Perry County Court Docket Basics
A docket is the court's chronological list of actions in a case. It is the index that tells a reader when a complaint was filed, when a summons or citation issued, when a hearing was scheduled, when a motion or order entered, and how the case moved toward disposition. In Perry County, docket sheets are public through UJS Case Search for many Common Pleas and Magisterial District Court matters.
The docket is narrower than the case file. It can point to a complaint, order, plea, sentence, judgment, or appeal, but it may not include the full text or image of each document. For file copies, certified records, or documents not visible online, the request goes to the Perry County Prothonotary for civil and family records or to the Clerk of Courts for criminal records.
- Docket
- A dated list of court events and filings.
- Docket entry
- One line in that history, such as an order, hearing, plea, continuance, or payment event.
- Disposition
- The outcome of a charge, claim, petition, citation, or case.
- Caption
- The formal case name, such as Commonwealth v. defendant or plaintiff v. defendant.
Search Perry County Dockets Online
Perry County has no county-built docket database. The statewide UJS portal is the main public docket channel. It searches Common Pleas dockets for larger civil, family, and criminal matters, and MDJ dockets for traffic, summary, minor criminal, landlord-tenant, and civil claims up to $12,000. Court type is the key choice because an MDJ citation will not be found the same way as a Common Pleas criminal case.
- Open UJS Case Search and choose a search category such as participant name, docket number, police incident number, complaint number, or organization.
- Select the correct court type. Use Courts of Common Pleas for trial-court cases and Magisterial District Courts for MDJ matters.
- Choose Perry County if the portal offers a county filter, then enter the name, docket number, citation, or date range.
- Open the docket sheet and review the header, case status, parties, hearings, docket entries, financial fields, and disposition.
- Ask the correct local office for a certified copy or full file if the docket entry is not enough.
UJS ePay is separate from docket search. It is used for eligible court costs, fines, restitution, and traffic-related balances, while UJS Case Search is the place to find the docket history.
Perry County Docket Entry Fields
Public docket sheets generally follow a field pattern. The exact fields differ by case type, but docket readers should expect a header, party section, attorney section, event list, and case-specific fields. Criminal and MDJ dockets can include charge and bail information. Civil dockets can include filings, orders, judgments, appeals, satisfaction entries, and costs.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Docket number | The unique case number assigned by the Court of Common Pleas or Magisterial District Court. |
| Court / issuing authority | The Perry County court, MDJ district, judge, or issuing authority tied to the docket. |
| Filing date and status | When the matter began and whether it is active, closed, disposed, appealed, sealed, or inactive. |
| Parties and attorneys | Names, roles, and counsel appearances where public. |
| Events | Dated filings, hearings, orders, continuances, pleas, sentence entries, judgments, or payment activity. |
| Charges or claims | Offense details for criminal and traffic matters, or claim and judgment data for civil matters. |
| Disposition | The result, such as guilty, dismissed, withdrawn, judgment entered, paid, appealed, or continued. |
Perry County Courts With Dockets
Perry County is part of Pennsylvania's Court of Common Pleas system and the 41st Judicial District. The county shares that judicial district administratively with Juniata County. The Perry County Courts page also confirms that the county has three Magisterial District Judges. The MDJs are the first level of judicial authority for traffic cases, summary criminal matters, preliminary arraignments, bail setting, preliminary hearings, and civil claims within the MDJ dollar limit.
The Pennsylvania Magisterial District Judge directory lists Perry County MDJ offices by district, judge, address, phone, and fax.
That directory helps identify which MDJ office issued a citation, held a preliminary hearing, set bail, or handled a minor civil docket.
| Court level | Docket role in Perry County |
|---|---|
| Court of Common Pleas | Major civil cases, family matters, divorce, custody, PFA, criminal cases after preliminary proceedings, and Orphans' Court matters. |
| MDJ 41-3-03 | Hon. Richard C. Gibney, Duncannon, phone 717-834-4990. |
| MDJ 41-3-04 | Hon. Fredrick Cabell Jr., Newport, phone 717-567-6365. |
| MDJ 41-3-05 | Hon. Traci D. Wilt, Loysville, phone 717-789-4117. |
Perry County Dockets vs Case Files
A docket sheet gives fast public context. It can show that a motion was filed, a hearing was held, an order was entered, a plea was accepted, or judgment was recorded. The full file is where the underlying pleading, motion, order, exhibit, transcript, or certified copy may live. That distinction matters when the record is needed for appeal, employment licensing, property issues, divorce proof, custody matters, or criminal-history review.
| Point | Docket | Full Case Record |
|---|---|---|
| Format | List of dated case events. | Documents, pleadings, orders, transcripts, and file materials. |
| Online access | Often available through UJS public search. | Not uniformly downloadable from the public portal. |
| Keeper office | Shown by court type and docket header. | Prothonotary, Clerk of Courts, Orphans' Court, or MDJ office. |
| Best use | Find status, dates, parties, charges, disposition, and case number. | Obtain certified proof or read the actual filing. |
Perry County Docket Copies
Free docket viewing is useful, but certified copies come from the office that keeps the file. For civil, family, divorce, custody, PFA, judgments, liens, and District Justice civil appeals, the keeper office is the Prothonotary. For criminal cases, juvenile records, bail, bench warrants, summary appeals, costs, fines, and appeals, the keeper office is the Clerk of Courts. Both offices use the courthouse mailing address at 2 East Main Street, PO Box 325, New Bloomfield, PA 17068.
The researched 2026 Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts fee schedule lists copy and filing amounts that affect docket users. Plain copies are $0.40 per page, microfilm copies are $1.00 per page, certification is $9.10, a criminal search is $18.25, District Justice civil appeal is $90.35, District Justice summary appeal is $33.70, civil complaint is $91.85, divorce complaint is $143.15, and custody complaint is $138.65.
| Request | Office or amount |
|---|---|
| Certified docket or filing copy | Certification $9.10, plus copy pages where applicable. |
| Plain paper copy | $0.40 per page under the researched fee schedule. |
| Criminal docket search | $18.25 through the criminal clerk channel. |
| Summary appeal docket filing | $33.70 for District Justice summary appeal. |
Read Perry County Docket Sheets
Start at the top. Confirm the court, county, case type, status, and docket number. Then read the docket entries in date order. A criminal docket may begin at MDJ level with preliminary arraignment, bail, and preliminary hearing entries before the case is held for Common Pleas. A civil docket may begin with a complaint, service entry, motion, order, or judgment. A traffic docket may show the citation, plea, hearing date, fines, costs, and payment status.
Public dockets can also show limits. Personal identifiers, victim-sensitive data, juvenile information, confidential addresses, adoption files, mental health matters, and sealed or expunged records are withheld from ordinary public view. If an entry appears unclear, use the docket number and court name when calling the clerk office so staff can identify the right file.
Note: A docket is the best starting point, but a certified record still comes from the official keeper office.