Bucks County Prothonotary Records

About the Bucks County Prothonotary

The Prothonotary is the Clerk of the Civil Division of the Court of Common Pleas. In plain terms, this is the civil and family records clerk for Bucks County. The current Prothonotary is Donna Petrecco. The office sits inside the Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown and serves anyone who needs to file, view, or copy a civil or family case. Many counties use a simpler title for this job, but Pennsylvania keeps the older name. The role is an old one, and the duties have grown over time.

The office does more than store paper. It opens new actions, dockets each event, scans the documents, and keeps the running record that the courts and the public both rely on. Filings come in by walk-in, by mail, and online. The staff also takes passport applications, which is a service many people do not expect to find at a court office. For the official rundown of services, the county keeps a Prothonotary page online.

What the Prothonotary Does in Bucks County

The Prothonotary processes, dockets, scans, and keeps civil and family court records. That work spans a long list of filings. When a lawsuit starts, the office opens the case and gives it a number. When a divorce or custody matter is filed, the same office handles the paperwork. It also records liens and judgments, enters satisfactions when debts are paid, issues writs and subpoenas, and takes in appeals headed to the higher courts. All civil and family filings are accepted on a walk-in basis, so you can hand papers across the counter.

The main duties cover a wide range of court business.

• Commencement of actions, complaints, and writs of summons
• Divorce, custody, support, and Protection From Abuse filings
• Name-change petitions, liens, judgments, revivals, and satisfactions
• Appeals, executions, subpoenas, and notary signatures
• Judicial and tax sale exceptions and magisterial district court appeals
• Appellate filings to the Superior, Commonwealth, and Supreme Courts
• Passport applications for the public

Passport service runs on its own schedule. The county lists passport appointments from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and recommends booking ahead, though walk-ins are welcome. For everything else, the regular public counter hours apply, Monday through Friday.

Two phone lines split the work. The Civil Division, which also takes passports, answers at 215-348-6191. The Family Division answers at 215-348-6822. Calling the right line saves time, since family staff cannot pull a civil suit and civil staff cannot pull a custody file. Both sit in the same building, but they keep separate records and separate counters.

How to Request a Certified Copy

A certified copy is a document the office stamps and signs to prove it is a true copy of the record. Courts, lenders, and agencies often ask for one. A plain printout will not do for those uses. Getting a certified copy from the Prothonotary takes a few clear steps, and most can be done at the counter in Doylestown.

1. Identify the case by its case number or by a party name.
2. Search the Web Viewer to confirm the case and the document you need.
3. Visit or contact the Prothonotary at 100 N Main Street in Doylestown.
4. Pay the copy fee plus the technology fee for the document.
5. Ask the staff to certify the copy so it carries the official stamp.
6. For family matters, contact the Family Division at 215-348-6822, since Family Court documents are not online.

Family files are the one big exception to the online route. Because they are not posted, you cannot pull them through the Web Viewer. A call or visit to the Family Division is the way to reach those records. Bring a case number when you can, since it points the staff straight to the file. A party name works too, though common names may return more than one match. The office cannot tell you how to use a record once you have it, but it can stamp the copy so it stands up in court.

Records Request Form Fields

A clean request moves through the office faster. Whether you ask in person or by mail, the staff needs enough detail to find the right file and the right document. Civil and family filings each carry their own added forms, so it helps to know what the office expects before you arrive.

Two of these forms tie back to a court rule. A Certificate of Compliance must come with paper-filed documents under the Case Records Public Access Policy and Administrative Order No. 88. No paper-filed document is accepted without it. A Confidential Information Form is required when a filing holds protected data, such as a Social Security number. These rules protect private details while keeping the rest of the record open.

Bucks County Prothonotary Fees

Fees fall into two groups. There are the costs to view and buy documents online, and there are the filing fees for civil cases. The online costs are short and easy to state. The full civil filing fees are long, and the office publishes them in a separate fee bill rather than a single flat number.

The civil filing fees change by case type and action, so the office posts the full list as a PDF. You can read the current rates in the Prothonotary fee bill before you file. The online fees, by contrast, stay simple. Each document pulled through the Web Viewer costs ten cents a page, plus the one-dollar technology fee for the cart. E-filing adds a convenience charge through the payment vendor.

Note: Always check the posted fee bill before filing, since civil filing fees are set by case type and are not a single flat amount.

Common Prothonotary Forms

The Prothonotary uses many forms across civil and family work. The office also runs a Self-Help Center with forms for people who do not have a lawyer. The center offers forms for expungement, record sealing, pardons, a generic civil complaint, and other civil and family matters. No court office may give legal advice, so the staff can hand you a form but cannot tell you how to fill it out for your case.

• Civil complaint
• Writ of summons
• Praecipe to enter judgment
• Satisfaction of judgment
• Appeal from a magisterial district court
• Name-change petition
• Protection From Abuse forms
• Self-Help Center expungement and record-sealing forms

For do-it-yourself filers, the Self-Help Center is the place to start. It gathers the most common forms in one spot.

Mail and Online Filings

You do not always have to drive to Doylestown. The Prothonotary public access system is open 24/7 for e-filing, pleadings, document viewing, and docket information. It runs through the ProPublic Web Viewer, which is the county's online portal for civil and probate cases.

The county explains how the system works on its e-filing page, and the portal itself is a separate site you log in to.

Through this portal you can file documents and pull pleadings without a counter visit.

The ProPublic Web Viewer lets you view dockets and buy documents, and the county's E-Filing and Web Viewer page walks through setup. Document purchases cost $0.10 per page plus a $1 technology fee for each cart. E-filing carries a convenience fee of 2.39% or $1.50, whichever is greater, through the payment vendor. One limit to keep in mind: no Family Court documents are available online, so those still go through the Family Division.

Related Bucks County Resources

The Prothonotary handles civil and family records, but it is not the only records office in the county. The Clerk of Courts keeps criminal records, and the Register of Wills keeps probate and marriage records through the Orphans' Court. For a broader look at how to search cases, see court records. The trial court itself is profiled on the Court of Common Pleas page. For divorce and marriage files, the marriage and divorce records page lays out where each one lives.