Browse Lebanon County Court Cases

Lebanon County Court Overview

Pennsylvania uses a unified judicial system. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania sits at the top. The intermediate appellate courts are the Superior Court and Commonwealth Court. Courts of Common Pleas are the general trial courts, and Lebanon County is Judicial District 52. The Court of Common Pleas handles felony criminal matters, major civil matters, family cases, custody, divorce, juvenile matters, and appeals from Magisterial District Judges.

The lower trial courts in Lebanon County are Magisterial District Courts. They handle traffic citations, summary offenses, preliminary arraignments, preliminary hearings, landlord-tenant filings, and smaller civil claims. Clerk responsibility is split. The Prothonotary handles civil, family, PFA, judgment, and lien filings. The Clerk of Courts handles criminal and juvenile filings. The Register of Wills / Clerk of Orphans' Court handles probate, estates, guardianships, adoptions, inheritance-tax collection, and marriage licensing.

The official UJS Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas page identifies the county court within Pennsylvania's statewide court structure.

Lebanon County Court Table

The main court building is the Lebanon County Municipal Building at 400 South 8th Street, Lebanon, PA 17042-6794. Court Administration is in Room 311. The same building also houses the Prothonotary, Clerk of Courts, Register of Wills / Clerk of Orphans' Court, Sheriff's Office, District Attorney, PFA office, Law Library, Domestic Relations, and county commissioners. Magisterial District Judges sit at separate local offices.

Lebanon County Common Pleas Judges

Lebanon County lists President Judge John C. Tylwalk, Judge Bradford H. Charles, Judge Charles T. Jones, Jr., Judge Donna Long Brightbill, and Senior Judge Samuel A. Kline. Court Administration was created in 1974 to reduce administrative burdens on judges. It now handles technical assistance, administrative support, 10% Bail Program applications, personnel, fiscal operations, budget, jury management, scheduling, public relations, and liaison functions.

The official court page is the local source for Court Administration contacts, judge lists, forms, parking links, and court service information.

Common Pleas vs MDJ Courts

Lebanon County does not use a county-court versus justice-court model. The relevant local comparison is Court of Common Pleas versus Magisterial District Courts. Appeals can move from the minor courts into Common Pleas, and felony criminal cases usually begin with lower-court events before the trial-court filing.

Lebanon County Case Flow

Criminal and civil files move through different paths. The Public Defender page explains that criminal cases may begin with a summons or warrant, followed by preliminary arraignment before a Magisterial District Judge. If sufficient evidence exists at preliminary hearing, the case moves to Common Pleas. Civil and family cases begin in the civil filing office or through lower-court appeal routes where applicable.

Criminal flow: Summons or warrant › preliminary arraignment › preliminary hearing › Common Pleas filing › formal arraignment › call of the list › plea or trial › sentencing › appeal.

Civil flow: Complaint or petition filed › service and response › motions or conferences › hearing, arbitration, settlement, or trial › order or judgment › appeal where allowed.

Note: Court records may lag behind live events, and UJS warns that recent docket entries may not appear immediately.

Lebanon County Court Divisions

The Court of Common Pleas handles several record groups through different offices. Civil records include complaints, motions, orders, judgments, liens, appeals from MDJ civil judgments, writs, subpoenas, praecipes, and satisfaction or discontinuance filings. Family records include divorce, custody, support-related filings, and prior-name election forms. PFA matters are handled through the Prothonotary, with the county directory listing PFA in Room 308, extension 4441.

Criminal Common Pleas records are filed through the Clerk of Courts. Public docket sheets can show charges, bail, court events, dispositions, sentences, counsel, and docket entries unless access is sealed, expunged, limited, or otherwise restricted. Orphans' Court work is handled through the Register of Wills / Clerk of Orphans' Court, including wills, estates, guardianships, adoptions, inheritance tax, and marriage licensing.

Lebanon County Court Records Lookup

Use UJS Case Search for statewide public docket sheets for Common Pleas, Magisterial District, appellate, and related courts. For civil, family, PFA, judgment, and lien files that need the county filing office, use the Prothonotary and the official CountySuite civil portal when available. For criminal and juvenile files, use the Clerk of Courts. For estate, guardianship, adoption, inheritance-tax, and marriage matters, use the Orphans' Court office.

Sample CP criminal docket data in the research file includes a docket header, judge assigned, OTN, initial issuing authority, arresting agency, complaint or citation number, case status, filed date, bail details, charges, calendar events, attorneys, dispositions, sentencing details, and chronological docket entries. Civil and family files may have different document types and confidentiality rules.

Lebanon County Court Access

Lebanon County court pages link ADA policy and forms, interpreter request forms for civil, criminal, MDJ, and family proceedings, a Language Services Complaint, Language Access Plan, and Notice of Language Rights. The court ADA coordinator listed on the form is Leslie Fillak at leslie.fillak@lebanoncountypa.gov, phone (717) 228-4440, and fax (717) 228-4457. Parking materials show lots around Oak Street, Elm Street, South 7th Street, and South 8th Street, with posted limits to observe.

Jurors should use the county's jury information. The Criminal Jury Trial List page publishes courtroom numbers, docket numbers, verdicts, sentencing dates, and reporting information. The juror answering machine or website number listed in the research is (717) 272-0820 only if selected for a case.

Federal Courts Are Separate

Several manifest images assigned to the trial-court page come from federal court sources. They are useful for showing what is not handled by the Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas. Lebanon County federal matters route to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, with a practical courthouse in Harrisburg at the Sylvia H. Rambo United States Courthouse. Federal docket access uses PACER and CM/ECF, not Lebanon County clerk counters.

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania source identifies the federal district that covers Lebanon County.

Federal civil rights, federal crimes, habeas, diversity, and federal-question cases are separate from county Common Pleas files.

The Harrisburg federal courthouse page is relevant when a Lebanon County matter belongs in federal court.

The Harrisburg location does not replace the Municipal Building for Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas case records.

The Middle District CM/ECF system is the federal electronic filing and docket platform.

County civil, criminal, family, and probate records are not filed in federal CM/ECF unless a separate federal case exists.

The PACER lookup for the Pennsylvania Middle District Court is the federal docket access route.

PACER is distinct from UJS Case Search and the Lebanon County clerk offices used for state trial-court records.

The U.S. Attorney Middle District of Pennsylvania page describes federal prosecution coverage for the region.

Federal prosecution information can help distinguish a federal criminal case from a Lebanon County Common Pleas criminal record.