E-Filing and Access to Court Records
- Landing Page
- Links
- In-Person Access to Court Records
- Online Access to Court Records
- Transitioning from the ERS
Please read: Notice from the Court
On Tuesday, June 20, 2023, the Court of Common Pleas will transition to a new court case management system, C-Track, from Thomson Reuters for filings in both the Civil Division and Orphans’ Court. This is the first of two steps to implement electronic filing and a robust public portal for access to case records. To assist the transition, the Court is requesting that members of the Public and Bar refrain from filing any non-emergent legal papers from Thursday, June 15, until Tuesday, June 20. During this time, the Prothonotary and Register of Wills will only process emergency matters identified in the above Administrative Order. All emergency filings will only be processed manually.
C-Track Case Management System and Public Portal for Court Records
The Washington County Court of Common Pleas is in the process of adopting a new case management system and public records portal. This system will permit public and participant access to court records relating to the Civil Division and the Orphans Court Division, as well as filings made in the Washington County Prothonotary and the Washington County Register of Wills.
The Court will begin using C-Track internally and offering public terminals with C-Track on June 20, 2023
Transition from the Electronic Retrieval System ("ERS") to C-Track
The data cutoff date for ERS is June 15, 2023 at 12:00 p.m.
Electronic filing and the public access portal for C-Track will be released in the fall of 2023. Until then, the ERS and its Online Document Viewer (OnBase) will only contain docketing and imaging information for legal papers filed before or on June 15, 2023. Case information for filings between June 16, 2023, and the launch of electronic filing will only be available in-person, in the respective offices of the Prothonotary and Register of Wills because the filings will be processed in C-Track. After the launch of the C-Track public portal and electronic filing, the ERS and OnBase will be shut down. The C-Track public portal will permit members of the Bar and the public to register accounts and remotely view and e-file their case filings.
Cost
The public will be permitted to activate and/or renew subscriptions to the ERS up to the date that the ERS is shut down. Subscriptions to the ERS will not be migrated to C-Track. If a subscription is only partially used at the time of the shut down of the ERS, users may submit a form to the Washington County Court Administrator to request a prorated refund. The form will be posted here after the ERS has been shut down.
C-Track subscriptions prices have not been finalized and are subject to change. There may be an additional fee assessed on any legal filings that are electronically filed. Check back with this page later for up-to-date information.
Electronic Filing ("E-Filing")
When the C-Track Public Portal is launched, the public will be able to e-file court documents. Parties will be able to e-file documents on cases approved by local rule. Not all case types or legal papers will be able to be e-filed. Some cases will have to be filed in person at the respective recording office. If a case or legal paper is permitted to be e-filed, you will be able to pay any applicable filing fee by credit card through C-Track. All e-filings will be subject to 1) a credit card payment processing fee and 2) an additional e-filing fee.
[To be added - Guide to E-Filing with C-Track]
[To be added - link to public portal]
- Civil Division and Orphans' Court Division - C-Track Public Portal
- Civil Division and Orphans' Court Division - Electronic Retrieval System
- Criminal Division - UJS Portal
Public Access to Court Records
Public Access to court records is controlled by applicable statutes, rules of court, administrative orders, and the Case Records Public Access Policy of the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
Court records may be accessed by the public in-person at the relevant custodian/recording office unless the records are determined to be confidential or otherwise unavailable under an applicable policy, rule of court, or statute. To access records in this manner, you must visit the relevant recording office and request access to the case record in person or use a public computer terminal in the office or on the court campus to access the records.
Case and court records may be viewed, printed, e-mailed, or copied. Physical copies/printed copies can be subject to a fee as part of the fee bill of the relevant recording office.
For cases before the Magisterial District Judge, visit the office of that Magistrate.
Public Computer Terminals
Currently, public computer terminals are available to use in the following locations:
- The Washington County Prothonotary's Office
- Located at 100 W. Beau Street, Suite 205 (Courthouse Square)
- The Washington County Register of Wills/Office of the Clerk of the Orphans' Court
- Located at 100 W. Beau Street, Suite 102 (Courthouse Square)
- The Washington County Courthouse
- The Courthouse Law Library computers may be used to access and view public records.
Online Court Records Access
Certain public Court and case records are available remotely, i.e. over the internet. Not all records that are accessible to the public in-person may be accessible remotely under Pennsylvania law.
Criminal Court Records
To access criminal court (both Common Pleas and Magisterial District Court) case records, please visit the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System Web Portal. The portal only provides docket sheets, and does not provide case documents.
Civil Division and Orphans' Court Records
Until the C-Track Public Portal has been activated, Civil Division and Orphans' Court case records created after June 16, 2023 will not be accessible online. You will only be able to access these records in the office of the record custodian.
To access Civil Court and Orphans' Court case records created prior to June 16, 2023, as well as public records in the Prothonotary and Register of Wills, please utilize the legacy case management system, known as the Washington County Electronic Retrieval System ("ERS"). The ERS permits access to docket sheets in public Orphans' Court cases and docket sheets and publicly available documents in Civil Court cases.
Certain Civil Division records will not be made remotely accessible in the C-Track Public Portal. Cases concerning the Protection From Abuse Act and its associated statutes and cases concerning Child Custody will not be remotely accessible to the public. Only the parties and legal counsel on those cases may view their own case records online.
In Orphans' Court, case documents will not be made remotely accessible on most case types. Consult the Case Records Public Access Policy for more information.
No Remote Access
If you are looking for records on a docket that is not listed, the records are not available remotely.
Transition from the Electronic Retrieval System ("ERS") to C-Track
The data cutoff date for ERS is June 15, 2023 at 12:00 p.m.
Electronic filing and the public access portal for C-Track will be released in the fall of 2023. Until then, the ERS and its Online Document Viewer (OnBase) will only contain docketing and imaging information for legal papers filed before or on June 15, 2023. Case information for filings between June 16, 2023, and the launch of electronic filing will only be available in the respective offices of the Prothonotary and Register of Wills because the filings will be processed in C-Track. After the launch of the C-Track public portal and electronic filing, the ERS and OnBase will be shut down. The C-Track public portal will permit members of the Bar and the public to register accounts and e-file their case filings.
Cost
The public will be permitted to activate and/or renew subscriptions to the ERS up to the date that the ERS is shut down. Subscriptions to the ERS will not be migrated to C-Track. If a subscription is only partially used at the time of the shut down of the ERS, users may submit a form to the Washington County Court Administrator to request a prorated refund. The form will be posted here after the ERS has been shut down.
C-Track subscriptions prices have not been finalized and are subject to change. There may be an additional fee assessed on any legal filings that are electronically filed. Check back with this page later for up-to-date information.
C-Track Case Management System and Public Portal for Court Records
The Washington County Court of Common Pleas is in the process of adopting a new case management system and public records portal. This system will permit public and participant access to court records relating to the Civil Division and the Orphans Court Division, as well as filings made in the Washington County Prothonotary and the Washington County Register of Wills.
The Court will begin using C-Track internally and offering public terminals with C-Track on June 20, 2023
Electronic Filing ("E-Filing")
When the C-Track Public Portal is launched, the public will be able to e-file court documents. Parties will be able to e-file documents on cases approved by local rule. Not all case types or legal papers will be able to be e-filed. Some cases will have to be filed in person at the respective recording office. If a case or legal paper is permitted to be e-filed, you will be able to pay any applicable filing fee by credit card through C-Track. All e-filings will be subject to 1) a credit card payment processing fee and 2) an additional e-filing fee.
[To be added - Guide to E-Filing with C-Track]
[To be added - link to public portal]