Luzerne County Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts

The Luzerne County Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts

Pennsylvania does not use one single court clerk. The job is split. The Prothonotary is the clerk for civil and family matters in the Court of Common Pleas. The Clerk of Courts is the clerk for criminal cases. This is the old "row office" model, and it is still the law across the state. Each office has its own filing window, its own fees, and its own set of forms. A person who files a lawsuit deals with the Prothonotary. A person facing charges has a file with the Clerk of Courts.

Luzerne County runs under a Home Rule Charter, which changed how these offices are staffed. The old elected row offices are now appointed department-manager roles. Both the Prothonotary and the Clerk of Courts are managed together by department manager Molly Lukasavage, under the county's Division of Judicial Services and Records. So the two offices share leadership, but record custody stays split. Civil and family files stay with the Prothonotary. Criminal, juvenile, and dependency files stay with the Clerk of Courts. Probate and marriage records sit with a separate office, the Register of Wills.

Both offices are public. Anyone may walk in, view records, or ask staff for help during business hours.

What the Luzerne County Prothonotary Handles

The Prothonotary files, stores, and gives out civil documents for the Court of Common Pleas. That covers a wide range of cases. Civil complaints start here. So do divorce, custody, and Protection From Abuse (PFA) filings. The office also records judgments, liens, mortgage foreclosures, executions, and name changes. Appeals from magisterial district court decisions are filed with the Prothonotary too. The office is a passport acceptance facility, so it does more than just court paper.

The office computerized its civil records on March 1, 2005. Documents filed on or after that date are searchable by computer, and some older records are online as well. Public work stations sit inside the office for people who want to look things up in person. There is also an online civil records viewer at searchiqs.com/paluz. You can search by party name or by case number. An account and subscription apply, with per-document view and print fees.

One thing trips people up with e-filing. The system does not serve the other parties for you. If you file online, you must serve all parties and Court Administration yourself. The court will not do that step.

The Prothonotary forms page lists the documents the office uses most. The lead-in here links to that official county page so filers can grab the right form before they visit. You can review the full set at the Prothonotary Forms page.

A screenshot of that forms page is shown below.

The page groups civil and family forms so filers can match a form to the kind of case they have.

Luzerne County Prothonotary Contact

The Prothonotary office sits inside the main courthouse in Wilkes-Barre. Call ahead if you have a question about a fee or a form. Office hours run on weekdays, and the office closes for state holidays.

What the Luzerne County Clerk of Courts Handles

The Clerk of Courts is the filing office for criminal cases in the Court of Common Pleas. That includes adult criminal cases, juvenile cases, and dependency (Children and Youth) matters. The office processes summary appeals, which are appeals from minor citations decided at the magisterial level. It also handles expungements and limited access for criminal and summary cases. The office accepts electronic payment for filings.

These records run on the statewide Common Pleas Case Management System, known as CPCMS. That is the same backbone the public sees through the state docket portal. The Clerk of Courts office is on the 2nd floor of the courthouse. For criminal record questions, the office line is 570-825-1585.

Expungement and limited access are not the same thing. Expungement removes eligible criminal history. Limited access seals a record from public view but keeps it open to courts and law enforcement. Clean Slate, under 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.2, automates sealing for some records. Petition-based limited access, under § 9122.1, needs a filing. The Clerk of Courts processes both. Limited-access eligibility generally requires being ten years arrest-free. You can read the office's guidance on the Expungements page and the Limited Access page.

For a look at the criminal forms the office uses, the county posts them on a single page. That page is linked in the sentence below, which leads into the screenshot.

The Clerk of Courts forms page is shown here. You can also open it directly at the Clerk of Courts Forms page.

The forms there cover summary appeals, expungements, and other criminal filings the office accepts.

Luzerne County Clerk of Courts Contact

The Clerk of Courts shares the courthouse address but sits on the 2nd floor. Use this office for criminal case copies, record checks, and expungement filings. Hours match the rest of the courthouse offices.

How to Request a Certified Copy

A certified copy is a court copy stamped to prove it is real and complete. Courts, banks, and other agencies often will not take a plain printout. They want the certified version. The steps below work for both the Prothonotary and the Clerk of Courts. Pick the office that holds your record type first.

1. Find the docket or case number. Use the Prothonotary viewer for civil cases or the state portal for criminal cases.
2. Pick the right office. Civil, divorce, and family go to the Prothonotary. Criminal and summary appeals go to the Clerk of Courts.
3. Ask for the document by name and give the case number, the party names, and the number of copies you need.
4. Pay the copy fee plus the certification fee. The first certified page costs more than a plain page.
5. Pick up the copy in person, or ask the office to mail it. Mail-in requests should include payment and a return address.

Note: Bring photo ID and exact case details, since staff cannot give legal advice and can only pull what you can clearly identify.

Records Request Form Fields

Both offices need the same basic facts to pull a record. A written request, whether on a county form or a plain letter, should carry the items in the table below. The more exact your details, the faster staff can find the file. A search fee may apply if you cannot give a case number.

Luzerne County Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts Fees

Each office sets its own fee schedule. The Prothonotary schedule was revised March 3, 2025. The Clerk of Courts schedule has been in effect since January 1, 2021. Copy and certification fees are charged per page, so a long document costs more. The table below pulls the most-asked items from both offices.

The state court access policy sets a separate cap. Under 204 Pa. Code § 213.81, photocopy or print fees for case records shall not exceed $0.25 per page unless the rule says otherwise.

Probate and Marriage Records in Luzerne County

Neither the Prothonotary nor the Clerk of Courts handles probate or marriage. That work sits with the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court, a separate office. The Register of Wills probates wills, appoints personal representatives, issues short certificates, and acts as inheritance-tax agent for the Commonwealth. It also issues marriage licenses, which the county has kept since 1885.

If you need a will, an estate file, a guardianship record, or a marriage license, go to that office instead. For probate matters, see our probate records page. For marriage and divorce, see marriage and divorce records. Note that the divorce file itself stays with the Prothonotary, while the marriage license stays with the Register of Wills, so a couple's records can live in two places.

Related Luzerne County Resources

For full case files and search portals, see court records. For arrest and criminal case help, see arrest records. For probate, see probate records. For marriage and divorce, see marriage and divorce records.