Juniata Clerk of Courts Office
Juniata County's criminal court filing office is part of the Prothonotary/Clerk of Courts row office. Lori A. Ferry is the Prothonotary, and the county page describes the office as handling criminal, civil, and juvenile actions that are filed, docketed, and indexed there. For criminal matters, the Clerk of Courts portion has charge of criminal filings, exhibits, witnesses, and jurors. It also administers oaths, certifies legal documents, processes passports, files state and county reports, and distributes fines and costs collected.
The combined office name can confuse searchers. A person seeking a felony or misdemeanor Court of Common Pleas file may hear "Prothonotary," "Clerk of Courts," or "Prothonotary/Clerk of Courts" used for the same local counter. For civil matters, the Prothonotary page is the better fit. For criminal informations, plea filings, sentencing orders, bail docket entries, criminal exhibits, fines, costs, and certified criminal copies, use the Clerk of Courts function.
Prothonotary / Clerk of Courts
Official: Lori A. Ferry
1 N Main St., P.O. Box 68
Mifflintown, PA 17059
717-436-7715
Fax: 717-470-3088
County office hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Juniata Criminal Record Duties
Criminal cases in Juniata County may begin in Magisterial District Court with a complaint, OTN, preliminary arraignment, bail, and preliminary hearing. If charges are held for court, the matter moves to the Court of Common Pleas. At that stage, the Clerk of Courts function becomes the key local filing office for the criminal case file. The criminal docket may show charges, plea, motions, orders, disposition, sentencing, fines, costs, restitution, and appeal entries.
- File and docket criminal Court of Common Pleas actions.
- Maintain criminal filings, exhibits, witness, and juror-related records.
- Certify legal documents from the criminal file when available.
- Distribute fines and costs collected through criminal cases.
- Handle criminal transcript request routing for cases filed in the office.
Some criminal docket sheets are searchable through Pennsylvania UJS Case Search. UJS is a free public docket service, but it warns that recent entries may lag and that docket sheets should not be used as a Pennsylvania State Police criminal-history background check. The county office remains the channel for certified copies, file questions, and documents not available from the online docket sheet.
Request Criminal Certified Copies
Certified criminal copies may be needed for court, immigration, licensing, expungement, limited access, appeal, or proof of disposition. A requester should first identify the exact criminal case, then ask whether the document is public and available. Juvenile, sealed, expunged, or limited-access matters may not be released through a general public request.
- Search UJS by docket number, participant name, OTN, complaint number, or SID when available.
- Confirm that the case is a Juniata County Court of Common Pleas criminal matter.
- List the exact document needed, such as sentencing order, disposition, plea order, or docket certification.
- Call the Clerk of Courts office at 717-436-7715 for current copy and certification fees.
- Submit the request by mail or in person with payment as directed by the office.
For charge-level details before the case reaches Common Pleas, the Magisterial District Court docket may show the complaint number, preliminary hearing, bail, and whether the charges were held for court. For the full Common Pleas criminal file, use the Clerk of Courts channel after identifying the docket.
Criminal Records Request Fields
A good Clerk of Courts request is narrow. The county office says no searches of indices, including judgments and liens, will be done by staff. While that notice is broad, the practical lesson applies to criminal files too: provide exact identifiers instead of asking the office to search every possible match.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Criminal docket number | Best if known | Use the exact Common Pleas docket number from UJS or the court file. |
| Defendant name | Yes | Use full legal name and any known spelling variants. |
| OTN or complaint number | If known | Useful when matching arrest-to-charge records. |
| Document requested | Yes | Disposition, sentencing order, docket copy, transcript, or specific filing. |
| Copy type | Yes | Plain, certified, transcript, or other format. |
| Requester contact | Yes | Mailing address and phone for fee or pickup questions. |
Juniata Clerk of Courts Fees
The county posts a Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts fee schedule, and filing fees are due when a filing is made. For criminal copy work, the exact cost can depend on the document, certification, and transcript status. The transcript rates below were captured from the research file and local transcript materials.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Criminal filing fees | Due at time of filing when applicable |
| Ordinary transcript, private paid | $2.75 per page in local rule |
| Expedited transcript, private paid | $3.75 per page in local rule |
| Daily transcript, private paid | $4.75 per page in local rule |
| Same-day transcript, private paid | $6.75 per page in local rule |
| Existing transcript copy | $0.50 per page bound paper |
Traffic tickets, fines, costs, and restitution may be payable online through PAePay if the obligation is approved for online payment. Not every balance appears online, and payment questions can still require the court office listed on the docket.
Criminal Forms and Transcripts
The transcript request form is the main captured court form for Clerk of Courts record use. It asks for the county, caption, docket number, presiding judge, proceeding date, proceeding type, appeal status, requester role, requested transcript items, delivery time, delivery method, and signature. Criminal transcript requests should identify whether the request covers the entire proceeding or a limited part such as testimony, opening statements, closing arguments, or a pretrial hearing.
- Request for Transcripts - for criminal, civil, family, Orphans' Court, juvenile, and other proceedings.
- Pennsylvania court forms - statewide criminal, expungement, juvenile, and public forms.
- Local Prothonotary/Clerk page - county filing information and local links.
Expungement and limited access use official Pennsylvania court forms and statutes. The Clerk of Courts can receive filings for the court, but it cannot give legal advice about whether a criminal record qualifies for expungement or limited access.
Mail Filing and Access Limits
Juniata County filings may be made by mail or in person, but they must be original in nature, signed with an original signature, and include a case caption. Fax and email filing are not accepted and will not be filed for record. Criminal filing deadlines should therefore be planned around actual delivery to the office or the court's accepted filing method.
Public access also has legal limits. Juvenile cases are not broadly searchable. Expunged, sealed, and limited-access criminal records may not appear in public searches. Arrest warrant information may have delayed access, and unexecuted search warrants are not open until execution under the public-access limits described in the research file.
Note: UJS docket sheets are helpful for criminal case lookup, but certified documents must come from the court or filing office that keeps the record.