Bedford County Prothonotary Office
Sheri Lowery is Bedford County's Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts. The Prothonotary role is the civil clerk role for the Court of Common Pleas. The county page explains that the Prothonotary is the elected civil clerk and records civil procedures before the court. Deb Colyer is listed as 1st Deputy of the Civil Division. The office is on the first floor of the Bedford County Courthouse at 200 South Juliana Street, Bedford, PA 15522. The main phone is 814-623-4833, fax is 814-623-4831, and email is pcoc@bedfordcountypa.org.
Bedford County uses a split clerk model in practice, but the local office name combines several functions. Civil filings are Prothonotary records. Criminal filings are handled through the Clerk of Courts function, covered separately at the Bedford County Clerk of Courts page. Orphans' Court and Register of Wills records have their own probate access path. This split matters because a person searching for a divorce decree, civil judgment, or custody filing should not use the same path as a criminal docket or an estate appointment.
Bedford County Prothonotary
Prothonotary: Sheri Lowery
First floor, 200 South Juliana Street
Bedford, PA 15522
814-623-4833
pcoc@bedfordcountypa.org
County business hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Bedford County Prothonotary Duties
The Bedford County Prothonotary records civil procedures in the Court of Common Pleas. The official page lists civil suits, medical malpractice, divorce, custody, protection from abuse, judgments, change of name, school audits, driver's license suspension appeals, District Justice appeals, mechanics liens, federal tax liens, and oaths or affirmations. These records are different from criminal dockets shown on UJS and different from wills or estate letters handled through the Register of Wills.
- Maintain civil Court of Common Pleas filings and docket-related records.
- Receive divorce, custody, protection from abuse, and civil suit filings.
- Record judgments, name changes, mechanics liens, and federal tax liens.
- Handle District Justice appeals and driver's license suspension appeals listed by the county.
- Support marriage license transactions and name-correction petitions through the same courthouse office.
The Bedford County judicial history list gives useful context for the long local record tradition behind the Prothonotary role.
That history connects the modern civil clerk office to Bedford County's court records work dating back to the county's early years.
Request Bedford County Certified Copies
Certified civil copies are often needed when a Bedford County Prothonotary record must be used outside a simple search. Divorce decrees, judgments, name-change orders, and some protection from abuse or custody-related orders may need clerk certification for legal use. A web printout or informal copy can help identify a file, but it may not satisfy an agency, court, employer, bank, school, or title company. The exact copy fee should be confirmed with the office because the official HTML research did not capture a full Prothonotary civil copy schedule.
- Identify the civil record type, such as divorce, judgment, custody, name change, PFA, lien, or appeal.
- Gather party names, approximate filing year, and any docket or case number found through county records or prior papers.
- Contact the Prothonotary by phone, email, mail, or in person to confirm whether the record is public and available.
- Ask whether a plain copy, certified copy, or court order is required for the intended use.
- Confirm the current fee and accepted payment method before sending payment or visiting the courthouse.
Bedford County Records Request Fields
The research file did not locate a county-published Prothonotary request form field list in HTML. Still, the office and UJS request process make clear what identifying details help staff find a civil file. Use precise case details when possible, and do not include sensitive personal information unless the official form requires it.
| Field | Use | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case or docket number | Best identifier when known | Use prior notices, orders, or online records to locate it |
| Party names | Required for name-based searching | Include names used at the time of filing |
| Record type | Routes the request | Examples include divorce decree, judgment, lien, PFA, or custody order |
| Approximate filing date | Narrows older searches | Use a year range if exact date is unknown |
| Copy type | Controls fee and certification | State whether a certified copy is needed |
Bedford County Prothonotary Fees
The official research gives several fee and payment facts but not a complete civil Prothonotary fee schedule in HTML. Bedford County publishes marriage-license payment rules and a $91 name-correction fee. UJS publishes financial-record request fees for judiciary financial records. For civil copy certification, filing, and search fees, the research directs users to confirm with the Prothonotary or use the office fee schedule if reviewed directly.
| Item | Official Amount or Note |
|---|---|
| Marriage license payments | Cash, Pennsylvania check/check, or money order; no credit or debit cards |
| Marriage license name correction | $91 with completed petition |
| UJS financial-record photocopies | $0.15 per page for 11 or more pages |
| UJS financial-record CD | $5, plus actual postage where applicable |
| Prothonotary civil copy and certification fees | Not located in official HTML sources reviewed |
Note: Fee gaps should be resolved with the office before mailing a request, because returned payments can delay certified copies.
Bedford County Prothonotary Forms
The Bedford County Prothonotary page links users to court forms, Pennsylvania Law Help, the Lawyer Referral Service at 1-800-692-7375, and local attorney or resource lists. That direction is important because staff may accept filings but cannot tell a person what to file, whether a claim is valid, or how to respond to a court order. Use official forms when available, then verify filing location, fee, and service requirements with the clerk or counsel.
- Marriage license requirements linked from the county marriage license page.
- Who may officiate a marriage, linked from the same county page.
- Petition for name correction, with the county's posted payment rule.
- Statewide UJS public records forms for court case-record requests and confidential information filings.
Bedford County Civil Records Online
Bedford County's online records page links to Prothonotary records, but the research notes that access details are vendor-gated and the official page does not publish a detailed field list in HTML. Criminal Common Pleas and Magisterial District Court dockets are searched through UJS, while civil Prothonotary records require the county channel or direct office contact. Older files, sealed records, family matters, and certified copies may still require a courthouse request even when an online index exists.
For civil users, the most common routing error is treating every court record as a UJS docket. UJS is strong for criminal Common Pleas, Magisterial District Court, appellate, and traffic records, but Bedford County civil filings listed by the Prothonotary do not all appear there. Divorce, custody, PFA, judgments, liens, name changes, and District Justice appeals should be checked through the civil clerk path when UJS does not show the needed paper. If the record involves a confidential family filing, staff may be able to confirm procedure without releasing protected content.
The assigned image from the Western District of Pennsylvania court locations is relevant when a Bedford County civil matter is not a local Common Pleas case but a federal case filed in the Western District.
Local Prothonotary records and federal district court records are separate systems, so the filing court controls where copies are requested.
The assigned image from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania shows another court system that may involve Bedford County residents but is not maintained by the Prothonotary.
Bankruptcy files belong to the federal bankruptcy court, while Bedford County civil divorce, lien, and judgment records remain with the local Prothonotary path.
Use the filing caption to tell these systems apart. A Bedford County Court of Common Pleas civil case is local and belongs with the Prothonotary. A Western District civil case uses federal district court records. A bankruptcy case uses the bankruptcy court. The party may live in Bedford County in all three examples, but the clerk that can certify a copy is the clerk of the court where the case was filed.
If the filing is local but the online Prothonotary link is gated or unclear, the practical fallback is direct office contact. Provide the case type first, because that tells staff whether to search civil, family, lien, appeal, or marriage-license material. For older records, courthouse staff may need a broader date range or names as they appeared at the time of filing. For restricted family records, staff may confirm the request route without releasing confidential contents.
For Bedford County marriage-license work, the same office publishes separate hours and payment limits. That overlap is local and should not be confused with a statewide vital-record counter.