What the Fayette County Prothonotary Keeps
Pennsylvania uses a split clerk structure in Fayette County. The Prothonotary keeps civil, family, judgment, lien, and divorce records for the Court of Common Pleas. The office does not keep criminal case records; those are handled by the Clerk of Courts. It also does not open estates or issue marriage licenses; those matters go to the Register of Wills / Clerk of Orphans' Court.
Nina Capuzzi Frankhouser is listed as Fayette County Prothonotary. The office page is fayettecountypa.org/434/Prothonotary. Office address and mailing address are Fayette County Prothonotary, 61 East Main Street, 1st Floor, Uniontown, PA 15401; phone 724-430-1272; fax 724-430-4555; email nfrankhouser@fayettepa.org; hours Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Civil, Family, Divorce, Judgment, and Lien Records
Records maintained by the Prothonotary are available for public view unless sealed by the court. Current filings are electronically scanned for immediate viewing through public terminal search or off-site Infocon account access. The county page also states that older indexes have been scanned, which is important for researchers who need cases that predate modern electronic docket habits.
Typical Prothonotary matters include assumpsit, tort, ejectment, equity, mandamus, mortgage foreclosure, partition, replevin, declaratory judgment, writ of summons, first lis pendens, custody complaints, divorce complaints, judgments, magisterial district judge appeals, and civil docket transcripts. Divorce decree certified copy requests route here because Pennsylvania divorce records are kept in the county Prothonotary office where the divorce was granted.
When a case involves both civil and criminal history, check both clerk offices. A protection, custody, divorce, or judgment record may sit with the Prothonotary even when a related criminal docket exists with the Clerk of Courts.
Public Terminals, Infocon, and UJS Case Search
The Prothonotary offers three public research terminals in the office. Off-site access is available through Infocon County Access, a fee-based subscriber service for participating county records. These channels are the local paths for civil filings and scanned indexes.
For public docket-sheet searching across Pennsylvania courts, use UJS Case Search at ujsportal.pacourts.us/casesearch and select County = Fayette. UJS supports searches by docket number, participant name, organization, date filed, OTN, citation number, complaint number, incident number, SID, attorney, and calendar event. UJS docket sheets are useful, but they are not a full free document repository and may lag behind courthouse entries.
Records Request Form Fields
For civil or divorce copy requests, give the Prothonotary enough information to identify the file and the exact document. If the matter is instead an administrative Right-to-Know request, Fayette County's form asks for requester contact details, submission method, records requested, and whether the requester wants inspection, copies, or certified copies.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case Number | No, but helpful | Use a CP-26 civil or family docket number when known. |
| Party Names | Yes | Include all known party names and former names for divorce matters. |
| Document Type | Yes | Examples include decree, complaint, judgment, custody order, or certified copy. |
| Number of Copies | Yes | Specify plain or certified copies and the quantity needed. |
How to Request Certified Copies
Certified copies from the Prothonotary are used when a civil judgment, divorce decree, custody order, or other filed document must be proven outside ordinary docket review. Start by identifying the case number from UJS, Infocon, an older index, or a courthouse terminal. If the case number is not known, provide complete party names, approximate filing year, and the exact document needed so the office can search efficiently.
- Find the docket number, party names, and document title before calling or visiting the office.
- Confirm whether the record is public, sealed, archived, or available through a public terminal.
- Ask for a plain copy or certified copy and confirm the current fee before mailing payment.
- Include return contact information and any deadline if the copy is needed for a filing, benefits issue, or name-change matter.
Divorce decrees require special care because the docket sheet may not be enough for remarriage, citizenship, name restoration, pension, or benefit purposes. Certified decree copies should come from the Fayette County Prothonotary, and the office should confirm whether the decree is available immediately, archived, or restricted by court order.
Fayette County Prothonotary Fees
The county fee schedule includes copy charges, civil filing fees, family filing fees, and judgment entries. The Prothonotary states that personal checks are not accepted. Large copy requests require a nonrefundable $20 deposit; if copies are not picked up within ten days, the deposit is forfeited.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Plain copy per page | $0.25 |
| Certified copy | $14 |
| Complaint in divorce | $134.50 |
| Each additional divorce count | $68.50 |
| Divorce with custody | $79 |
| Custody complaint | $118 |
| Custody mediation fee | $100 |
| MDJ appeal | $98.50 |
| Common civil action filing | $117.50 |
| Judgment general/note/arrearage | $22.25 |
| MDJ transcript | $22.25 |
Common Prothonotary Forms and Local Limits
The Prothonotary page states that no downloadable forms are provided and passport photos are not available through the office. A divorce-decree certified copy request form is linked from the county page, but the research noted a redirect loop during fetching, so requesters should use the county Prothonotary page directly or call 724-430-1272 before relying on a saved form link.
- Prothonotary office page - civil records access, terminal notes, Infocon access, contact information, and linked fee materials.
- Lien and judgment prefixes - local docket prefix reference for judgment and lien research.
Mail, Online Access, and Lien Prefixes
Mail Prothonotary correspondence to Fayette County Prothonotary, 61 East Main Street, Uniontown, PA 15401. For online access, use UJS for public docket sheets and Infocon for county subscriber access where available. For in-person research, use the courthouse terminals during office hours.
Fayette County publishes local lien and judgment docket prefixes that help decode older and specialized entries: no prefix for GD, 4 for federal tax lien, 5 for execution docket, 6 for DSB, 7 for mechanics lien, and 8 for municipal lien. These prefixes matter when a search result or index entry does not read like a standard civil docket number.
Right-to-Know requests should not be used as a shortcut for ordinary court-file copies when the Prothonotary has a specific court-record process. Use the court office for case files, decrees, judgments, and certified copies. Use the county Open Records Officer for administrative county records that are not part of a judicial case file.
For older civil, judgment, lien, or divorce records, expect the search to be more index-driven than a current UJS lookup. The county Prothonotary page states that all current filings are electronically scanned for immediate viewing and that older indexes have been scanned, but the requester still needs enough identifying information to narrow the file. Names, filing year, docket prefix, judgment type, and whether the matter began as a Magisterial District Judge appeal can all change the search path.