are not ordinary public records. Pennsylvania law and court policy restrict access to juvenile information. Expungement of juvenile records is governed separately from adult criminal expungement, and public docket access may hide or omit juvenile details.
Adult criminal records may also be sealed, expunged, or subject to limited access. The fee schedule includes an expungement / limited access item, but eligibility depends on the charge, outcome, age of the record, and statutory criteria. The Clerk of Courts can identify filing procedure and case information. It cannot tell a person whether to file, what legal theory to use, or how a court will rule on a petition.