Cambria County Court Records Search
Start most court-record lookups with the Pennsylvania UJS Case Search. UJS provides public docket sheets for appellate courts, Criminal Courts of Common Pleas, Magisterial District Courts, and Philadelphia Municipal Court. In Cambria County, that means the portal is useful for adult criminal Court of Common Pleas cases, magisterial criminal and traffic matters, summary offenses, and statewide appellate entries. The public docket sheet is a case summary, not the whole court file.
For civil Court of Common Pleas records, use the Cambria County Civil Court Online Portal and its public search page tied to the Prothonotary. That portal is the local channel for civil filings such as divorce, custody, protection from abuse, judgments, liens, eminent domain, landlord-tenant appeals, and other Prothonotary records. Older, certified, sealed, or non-digitized copies still route through the filing office that keeps the case.
- Use UJS Case Search for criminal, magisterial, traffic, appellate, and public calendar docket information.
- Use CountySuite for civil Court of Common Pleas cases maintained by the Cambria County Prothonotary.
- Search by docket number when known, or narrow by participant name, court type, county, and filing date.
- Open the docket sheet and compare the caption, court, filing date, judge, and event history before relying on the result.
- Contact the Prothonotary, Clerk of Courts, or Register of Wills / Clerk of Orphans' Court for certified copies or records not shown online.
The UJS case information page also points users to public calendars, secure docket sheets, and the PAeDocket mobile app. Secure docket sheets can include content not visible to the public and require login.
The UJS case information page describes how Pennsylvania public docket sheets and case tools are organized.
Use that statewide source for the docket layer, then move to the Cambria County office that holds the file when a certified record is needed.
Cambria County Search Fields
UJS and PAeDocket support several search paths. CountySuite has a different set of civil filters. The strongest search uses a docket number or case number. A name search can work, but it may return many people with similar names, especially where criminal, magisterial, and traffic cases share statewide access points.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search by | Tab/dropdown | Yes | Docket number, participant name, organization name, OTN, complaint number, or state ID number. |
| Docket Number / Case Number | Text | No | Best option when a filing notice, ticket, or prior docket sheet is available. |
| Participant Name | Text | Usually yes for name search | Use last name and first name where available, then narrow by Cambria County. |
| Date of Birth | Date | No | Helps distinguish people in criminal and person-based searches where the field is offered. |
| County | Dropdown | No | Select Cambria to limit statewide UJS results. |
| Court Type | Dropdown | Varies | Common Pleas, Magisterial District, appellate, or payment case type. |
| CountySuite Civil Tabs | Tab | No | Name or case number, case number, participant name, participant address, or reference numbers. |
| Date Opened Range | Date | No | CountySuite advanced filter for civil cases opened within a start and end date. |
The AOPC docket sheet page warns that recent filing-office entries may not appear right away. It also states that docket sheets are not a substitute for a Pennsylvania State Police criminal-history background check.
That lag is one reason Cambria County users should call the filing office when an urgent deadline, new order, or recent hearing is not reflected in the portal.
Types of Cambria County Court Records
Cambria County court records split by court and office. Civil Court of Common Pleas files are kept by the Prothonotary. Adult criminal Court of Common Pleas files are kept by the Clerk of Courts. Magisterial District Judges handle preliminary arraignments, preliminary hearings, summary offenses, traffic citations, landlord-tenant matters, small civil claims, private criminal complaints after District Attorney approval, and local ordinance cases.
- Civil records include complaints, answers, judgments, liens, real-estate civil matters, eminent domain, and appeals from Magisterial District judgments.
- Criminal court records include informations, arraignments, pleas, motions, orders, verdicts, sentencing, costs, restitution, and probation-related orders.
- Family civil filings include divorce, custody, and protection from abuse matters filed with the Prothonotary.
- Orphans' Court records include estate files, probate matters, guardianship matters, and marriage records through the Register of Wills / Clerk of Orphans' Court.
- Traffic and summary dockets usually begin in Magisterial District Court and may also appear through PAePay when payment is available.
The Cambria County Prothonotary public search screen shows the civil case search options for local Common Pleas filings.
That civil search is separate from UJS criminal and magisterial docket access, so a complete court-record search may require both systems.
What Cambria Court Records Show
A public docket or court record may show the case number, county, court, docket type, filing date, caption, participant names, attorney names where public, judge or Magisterial District Judge, status, claim or charge type, statute section, grading, OTN, complaint or citation number, event dates, dispositions, judgments, sentence entries, costs, restitution, bail, and appeal entries. Not every field appears in every case type.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Docket Number | The court's case identifier for UJS, Common Pleas, magisterial, or civil portal lookup. |
| Caption | The case name, such as Commonwealth v. defendant or plaintiff v. defendant. |
| Filing Date | The date the case, complaint, citation, petition, or appeal entered the court record. |
| Judge / MDJ | The Common Pleas judge or Magisterial District Judge tied to the docket or event. |
| Charges or Claims | Criminal charges, traffic citations, civil claims, family petitions, or probate matter type. |
| Docket Entries | The chronological list of filings, hearings, orders, payments, warrants, and dispositions. |
| Disposition | The case or charge outcome, judgment, plea, dismissal, sentence, or other final action. |
- Docket
- A chronological list of events in a case.
- Certified copy
- An official copy authenticated by the proper clerk.
- Disposition
- The outcome of a charge, claim, or case.
- Limited access
- Pennsylvania sealing from public view for eligible criminal records.
Public Access for Cambria Records
Court case access in Pennsylvania is shaped by judiciary access policies, not only by county open-records rules. The Pennsylvania UJS public records page links court data, docket sheets, financial records, and access-policy materials. The Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, 65 P.S. § 67.101 et seq., governs access to state and local agency records, while court case records follow judiciary rules and office procedures.
For county administrative records, Cambria County Open Records accepts requests by email, mail, fax, or in person. The county states that the Right-to-Know form may be used but is not mandatory. The Open Records Officer is Melissa Kestermont at 200 South Center Street, Ebensburg, PA 15931, phone (814) 472-1607, fax (814) 472-6940, email mkestermont@co.cambria.pa.us. Record Storage is separate at 1150 Wilmore Road, Ebensburg, PA 15931, phone (814) 472-2353.
The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records explains the Right-to-Know Law for county administrative record requests.
Use the county open-records channel for administrative records, not as a substitute for a case copy from the court office that filed the record.
Note: A public online docket is not the same thing as a certified copy from the filing office.
Restricted Cambria Court Records
Some Cambria County court records are public only in part, or not public at all. Restricted categories include juvenile cases, adoption files, sealed criminal records, expunged records, some mental-health proceedings, confidential victim or witness information, Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, minor names in certain contexts, and secure criminal reports. UJS distinguishes public docket sheets from secure docket sheets and secure calendar schedules.
Expungement and limited-access work is usually docket-specific. A person normally identifies the docket number, OTN, charges, arrest date, disposition, and agencies holding the record, then files the proper petition or uses statewide forms where available. Pennsylvania law includes 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122 for adult criminal expungement and 18 Pa.C.S. § 9123 for juvenile expungement.
The UJS public records page is the statewide reference point for electronic case access rules and correction request materials.
When the public portal omits a record, the omission may reflect timing, sealing, limited access, or the fact that the file must be requested from the office of record.
Cambria County Record Offices
The Cambria County Courthouse is the local hub for Court Administration, the Prothonotary, Clerk of Courts, Register of Wills / Clerk of Orphans' Court, District Attorney, Public Defender, Sheriff, and related court offices. The courthouse is open Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Research did not locate official parking rates, locker rules, a security screening list, or an ADA entrance map, so users should confirm office-specific access details before visiting.
Cambria County Prothonotary
200 South Center Street
Ebensburg, PA 15931
(814) 472-1638
Civil Court of Common Pleas records
Cambria County Clerk of Courts
200 South Center Street
Ebensburg, PA 15931
(814) 472-1540
Adult criminal Court of Common Pleas records
Cambria County Court Records Fallbacks
When a Cambria County court records search does not return the file, the next step depends on the record type. A recent criminal filing may be in the Clerk of Courts office before the public docket updates. A civil filing may be in CountySuite under a party name, participant address, reference number, or date-opened range rather than the search term first used. A traffic matter may sit with the Magisterial District Court named on the citation, and a marriage or estate file may belong to the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court instead of a trial-court clerk.
The county Open Records Officer is a fallback for administrative county records, not a replacement for the court office that holds a case file. Cambria County states that the Right-to-Know request form may be used but is not mandatory, and requests may be emailed, mailed, faxed, or presented in person. For court case copies, keep the docket number, party names, filing year, document type, and office name together before calling. That keeps the request tied to the correct Cambria County record keeper.