What the Clerk of Courts Keeps
Fayette County separates clerk responsibilities. The Clerk of Courts keeps criminal court records for the Court of Common Pleas. Civil, family, divorce, lien, and judgment records go to the Prothonotary; estate and marriage-license matters go to the Register of Wills / Clerk of Orphans' Court.
Timothy C. Dye is listed as Fayette County Clerk of Courts. The office is at 61 East Main Street, 1st Floor, Uniontown, PA 15401; phone 724-430-1253; fax 724-438-8410. Hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., closed noon-1 p.m. daily. The office page is fayettecountypa.org/517/Clerk-of-Courts.
Criminal Records and Docket Access
The Clerk of Courts office mission is maintaining accurate information and preserving the security and integrity of criminal records entrusted to the office. Staff roles identified in research include criminal division secretaries, a collections coordinator, and a solicitor. The office feeds criminal case records, summary appeals, criminal fines and costs, restitution, expungement filings, and certified criminal record requests.
Public docket-sheet searches for Fayette County criminal cases are available through Pennsylvania UJS Case Search at ujsportal.pacourts.us/casesearch. Select County = Fayette and search by participant name, docket number, OTN, complaint number, incident number, SID, attorney, organization, or calendar event. UJS warns that public docket sheets should not be used as a substitute for a Pennsylvania State Police criminal-history background check.
The Clerk of Courts record begins after a criminal matter reaches the Common Pleas criminal division. Arrest reports, jail custody records, police incident files, and Pennsylvania State Police background checks are separate records and may require separate agencies.
Criminal Record Request Details
Criminal record requests should identify the defendant, docket number if known, document type, and whether a plain or certified copy is needed. For statewide criminal-history checks, use the Pennsylvania State Police process rather than a courthouse docket sheet.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Criminal docket number | No, but helpful | Common Pleas criminal dockets commonly use CP-26-CR formatting. |
| Defendant name | Yes | Include date of birth only when the office requests it for identification. |
| Document type | Yes | Examples include docket entries, sentencing order, disposition, summary appeal record, or certified criminal record. |
| Copy type | Yes | State whether plain copies, certified copies, or inspection are requested. |
How to Request Certified Criminal Copies
Certified criminal copies are often needed for licensing, immigration, military, appeal, probation, or agency review. Begin with the Common Pleas criminal docket number if possible. UJS can help identify the CP-26-CR docket, charge list, disposition, and sentence, but the certified copy must come from the Clerk of Courts when the record is a Fayette County Common Pleas criminal filing.
- Search UJS by defendant name, docket number, OTN, complaint number, or incident number.
- Confirm that the case is a Fayette County Court of Common Pleas criminal matter rather than a Magisterial District Court-only citation.
- Contact the Clerk of Courts with the docket number, defendant name, document needed, and certification request.
- Confirm copy fees, payment rules, pickup, mailing, and whether the case is sealed, expunged, or limited access.
A docket printout and a certified disposition are not the same thing. A docket printout is useful for research. A certified copy carries the issuing office's certification and should be requested when an outside agency asks for an official court record.
Summary Appeals and Lower-Court Criminal Matters
Traffic citations, summary offenses, preliminary arraignments, and preliminary hearings often begin in Magisterial District Courts. When a summary conviction appeal reaches Common Pleas, Fayette County research states that once the appeal is filed and the filing fee is paid, the Clerk of Courts schedules the Summary Appeal Hearing using dates and times supplied by the Court. The hearing date stamped on the appeal copy is the only hearing notice unless a continuance order is mailed.
For lower-court matters that have not reached Common Pleas, contact the relevant Magisterial District Court or search UJS by citation number, participant name, docket number, complaint number, or incident number. Fayette County's Magisterial District Judge directory is at fayettecountypa.org/474/Magisterial-District-Judges.
Criminal Fines, Costs, Restitution, and Payments
Eligible criminal fines, costs, restitution, and payment-plan obligations may be payable through PAePay at ujsportal.pacourts.us/PAePayFCR. Fayette County's local payment rules state accepted online payment types are Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and ATM/Debit cards; a $2.75 surcharge applies; online payments have a $1,000 transaction limit and do not post until the next business day.
Limited-access or sealed cases may not appear publicly in UJS or be payable online. For criminal financial questions tied to a specific Common Pleas docket, contact the Clerk of Courts at 724-430-1253 rather than the Prothonotary. Payment status can also affect warrant, probation, and restitution questions, so confirm recent payments directly when timing matters.
Expungement and Limited Access
Expungement filings involving Fayette County criminal cases route through the criminal records side of the court system. Research identified Pennsylvania's expungement statute, 18 Pa.C.S. 9122, and the Criminal History Record Information Act chapter as relevant state-law sources. Filing eligibility, sealing, and limited-access effects depend on the case history and applicable Pennsylvania law.
A docket entry being public does not mean every document is available online, and a case disappearing from a public search does not prove it was expunged. Confirm official status with the Clerk of Courts, counsel, or the Pennsylvania State Police criminal-history process as appropriate.
Related Criminal Court Offices
Criminal cases may involve several Fayette County courthouse offices. The District Attorney prosecutes criminal cases after police file charges and matters are held for court. The official District Attorney page lists Michael A. Aubele at 61 East Main Street, Uniontown, PA 15401; phone 724-430-1245; hours Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., closed noon-1 p.m. daily.
- Clerk of Courts - Common Pleas criminal recordkeeping, summary appeals, payments, and certified criminal record requests.
- District Attorney's Office - prosecution, ARD, forms, detective, and victim/witness links.
- Public Defender - county public defense office contact information.
For current custody, use Fayette County Jail or the sheriff-directed roster path rather than the Clerk of Courts. For active bench warrants, use the county bench-warrant list, UJS docket review, and the Sheriff's Office. For official criminal-history dissemination, use the Pennsylvania State Police channel governed by the Criminal History Record Information Act.
When a criminal docket includes fines, costs, restitution, a payment plan, a summary appeal, or a bench-warrant entry, the Clerk of Courts is the local office most likely to explain the court-record side of the matter. The Sheriff's Office handles enforcement and custody, the jail confirms whether a person is held, and Magisterial District Courts handle lower-court filings before the case reaches Common Pleas. Keeping those roles separate prevents users from asking the wrong office for a record it does not maintain.