Butler County Clerk of Courts
The Butler County Clerk of Courts is the elected filing-office custodian for the Criminal and Juvenile Divisions of the Court of Common Pleas. The research identifies Tammy Thibodeau as Clerk of Courts. The office is in the Government Judicial Center and maintains the court side of criminal and juvenile case files, including filings, docket activity, summary appeals, and miscellaneous criminal-court records that are assigned to that office.
The Pennsylvania split-clerk structure is important in Butler County. The Prothonotary is the civil and family clerk. The Clerk of Courts is the criminal and juvenile clerk. The Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court handles probate, estate, Orphans' Court, and marriage-license records. Sending a request to the wrong office can slow down a copy request even when the record is public.
Butler County Clerk of Courts
Clerk: Tammy Thibodeau
Government Judicial Center
124 West Diamond Street
Butler, PA 16001
P.O. Box 1208, Butler, PA 16003
724-284-5233
Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Butler County Criminal Filings
The Clerk of Courts filing information covers criminal actions, juvenile actions, summary appeal actions, and several miscellaneous filing categories. The miscellaneous records listed by the county include auditor and tax collector matters, bail bondsman filings, borough, township, and school dockets, constables, coroner reports, election matters, Humane Society police officers, Liquor Control Board matters, Magisterial District Judge matters, private detectives, and road papers from 1803 to the present.
- Maintains criminal case records for the Butler County Court of Common Pleas.
- Maintains juvenile records, subject to confidentiality rules and court orders.
- Receives summary appeals from Magisterial District Court convictions.
- Processes criminal filing categories and listed miscellaneous court matters.
- Works with UJS and PAePay access where eligible public docket and payment records are available online.
Search Butler County Criminal Dockets
Public criminal docket sheets are searched through Pennsylvania UJS Case Search. UJS allows public searches by court type or docket type, participant name, organization name, case number, offense tracking number, police incident or complaint number, and state ID number where those inputs are available. The portal is useful for docket sheets, charge lists, dispositions, sentence entries, financial balances, hearings, and docket events.
UJS is not the same as the full clerk file. The public docket sheet may not include every filed document, certified copy, sealed entry, or restricted juvenile record. When the record need is a certified copy, a full filing, or a question about a record that is not visible online, the Butler County Clerk of Courts is the proper filing office for criminal and juvenile matters.
| Search Field | Use | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Participant Name | Finds public criminal docket sheets by person. | Results depend on spelling and public access limits. |
| Case Number | Finds a known docket directly. | Best for certified-copy follow-up. |
| Offense Tracking Number | Connects charge-related records. | Often used in criminal or charge searches. |
| Police Incident or Complaint Number | Helps locate a case tied to a police complaint. | Available through the UJS search design. |
| State ID Number | Criminal identifier search input. | Use only when the identifier is known. |
Request Butler County Certified Copies
Certified criminal court copies come from the filing office, not from a third-party search result. Start by identifying the docket through UJS or by using the case information already on a court notice. Then contact the Clerk of Courts with the docket number, defendant name, document needed, and whether the request involves a public criminal file, a juvenile matter, a summary appeal, or another category.
- Search UJS Case Search for the public docket sheet or confirm the case number from court paperwork.
- Decide whether the request is for a docket sheet, a filed document, a certified copy, or payment information.
- Contact the Butler County Clerk of Courts by phone or mail with the docket number and party name.
- Ask the office for current copy, certification, mailing, and payment instructions before sending funds.
- Use PAePay only for eligible online payments, not for certified document requests.
Clerk Records Request Details
A good Clerk of Courts request gives staff enough information to distinguish the correct criminal or juvenile file from similar names. The research did not locate a single universal Clerk of Courts criminal-copy request form, so the safest approach is to provide the core identifying fields and confirm fees with the office before mailing the request.
| Detail | Required | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Docket or case number | Required if known | Directs staff to the exact criminal or juvenile case. |
| Defendant name | Yes | Helps match the docket and avoid same-name errors. |
| Document type | Yes | Identifies whether the request is for a docket, order, disposition, sentence, or other filing. |
| Copy type | Yes | Plain and certified copies serve different purposes. |
| Return mailing address | For mail requests | Needed when records are returned by mail. |
Butler County Criminal Payments
Online payments for eligible juvenile or summary appeal cases may route through PAePay. The county payment page and FAQ mention a $1,000 transaction limit and a $2.75 transaction fee for that local online payment process. The statewide UJS Pay Online page says PAePay accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, or ATM card and applies a non-refundable 2.75 percent service fee. Because those fee descriptions differ, confirm the final payment screen before submitting a card payment.
| Payment Item | Research Detail |
|---|---|
| Eligible court payments | Traffic tickets, court costs, fines, restitution, bail, and payment-plan balances through PAePay when accepted. |
| County juvenile or summary appeal payment note | $1,000 transaction limit and $2.75 transaction fee in county material. |
| Statewide PAePay card fee | 2.75 percent non-refundable service fee on the UJS Pay Online page. |
Juvenile and Sealed Records
The Clerk of Courts keeps juvenile records, but juvenile files are restricted. Butler County juvenile materials explain adjudication, disposition, detention, hearing officer limits, fingerprints and photos for misdemeanor or felony arrests, and juvenile expungement by motion and order. The Pennsylvania juvenile confidentiality statute also limits public release of juvenile law-enforcement records except in defined serious circumstances.
Adult criminal records may also become unavailable through expungement, Clean Slate limited access, sealing, or court order. Butler County's Clerk of Courts page links to expungement, limited access, Clean Slate, and pardons resources. Limited access is not always the same as expungement, because some records remain available to criminal justice agencies even when public dissemination is restricted.
Note: Public UJS access does not override juvenile confidentiality, sealed orders, expungement, or Clean Slate limited-access rules.