Criminal Cases in Armstrong County Courts
Armstrong County is Pennsylvania's 33rd Judicial District. A police complaint begins before a Magisterial District Judge, who handles the preliminary arraignment, bail, and the preliminary hearing or waiver. Summary, traffic, and some non-traffic matters can remain there. Felony charges and misdemeanor charges held for court move to the Court of Common Pleas, where the District Attorney files an information and the Clerk of Courts maintains the criminal case file.
The local path matters because UJS separates Common Pleas and Magisterial District Court searches. Armstrong County has four MDJ offices: 33-3-01 in Ford City, 33-3-02 in Kittanning, 33-3-03 in Leechburg, and 33-3-04 in Rural Valley. The official Armstrong County court profile shows the county court within the state judiciary.
That court profile is the statewide starting point, while the docket and paper file supply the case detail.
Armstrong County Court Counters Compared
Choose the office by the case's present stage, not merely by where an arrest occurred. MDJ counters keep their lower-court matters. Once charges are held for court, the Common Pleas criminal file belongs with the Clerk at 500 East Market Street, Suite 103, Kittanning. The counter phone is 724-548-3252. Hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, with a daily closing from noon to 1:00 p.m.
| Court | Address | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Common Pleas Clerk | 500 E Market St, Suite 103, Kittanning | 724-548-3252 |
| MDJ 33-3-01 | 206 Fifth Ave, Suite A, Ford City | 724-763-7866 |
| MDJ 33-3-02 | 128 S Grant Ave, Kittanning | 724-543-2313 |
| MDJ 33-3-03 | 241 Market St, Leechburg | 724-842-3571 |
| MDJ 33-3-04 | 720 Main St, Rural Valley | 724-783-6886 |
The Armstrong County Clerk of Courts page identifies the local custodian and posts criminal forms.
The clerk image marks the correct source for filings, certified copies, bail records, appeals, and accounts for fines, costs, and restitution.
How to Search Case Records
The free Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania Web Portal is the broadest first search. It provides appellate, Common Pleas, and MDJ docket sheets without requiring a public user to log in. Search aliases separately when spelling has changed, and prefer an OTN or docket number when several people share a name.
- Open UJS Case Search and select Common Pleas or Magisterial District Court.
- Choose Participant Name, Docket Number, OTN, Police Incident or Complaint Number, or SID.
- Select Armstrong County and add a filing-date range when it will narrow a common name.
- Open the matching docket sheet and review charge-level dispositions and the latest case events.
- Ask the named MDJ or Clerk for a paper or certified filing that the docket does not provide online.
| Field label | Type | Required | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search Type | Tabs or menu | Yes | Selects name, number, OTN, complaint, or SID path |
| Court Type | Dropdown | Yes | Separates Common Pleas from MDJ records |
| County | Dropdown | Usually | Select Armstrong |
| Last Name | Text | For name search | Spelling and aliases matter |
| First Name | Text | No | Narrows participant results |
| Date Filed | Date range | No | Limits results by filing period |
| Docket Number, OTN, Complaint, or SID | Text | For that path | Targets a known identifier |
The UJS Case Search interface is the official fielded search.
The interface supports both a broad participant search and precise identifier searches for Armstrong County records.
Missing Armstrong County Court Documents
A docket entry is an index to an event, not a promise that the motion, affidavit, order, or exhibit can be downloaded. UJS reports work best with JavaScript and cookies enabled, TLS 1.2 or later, popups allowed for reports, and a PDF reader. Even then, the electronic view can omit an underlying paper filing.
When a needed document has no link, note the court type, complete docket number, filing date, and exact document title. Call the MDJ if the case remains there. For Common Pleas, give those details to the Armstrong County Clerk and ask whether a plain or certified copy is available. The county research did not establish a current posted copy fee, so obtain a quote rather than relying on an old scan.
The UJS portal home explains the statewide routes into docket sheets, calendars, and PAePay.
The portal home confirms that payment tools and public dockets are related services, but a payment view is not the complete case file.
What the Case File Shows
An Armstrong County Common Pleas docket usually begins with a number in the form CP-03-CR-####-YYYY. The county code is 03. Read the charge rows and event history together because one count can be withdrawn while another reaches a plea, verdict, or other disposition.
| Case number and court | Docket number, court, caption, status, filing date, and assigned judge |
|---|---|
| Participants | Displayed party name, aliases when docketed, counsel, prosecutor, and bail agency |
| Charges | Sequence, statute, description, grade, offense date, and charge-level result |
| Docket events | Complaint, hearings, arraignment, information, motions, conferences, plea or trial, and appeals |
| Bail and financials | Bail type and amount, action dates, fines, costs, restitution, and payment balance when public |
| Sentence | Confinement, probation, credit, concurrent or consecutive terms, and listed conditions |
Note: A public docket sheet summarizes court activity; it is not a certified copy or a complete PSP criminal-history record.
Reading Armstrong County Case Results
Disposition is the result attached to a charge. Guilty and acquitted are familiar, but Armstrong County dockets can also show dismissed, withdrawn, or nolle prosequi. A nolle prosequi suspends prosecution of a charge with court approval and is not a conviction. ARD identifies a pretrial program that can lead to dismissal and later expungement after successful completion, subject to eligibility rules.
- OTN
- Offense Tracking Number that links an arrest and charging event across agency and court systems.
- Information
- The District Attorney's formal Common Pleas charging document after the lower-court stage.
- Held for court
- A preliminary-stage result that sends surviving charges onward to Common Pleas.
- Nolle prosequi
- A court-approved decision not to continue prosecution of a charge at that time.
- Limited access
- A restriction on ordinary public visibility that does not necessarily destroy the underlying record.
Always read the most recent entry and each count's separate outcome. A caption alone does not show whether the filed grade changed or whether every count ended the same way.
Stages of a Criminal Case
The public trail grows in steps. Police file a complaint with an MDJ, bail is addressed, and a preliminary hearing is held or waived. Charges that survive move to Common Pleas. The District Attorney then files an information, formal arraignment occurs or is waived, and motions or conferences prepare the matter for a plea, trial, dismissal, or ARD. Sentencing and appeal events follow when applicable.
Case flow: Charges Filed › Arraignment › Pretrial › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
The Armstrong County District Attorney page identifies the prosecution office involved after police bring charges.
This office is distinct from the Clerk, which preserves the court record rather than prosecuting the case.
Armstrong County Veterans Court Dockets
Armstrong Veterans Treatment Court is a named local program involving the court, District Attorney, Public Defender, Adult Probation, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and volunteer mentors. Participants return for regular appearances and specialized supervision while addressing treatment needs. Those proceedings remain part of a judicial process, though treatment and supervision details can be protected.
The official Veterans Treatment Court description identifies the local team and program purpose.
The program shows why a docket can record court appearances while operational treatment information stays outside the public case sheet.
Access & Restrictions
Pennsylvania court records are generally available through the record custodian under UJS access policies. Judicial case files do not follow the ordinary county Right-to-Know route. The electronic view excludes protected identifiers and restricted case classes, and remote access is not guaranteed for every document that may be inspected or requested from a custodian.
Juvenile, sealed, expunged, pending-expungement, and qualifying Clean Slate or limited-access matters can be absent from public UJS results. Victim, minor, informant, juror, Social Security, financial-account, and other protected data may be removed. If a known Armstrong County case does not appear, first verify the court level, spelling, alias, and filing year. Then ask the proper court whether access is restricted or whether an older record requires a counter request.
Armstrong County Clerk Case Services
The Clerk's work extends past providing a docket printout. Suite 103 receives criminal filings certified to Common Pleas, keeps motions and appeals, handles bail records, and accounts for fines, costs, and restitution. PAePay accepts payments for participating Armstrong Common Pleas and MDJ cases, but it should be used as a payment channel rather than read as a full case search.
For accessibility or a language interpreter, use Court Administration rather than assuming the Clerk can arrange every service at the counter. Armstrong County Court Administration is listed at 724-548-3284, and the county courts publish a criminal interpreter request form. A person reviewing a case should make that request before the proceeding when possible.
When an arrest record needs to be separated from the later judicial result, the county's arrest history explanation traces the booking and agency side of the same event.