Search Lehigh County Court Records
The first public path for Lehigh County court records is the Pennsylvania UJS Case Search system. It covers public docket information for the Court of Common Pleas and Magisterial District Courts. Use Common Pleas when the case is a felony, a major civil case, a divorce or family matter, an appeal from a lower court, or another general trial-court case. Use Magisterial District Court search tools for traffic citations, summary offenses, landlord-tenant cases, small civil claims, preliminary arraignments, and preliminary hearings. The public docket is often the fastest way to confirm that a Lehigh County court case exists.
Lehigh County also has Online Records Access, known as ORA. ORA is separate from the statewide court docket portal. It is most useful for county-held indexes, local record categories, recorded documents, estate or marriage-related searches, and records that route through a Clerk of Judicial Records division. When the online result does not show the document image, certification, or full file, the next step is the correct office: Civil Division or Prothonotary for civil records, Criminal Division or Clerk of Courts for criminal records, and Register of Wills or Orphans' Court for estate and marriage matters.
The county describes its local records portal through its Odyssey Public Access page.
That county source is important because UJS docket sheets and county record indexes answer different Lehigh County court records questions.
- Start with UJS Case Search or the specific Common Pleas or Magisterial District docket sheet report.
- Select the court level that matches the case. Common Pleas is not the right first stop for every traffic or landlord-tenant matter.
- Filter by Lehigh County when the system offers a county field.
- Search by docket number if known. If not, use the participant name and a date range.
- Open the docket sheet and record the docket number, court office, case status, filing date, parties, counsel, events, financial entries, and next hearing.
- If the docket is sealed, inactive, unavailable, or only partly public, contact the proper Clerk of Judicial Records division instead of assuming no file exists.
Lehigh County Court Search Fields
UJS docket search works best when one exact identifier is known. A Common Pleas criminal docket often uses a CP county-code pattern, with 39 identifying Lehigh County. Name searches can work, but common names may produce cases from multiple courts or counties. Date fields help separate old Lehigh County court records from current cases, and case-type filters keep traffic, civil, criminal, family, and landlord-tenant records from being mixed together.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Court Type | Dropdown or tab | Yes | Choose Common Pleas, Magisterial District, or appellate search based on the record. |
| County | Dropdown | Usually optional | Select Lehigh to narrow statewide results to local court records. |
| Docket Number | Text | No | Use the exact docket number when known, such as a CP-39 criminal docket format. |
| Participant Name | Text | No | Use last and first name fields where the search page provides both. |
| Organization Name | Text | No | Useful for business parties in civil or judgment records. |
| Date Filed / Date Range | Date fields | No | Narrows filings or docket entries by date. |
| Case Type | Dropdown | No | Options vary by report and may include criminal, civil, traffic, family, or landlord-tenant. |
| Search / Reset | Buttons | n/a | Run the search or clear all search fields. |
Lehigh ORA has a different structure. It may ask the user to select a record type or division first, then search by name, case or instrument number, and date range. Some views may require an account, a public-access session, or a county copy request. That difference matters when a reader needs a local index or a recorded document rather than a public UJS docket sheet.
Lehigh County Court Record Types
Lehigh County court records come from several offices and court levels. The Court of Common Pleas is the county's general trial court and hears felony criminal cases, major civil disputes, family cases, juvenile matters, Orphans' Court matters, and appeals from MDJ courts. Magisterial District Courts create many lower-court records, including traffic citations, non-traffic summary offenses, landlord-tenant complaints, small civil claims, preliminary arraignments, and preliminary hearings. A complete search may need both levels.
The county's official records structure is also split by division. The Clerk of Judicial Records includes the Prothonotary side for civil files, the Clerk of Courts side for criminal files, the Register of Wills for marriage and estate work, and the Recorder of Deeds for recorded land documents. A court judgment, estate filing, divorce file, or criminal docket may point to a different counter even when all are connected to county court records.
- Civil records include complaints, answers, motions, orders, judgments, liens, satisfaction entries, and appeals.
- Criminal records include complaints, charges, information filings, pleas, dispositions, sentences, bail entries, costs, and appeals.
- Family records include divorce, custody, support, and protection-from-abuse matters, with sensitive parts often restricted.
- Orphans' Court records include estate files, wills after death, accounts, guardianships, and related petitions.
- Traffic and MDJ records include citations, pleas, hearing dates, dispositions, fines, costs, and lower-court appeals.
- Landlord-tenant and small-claim records often begin and end in Magisterial District Court unless appealed.
The Pennsylvania courts describe the role of Courts of Common Pleas statewide.
That court-level context helps explain why Lehigh County court records may appear in UJS, ORA, or a division-specific copy process.
What Lehigh County Records Show
A public court record is not always the full case file. The docket sheet is a chronological activity list. It may show parties, filing dates, court events, charge information, judgments, orders, bail, costs, and disposition. The file behind that docket may include pleadings, motions, exhibits, proposed orders, signed orders, affidavits, notices, or other documents. Some filings are available only by request, and some are redacted or withheld under court policy.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Docket number | The court's case identifier, including Lehigh County's CP-39 pattern for many Common Pleas criminal cases. |
| Case caption | The parties and roles, such as Commonwealth v. Defendant, Plaintiff v. Defendant, Estate of, or In re. |
| Filing date and status | When the case opened and whether it is active, closed, disposed, inactive, sealed, transferred, or appealed. |
| Court assignment | The Common Pleas division, judge, courtroom, hearing officer, or MDJ office when public. |
| Docket events | Entries for complaints, hearings, continuances, motions, orders, pleas, sentencing, judgment, satisfaction, or appeal. |
| Financial fields | Bail, fines, costs, restitution, judgment amounts, sheriff costs, or satisfaction entries when public. |
| Criminal charges | Offense description, statute, grading, offense date, charge disposition, and sentence fields. |
| Redactions | Personal identifiers, victim information, minor names, confidential addresses, and sealed filings removed from public view. |
Lehigh County Public Access Rules
Public access to Lehigh County court records is governed first by judiciary rules, not by a simple county open-records form. The Pennsylvania Judiciary public records materials and the UJS Case Records Public Access Policy set the statewide access framework for appellate and trial court case records. The policy is why a docket may be public while an image, address, minor's name, financial identifier, victim detail, or sealed filing is not shown.
The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records and the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law are still relevant for county administrative records. They are not a shortcut around sealed court files. A Lehigh County court records request should go through the Clerk of Judicial Records division when the target is a court case file, while a county executive-branch request should route through Lehigh County Open Records.
Lehigh County publishes an Open Records channel for county records outside ordinary court-file access.
The open-records channel is a fallback for county administrative records, while the court and clerk channels remain the record path for case files.
Note: RTKL can help with county administrative records, but sealed court records remain controlled by court rules.
Restricted Lehigh County Court Records
Not all Lehigh County court records are open to the public. Juvenile delinquency and dependency records are restricted under 42 Pa.C.S. Section 6307 and court policy. Adoption records, mental health proceedings, confidential family filings, victim information, minor names, protected addresses, financial-account numbers, and medical details can be sealed, redacted, or excluded. Protection-from-abuse matters may show limited docket information while hiding addresses, minors, and sensitive allegations.
Criminal records can also be limited. Pennsylvania's expungement statute, 18 Pa.C.S. Section 9122, and Clean Slate limited access statute, 18 Pa.C.S. Section 9122.1, control when eligible records may be removed or hidden from most public view. The practical first step is to pull the exact Lehigh County docket, confirm every charge disposition, and use the court that handled the case for any petition.
Lehigh County Copy Requests
In-person and mail requests are still important because public docket sites do not supply every document or certified copy. Current case information through Odyssey Public Access is available at the Clerk of Judicial Records Civil Division, Room 122, at the Lehigh County Courthouse, 455 W. Hamilton St., Allentown, PA 18101. The research source lists Monday through Friday hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed county holidays, for that Civil Division public access route. Criminal records should route to the Criminal Division or Clerk of Courts, while estate and marriage records route to the Register of Wills or Orphans' Court side.
For a copy request, bring or provide the docket number, case caption, party names, date range, requested document title, copy type, and payment method confirmed with the division. Attorney Docket Access questions route to attorneydocketaccess@lehighcounty.org, and the county posted that copy swipe cards for Public Review copies were no longer compatible as of November 1, 2024. When a Lehigh County court record is not online, a division-specific copy request is usually more useful than a broad search.
Free docket and opinion research outside the county system may also be available through CourtListener.
CourtListener can help with published opinions or docket research, but certified Lehigh County court records still come from the official court or clerk source.
Clerk of Judicial Records
Lehigh County Courthouse
455 West Hamilton Street
Allentown, PA 18101
Use the division that matches the record type.