Fayette County Criminal Court Cases
Fayette County is Pennsylvania's Fourteenth Judicial District. A criminal complaint ordinarily starts before a Magisterial District Judge, who handles the preliminary arraignment, bail, and preliminary hearing. Summary cases can remain at that level. When felony or misdemeanor charges are held for court, the prosecution moves to the Court of Common Pleas of Fayette County. That court handles the information filed by the District Attorney, formal arraignment, motions, pleas, trials, dispositions, and sentences.
The Fayette County Clerk of Courts is custodian of the Common Pleas criminal file. The Fayette office maintains the docket and underlying filings at 61 East Main Street in Uniontown. The Fayette online docket can answer many first questions, yet it is not a document library. A complaint, motion, order, or certified disposition may require inspection or a copy request at the Clerk's counter.
The county Clerk's official description shows how the criminal division preserves Fayette County case records. That source can be reviewed on the Clerk of Courts page.
The image reinforces that the Clerk, rather than the jail or arresting police department, keeps the Common Pleas case file.
Fayette Criminal Docket Numbers
Two docket families mark different stages of a Fayette County criminal case. An MJ docket belongs to a Magisterial District Court and follows the complaint through initial bail and the preliminary hearing. A Common Pleas criminal docket begins with CP-26-CR. The number 26 is Fayette County's code, followed by a case sequence and filing year. The two numbers should not be treated as interchangeable.
This detail matters in Fayette practice. Fayette County's ARD instructions expressly tell applicants to use the Common Pleas number, not the magistrate number. A person researching a Fayette case should preserve both when they appear. The MJ docket explains the early path; the CP docket records what occurred after the charges moved forward. One Fayette case can also contain several counts with different outcomes.
- Held for court
- The MDJ found or the defendant waived the basis needed to send charges onward. It is not a finding of guilt.
- Information
- The formal charging document filed in Common Pleas by the District Attorney.
- Disposition
- The result for a case or individual count, such as guilty, dismissed, withdrawn, or acquitted.
- Nolle prosequi
- A formal decision by the prosecutor not to continue a charge, subject to court procedure.
Searching Fayette County Case Records
The free UJS Case Search is the main remote channel for Fayette County dockets. It covers both Common Pleas and Magisterial District Court paths. Searchers should compare more than a name. Court type, filing date, docket number, and the public identifiers shown on a result help prevent a same-name mistake.
- Open UJS Case Search and accept any current terms or verification prompt.
- Choose Court of Common Pleas or Magisterial District Court, then select the criminal category.
- Select Fayette County and search by participant name, docket number, organization, or another available route.
- Open the matching docket and review the court, status, charges, bail, entries, and count-level dispositions.
- Ask the Fayette County Clerk of Courts for inspection, copies, certification, or an older file that the portal does not supply.
The statewide portal's Fayette search tabs and controls are visible at the official UJS source.
The portal image shows why selecting the right court type and Fayette County filter comes before reading any result.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search Type | Tab or menu | Yes | Participant Name, Docket Number, or Organization Name may appear. |
| Court Type | Dropdown | Yes | Choose Common Pleas or Magisterial District Court for local criminal cases. |
| Case Category | Dropdown | Usually | Select Criminal rather than civil, family, or other categories. |
| County | Dropdown | Conditional | Select Fayette to narrow statewide results. |
| Participant Name | Text | Conditional | First, middle, and last name fields help separate similar names. |
| Date Filed | Date range | No | A filing range can reduce a broad result list. |
| Docket Number | Segmented entry | Conditional | Common Pleas criminal numbers use CP-26-CR-sequence-year. |
Fayette Court File Copies
UJS displays Fayette docket information, not every item filed in Fayette County. The Fayette Clerk's counter supplies the next layer. Give the office the full docket number, participant name, and approximate year. Ask whether the Fayette record is available for public inspection, whether archived retrieval is needed, and what certification will cost before placing an order. Fayette County publishes a criminal-file copy price of 25 cents per page.
The county also makes an important distinction between a file copy and an official statewide history. Its criminal-history background-check page sends official-history requests to the Pennsylvania State Police. A Fayette court copy documents one judicial file. PATCH is a separate repository product and should not replace the docket when the question concerns motions, count outcomes, or a court order.
The local explanation of copies and PSP referrals appears in the county's published instructions.
The captured page helps separate an inexpensive Clerk file copy from a Pennsylvania State Police repository response.
Inside a Fayette County Case File
A Fayette County criminal file is organized around one Fayette court case. The header identifies the Fayette court, docket, caption, status, and filing date. Charge rows then track each statute, offense description, grade, and result. The chronological entries can show the complaint, hearing or waiver, information, arraignment, motions, plea, trial, sentence, revocation activity, and appeal when those events occurred.
| Case Number and Court | The CP-26-CR or MJ identifier, filing court, caption, status, and filing date. |
|---|---|
| Charging Document | The complaint at MDJ level and the information filed after a case reaches Common Pleas. |
| Charges | Count, statute, description, offense date, grade, and count-level disposition. |
| Bail | Public type, amount, status, and posting details where available. |
| Docket Entries | A dated list of filings, hearings, orders, pleas, trial events, and later proceedings. |
| Disposition and Sentence | The result for each count plus confinement, probation, credit, and financial terms recorded by the court. |
Full Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, protected victim or minor data, and sealed information do not belong in the public Fayette view. Attached evidence and police narratives also are not implied merely because a Fayette docket row refers to them.
Fayette Criminal Calendars and Offices
Fayette County Court Administration adds a useful Fayette access layer beyond docket search. Its public materials include current MDJ information, arraignment calendars, criminal pretrial lists, motions schedules, forms, and language-access resources. Because Fayette district assignments and duty schedules can change, the current directory should be checked before a courthouse or MDJ visit.
The Court Administration page is also the source for the Fourteenth Judicial District's active court information.
The image connects a static Fayette County docket with the calendars and office details needed for a current proceeding.
Fayette County Clerk of Courts
61 East Main Street
Uniontown, PA 15401
724-430-1200
Request Common Pleas criminal-file inspection, copies, archive help, and current certification information.
Court Administration
61 East Main Street, third floor
Uniontown, PA 15401
724-430-1230
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Confirm calendars, current MDJ details, access needs, and courtroom information.
How a Criminal Case Moves
Fayette County court records make more sense when each Fayette entry is placed in sequence. A police arrest is not required in every Fayette case because a summons can begin the path. The complaint first reaches an MDJ. The judge addresses preliminary arraignment and bail, then a hearing is held or waived. A case held for court moves to Fayette Common Pleas, where the District Attorney files an information and the court handles later proceedings.
Case flow: Charges Filed › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
Post-sentence motions, a Fayette appeal, or supervision and revocation activity may add later entries. A filed charge stays an allegation until its disposition. Different counts in the same Fayette County case may be withdrawn, dismissed, or resolved in different ways, so the Fayette caption alone does not tell the outcome.
Note: A Fayette County docket marked held for court records a transfer stage, not a conviction or final judgment.
Fayette ARD Court Records
Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition, known as ARD, gives qualifying first-time, nonviolent defendants a Fayette pretrial route. Fayette County publishes its own application policy. Participants may have to complete classes or counseling, pay costs and restitution, and perform service. Successful completion can lead to expungement, but eligibility and the final Fayette order depend on the case and Pennsylvania law.
The local process has a notable file rule. An applicant submits the original plus three copies of the eight-page application to the District Attorney and uses the Common Pleas docket number. When applicable, an original plus three copies of the waiver of arraignment and plea form go to the Clerk. The Fayette County ARD page is the source for the current instructions.
The image highlights why a reader must distinguish the CP docket from the earlier MJ number before submitting an ARD filing.
Case Record Access & Restrictions
Most Fayette County criminal records held by the Fayette Clerk are open for inspection, but access has boundaries. Juvenile matters, child-victim material, sealed or expunged cases, protected identifiers, and other information covered by law or court policy may be withheld or redacted. Pennsylvania judicial records follow court access rules rather than treating each Fayette case file as a routine county-agency request under the Right-to-Know Law.
The Pennsylvania judiciary's public-record policies explain access to docket sheets and court records. Police investigative reports are different. The Right-to-Know Law's criminal-investigation exemption may protect them even when the related Fayette County docket is public. If a file is missing online, ask the Clerk whether it is archived, restricted, entered under another docket, or available only at the counter. A written denial should identify the basis for withholding.
Fayette Federal Criminal Cases
Federal prosecutions involving Fayette County do not appear as CP-26-CR cases. They belong to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. PACER provides federal docket access after registration and generally charges under the federal judiciary's current fee schedule. The federal file is separate from the Fayette County Clerk, UJS, PATCH, and local jail systems.
The Western District of Pennsylvania website identifies the federal court and its official services.
The federal court image marks the jurisdictional break: a local docket search cannot certify that no federal criminal matter exists.