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Direct answer

Pennsylvania Dockets or State History?

For Pennsylvania criminal records, use the UJS Web Portal for public court docket sheets and Pennsylvania State Police PATCH when the task is a criminal-history background check. The two systems answer different questions, so do not treat a docket search as a substitute for PATCH.

Source map

Court record or criminal-history check?

Need Official route What it gives Do not assume
Court case activity Pennsylvania UJS Web Portal Public docket sheet and case events That it is a complete criminal-history report
Pennsylvania criminal-history check Pennsylvania State Police PATCH Repository background-check result That it contains federal or out-of-state records
Your full Pennsylvania record for review State Police access-and-review route Record review including non-conviction material as permitted That a public docket search is equivalent
Process

A clean Pennsylvania search sequence

  1. 01
    Define the task

    Online PATCH credit-card transactions carry a 2% fee; registered users and mailed requests paying by check are exempt from that transaction fee.

    Decide whether you need a court case, a background-check result, or your own record review.

    The standard PATCH check costs $22 online or by mail using SP 4-164. Unpaid-volunteer checks are free through PATCH or SP 4-164A. Your individual access-and-review request uses SP 4-170 by mail only and costs $20; it cannot be notarized.

  2. 02
    Search the correct system

    Use UJS for court dockets or PATCH for the State Police repository.

    For a case docket, choose Public Web Docket Sheets under UJS Case Information, then the relevant criminal Common Pleas, Magisterial District or Philadelphia Municipal Court search. Public docket access and the secure, login-only docket service are different options.

  3. 03
    Record identifiers

    Save the case number or PATCH control number with the date of the search.

    In PATCH Record Check Status, enter the control number, request date and name exactly as submitted. For Record or No Record, open the blue control number to obtain the certificate and print it. Under Review is pending, not a finding of a record; No Items Found means the status-search information was entered incorrectly.

  4. 04
    Read the limits

    A missing court docket is not proof of no criminal history, and a PATCH result is not a court file.

Important
Do not merge two evidence layers
A docket sheet describes a court case. PATCH is a criminal-history background-check route. Keep those findings labeled separately.
Prepare

Details that make the search more reliable

  • ✓
    Exact legal name

    Use the spelling associated with the case or request.

  • ✓
    Approximate date

    Helps narrow same-name court results.

  • ✓
    County or court

    Useful when the case location is known.

  • ✓
    Purpose

    Background check, case lookup and personal review may require different routes.

Related Record Guides

Sources

Authoritative next stops

Official state judiciary source

Pennsylvania UJS - Case Information

Public docket sheets for Pennsylvania appellate, criminal Common Pleas, Magisterial District and Philadelphia Municipal courts For this page, it supports the look up criminal records pa research route.

Pennsylvania
Official state judiciary source

Pennsylvania Courts - Docket Sheets

Common Pleas docket sheets and the warning that docket information is not a substitute for a State Police criminal-history background check For this page, it supports the look up criminal records pa research route.

Pennsylvania
Official state police source

Pennsylvania State Police - PATCH

PATCH checks request information against the criminal-history database maintained by the Pennsylvania State Police Central Repository For this page, it supports the look up criminal records pa research route.

Pennsylvania