Northumberland County Clerk of Courts Office
The statewide Unified Judicial System Clerks of Courts list identifies Northumberland County's Clerk of Courts contact as Jamie Saleski at the Northumberland County Courthouse, 201 Market Street, Sunbury, PA 17801. The statewide listing gives phone 570-988-4148 and fax 570-988-4153. This page is limited to the Clerk of Courts criminal record function, not the Prothonotary's civil role or the Register and Recorder's Orphans' Court and marriage role.
Criminal Common Pleas records can include informations, criminal complaints after bind-over, arraignment entries, motions, pleas, verdicts, dispositions, sentencing orders, probation conditions, fines, costs, restitution, appeals, and expungement or sealing orders. The Magisterial District Courts handle preliminary criminal steps, but felony and higher-level criminal proceedings move into the Court of Common Pleas when held for court.
Northumberland County Clerk of Courts
Contact: Jamie Saleski
Northumberland County Courthouse
201 Market Street
Sunbury, PA 17801
570-988-4148
Fax: 570-988-4153
Northumberland County Criminal Record Functions
The criminal clerk function begins to matter most after the MDJ stage. Police file a criminal complaint with the Magisterial District Judge in the area where the alleged crime occurred. The MDJ may issue a summons or arrest warrant, conduct preliminary arraignment, set bail, and schedule a preliminary hearing. If the Commonwealth establishes a prima facie case, the case is held for court and moves to the Court of Common Pleas.
- Maintain criminal Court of Common Pleas docket and file material after bind-over.
- Track arraignment, motion, plea, verdict, disposition, sentence, and appeal entries when public.
- Support certified-copy requests for criminal court records held by the office.
- Connect fines, costs, restitution, and court-cost entries to criminal case obligations.
- Apply public access limits for juvenile, sealed, expunged, and confidential criminal material.
For a civil judgment, divorce decree, custody filing, PFA, or name change, use the Northumberland County Prothonotary. For warrants that may still be at the MDJ level, the issuing Magisterial District Court may be the more direct starting point.
Search Northumberland County Criminal Clerk Records
Public criminal docket searching starts with UJS Case Search. Select the Court of Common Pleas category for county-level criminal cases, or select Magisterial District Court for preliminary arraignment, bail, preliminary hearing, traffic, and summary offense matters. UJS warns that web docket sheets are a free public service, recent entries may be delayed, and docket sheets should not be used as a Pennsylvania State Police criminal-history background check.
- Open UJS Case Search and choose the correct court category.
- Select Northumberland County when the county dropdown is available.
- Search by participant name, docket number, organization, or other fields shown by the portal.
- Open the matching docket sheet and review status, charges, events, dispositions, and sentence entries if public.
- Contact the Clerk of Courts for certified criminal copies or for Common Pleas file questions not answered by the docket.
Searchers should keep the MDJ and Common Pleas stages separate. A complaint, bail entry, or preliminary hearing can remain tied to the Magisterial District Court docket, while the later criminal information, plea, disposition, and sentence are Common Pleas records. If a case appears incomplete online, check both levels before assuming the record is missing.
Northumberland County Criminal Request Fields
A precise request gives the clerk enough information to locate the record without treating a docket sheet as a background check. Criminal records can include OTN, complaint number, arrest date, charges, grading, statute, offense date, bail, preliminary hearing result, plea, verdict, sentence, probation, restitution, and costs. Some of those fields may be restricted or absent from public output.
| Field | Required | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Common Pleas docket number | Helpful | Identifies the criminal file, often in CP-49-CR format. |
| Participant name | Yes | Used when the docket number is unknown. |
| OTN or complaint number | Helpful | Connects arrest, complaint, and court processing records. |
| Document type | Yes | Examples include sentencing order, disposition, docket sheet, or expungement order. |
| Copy type | Yes | State whether plain or certified copies are needed. |
| Requester contact | Yes | Allows fee, restriction, or pickup follow-up. |
Northumberland County Criminal Clerk Fees
The research confirms that Northumberland County publishes court-cost information for adult and juvenile criminal proceedings and that the Clerk of Courts listing supplies the criminal clerk contact. It did not capture a full criminal certified-copy fee schedule. Confirm copy charges, certification fees, and any payment method requirements before mailing a request or appearing at the counter.
| Item | Amount / Rule |
|---|---|
| Plain criminal copy | Confirm current fee with Clerk of Courts. |
| Certified criminal copy | Confirm copy and certification charge before ordering. |
| Fines, costs, restitution | County court-cost office handles collection in adult and juvenile criminal proceedings. |
| Online payment | PAePay shows only obligations approved for online payment. |
PAePay is useful when an obligation is eligible for online payment, but it does not prove that no other financial obligation exists. The county court-cost material covers fines, costs, restitution, and fees in adult and juvenile criminal proceedings. For a complete payment question, use the docket, PAePay result, and the court-cost or clerk contact together.
Criminal Case Offices in Northumberland County
The District Attorney is Mike O'Donnell. The District Attorney office is at 201 Market Street, 3rd Floor, Sunbury, PA 17801, phone 570.988.4134 and fax 570.988.4135. The county describes the office as responsible for prosecution, investigation, legal counsel to law enforcement, victim advocacy, citizens' rights protection, and community safety. The DA's open-records contact in the research is Mike O'Donnell, with phone 570-988-4545.
The Public Defender is Edward C. Greco, Esq., Chief Public Defender. That office is at 322 N Second Street, 3rd Floor, Sunbury, PA 17801, phone 570.495.2347 and fax 570.988.5443. Hours are Monday 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The office provides court-appointed legal services to indigent people facing criminal charges or other possible deprivation of liberty or civil rights, and the county links application materials for legal counsel.
Restricted Northumberland County Criminal Records
Criminal court records are public only to the extent allowed by UJS policy and Pennsylvania law. Juvenile files are restricted under 42 Pa.C.S. ยง 6307. Sealed and expunged criminal records are removed from ordinary public access after a qualifying order or automatic process where eligible. Confidential identifiers, victim-sensitive details, and sealed warrant information may be limited even when the docket has public entries.
Expungement in Pennsylvania is generally filed in the court that handled the criminal case. A petitioner usually needs the docket number, OTN, arrest date, charges, disposition, and identifying information. After an expungement order is signed, agencies named in the order remove or restrict eligible records. Law enforcement or courts may retain limited access in some situations, but the case should not appear as an ordinary public docket or background-search record when restriction applies.