What Is a Court Docket in Allegheny County
A docket is the official, dated index of a case. It logs the court, the docket number, the parties, the lawyers, and every event in order. Each line is a docket entry. A docket entry can be a complaint filed, a motion, an order, a hearing notice, a plea, a sentence, or a bench warrant. The docket does not contain the papers themselves. It tells you a motion was filed on a date, not what the motion said.
The full case file is a different thing. The file is the stack of filed documents that sit behind those entries, such as complaints, motions, exhibits, and orders. In Allegheny County, the Department of Court Records keeps those files and sells copies. The docket is free to read online. The file usually means a request, a fee, and sometimes a visit. Think of the docket as the table of contents and the case file as the book.
Dockets vary a little by court. A Common Pleas criminal docket carries charges, OTN, bail, and disposition fields. A magisterial district court docket may show a summary citation, a hearing date, and a result. A Pittsburgh Municipal Court docket follows the city's traffic, non-traffic, ordinance, and preliminary criminal work. The layout shifts, but the idea holds: the docket is the running record of what happened.
How to Find Allegheny County Dockets Online
The main tool is the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System case search. It holds dockets for the appellate courts, the Courts of Common Pleas, the magisterial district courts, Pittsburgh Municipal Court, and traffic and citation cases. The search is free, and most dockets open without an account. You can search by participant name, docket number, citation number, complaint number, OTN, or date filed. Setting the county to Allegheny keeps statewide matches from crowding the list.
Searching by docket number is the most direct route when you already have the number. It pulls one case, with no guessing. Follow these steps.
- Open the Pennsylvania UJS case search and pick the Docket Number search type.
- Type the full docket number, including the court prefix and the year, exactly as it appears.
- Set the county to Allegheny if a county field is offered, so the right court is matched.
- Submit the search and open the matching case from the result list.
- Read the docket sheet: court, parties, charges or claims, events, and disposition.
- For copies of the actual filed papers, call or visit the right Department of Court Records division.
If you do not have a docket number, search by participant name instead and add a filing date when the name is common. Criminal cases can also be found by OTN or complaint number. The portal usually shows the docket sheet, not free downloads of every pleading, so plan on a Department of Court Records request for full documents.
Allegheny County Docket Number Formats
Docket numbers tell you the court before you open the case. The prefix and the pattern are the clue. Allegheny County Common Pleas criminal cases generally start with CP-02, because 02 is the county code in the statewide system. Magisterial district court cases in the Fifth Judicial District generally start with MJ-05. Pittsburgh Municipal Court and traffic matters use municipal and citation prefixes. Getting the prefix right keeps your search on the correct court.
Here is the practical breakdown. A Common Pleas criminal docket often reads CP-02-CR-#######-YYYY, where CR marks a criminal case and YYYY is the year. A magisterial district court docket often reads MJ-05-###-CR, NT, or TR-######-YYYY, where the middle digits name the district and CR, NT, or TR mark criminal, non-traffic, or traffic. Pittsburgh Municipal Court and citation matters carry their own municipal or traffic prefixes. When you only have a citation, use the Citation Number search instead of the docket field.
Note: enter the docket number exactly, including dashes and the year, because a partial number can return no match or the wrong case.
Sample Allegheny County Docket Entry
A docket sheet packs a lot into a few fields. Once you know what each one means, the record reads quickly. The fields below show up on a typical Allegheny County docket pulled through the UJS case search. Criminal and summary dockets add charge and financial detail that civil dockets may not carry.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Docket Number | The case ID with the court prefix: CP-02 for Common Pleas, MJ-05 for a magisterial district court, or a municipal prefix. |
| Court | Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh Municipal Court, or a named magisterial district court. |
| Case Caption / Participants | Defendant, plaintiff, Commonwealth, petitioner, or respondent, depending on the case type. |
| Filing Date | The date the complaint, petition, or citation was filed. |
| Case Status | Values such as Active, Closed, Disposed, or Inactive. |
| Charges / Counts | Statute, grade, count, description, offense date, and OTN on criminal and summary cases. |
| Docket Entries | The event log: complaint, motion, order, hearing, plea, sentence, continuance, or bench warrant. |
| Financial | Fines, costs, restitution, bail, payment plans, and balances on criminal, summary, and traffic cases. |
You can see this layout for yourself on the Pennsylvania UJS case search. The portal shows docket detail rather than full document PDFs, so a copy of a complaint, motion, or order still comes from the county.
Criminal Docket Entries in Allegheny County
Criminal dockets read like a path through the system. The entries follow the case from the first charge to the final result. On a Common Pleas or municipal criminal docket, you will commonly see this sequence of events, though not every case hits every step.
- Complaint filed, with the charges, statute, grade, and OTN.
- Preliminary arraignment and preliminary hearing in the minor court.
- Bail set, with the amount and any conditions.
- Formal arraignment in Common Pleas.
- Motions filed and orders entered.
- Plea or verdict, then sentencing.
- Bench warrant if the person fails to appear or breaks a condition.
A bench warrant entry matters. It is an arrest order from a judge, often after a missed court date or a probation issue. If a docket shows an open bench warrant, the matter is not resolved, and an attorney or the public defender can help. For broader booking and arrest detail, see Allegheny County arrest records. For the full criminal file behind the docket, the Criminal Division of the Department of Court Records is the office to call.
Civil and Family Docket Access Limits
Not every docket field is open to remote viewing. Pennsylvania's case-records public access policy, found at 204 Pa. Code § 213.81, sets what can be seen online and what cannot. For family court actions, remote access is limited to docket-level information, court orders, and opinions. That includes the filing date, party names, counsel, docket number, docket entries, and case type. The underlying documents in a family case are not all available online.
Probate, estate, and fiduciary matters work the same way. Remote access to many of those case records is limited to dockets, orders, and opinions. So a divorce or estate docket may show the event log while the filed papers stay behind a Department of Court Records request. The policy also strips sensitive identifiers from public view. A public docket will not show a full Social Security number, a financial account number, a driver's license number, or a minor's birth date. Victim, witness, and juror details in criminal cases are shielded too.
Note: family and estate dockets are visible online, but the full files often require an in-person or Department of Court Records request because of these access limits.
Courts That Publish Dockets in Allegheny County
Allegheny County is the Fifth Judicial District. Several courts feed dockets into the statewide system, and the UJS case search reaches all of them. Knowing which court holds a case helps you pick the right docket prefix and the right office for copies.
- Court of Common Pleas: the general trial court, with criminal, civil, family, and Orphans' Court divisions and 43 commissioned judges.
- Magisterial District Courts: 46 community courts that handle summary traffic and non-traffic cases, landlord-tenant matters, and civil claims up to $12,000.
- Pittsburgh Municipal Court: city traffic, non-traffic, ordinance, and preliminary criminal cases, plus preliminary homicide hearings for the county.
Calendar events appear on these dockets too. A docket can list the event type, the date and time, the courtroom or court office, and the judge. Event types include arraignment, bail, bench warrant, calendar call, jury trial, motion, PFA, probation violation, sentencing, and summary appeal events. Watching the calendar entries tells you what is coming next in a case.
Docket vs. Full Case Record
The split between a docket and a full case record trips people up. The docket is the list of events. The full record is the documents. You read the docket to track progress, but you need the file when you want the actual motion, order, or exhibit. Most online searches show the docket, while the case file comes from the county.
| Docket | Full Case Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | List of dated entries | Full filed documents |
| Access | Free online through UJS for most cases | Request from the Department of Court Records, often with a fee |
| Use | Track parties, events, and status | Read filings, evidence, and orders in full |
| Limits | Family and estate dockets show events only | Sealed and confidential files stay closed |
For the office side of this, see the Department of Court Records page, which covers divisions, copy requests, and fees. Document copies come from the division that matches the case type, so civil, criminal, and Wills/Orphans files each go to a different counter.
How to Read an Allegheny County Docket
Dockets use shorthand. A few terms come up on almost every case, and they make the record far easier to read. The list below covers the ones people ask about most.
- OTN
- Offense Tracking Number, the state ID that links one person's charges across the criminal justice system.
- Disposition
- The outcome of a charge or claim, such as guilty, dismissed, acquitted, or a judgment.
- Continuance
- A postponement of a hearing or deadline to a later date.
- Arraignment
- The court appearance where charges are formally read and the plea and rights issues proceed.
- Bench Warrant
- An arrest order from a judge, often after a missed court date or a violation.
Read the entries top to bottom, and watch the disposition field for the result. A closed or disposed status with a clear disposition means the case is over. An active status with scheduled events means it is still moving. If you see a financial section, it lists fines, costs, restitution, and any payment plan, and the balance tells you what is still owed. For tickets and traffic dockets, see Allegheny County traffic court records for how citation cases run.