Due to scheduled maintenance, the Philadelphia Traffic Court's Citation Online Payment System will be unavailable Sunday 5/19/13, from 2:00 AM to 8:00 AM (EST).

Court of Common Pleas

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The Courts of Common Pleas are Pennsylvania's courts of general trial jurisdiction. They have existed since the colonial charter of Pennsylvania, and are incorporated in the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776. The Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County presently consists of ninety (90) judges who are currently assigned as follows: Trial Division, 67; Family Division, 20; and Orphans' Division (Estates Law, etc.), 3.

The Court of Common Pleas is supervised by a President Judge who is elected for a five year term by the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas.

Honorable Pamela P. DembeHonorable Pamela P. Dembe is the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia.

The President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas sits on the First Judicial District's Administrative Governing Board, which functions much like a Board of Directors for the District. The Board includes the three president judges, three administrative judges, and the State Court Administrator.

The President Judge has varied authority and responsibilities.

The President Judge:

  • initially assigns all newly appointed or elected Judges to one of the divisions of the court, and may request from the Supreme Court the assignment of Senior Judges to help dispose of Philadelphia County's case-inventory, and the appointment of out-of-county Judges to assist the Court in conflict cases
  • Directs space allocation within the Court of Common Pleas and assigns judicial chambers
  • Is responsible for the implementation of local rules as adopted by the Board of Judges, and for the initiation of administrative orders, directives, or general court regulations as may be mandated or authorized by various court rules and directives, as well as legislative enactments
  • Is responsible for preparing an Emergency Judge Schedule assigning a Court of Common Pleas Judge to act during off-Court hours on emergency matters, as well as ensuring that Election Court, with numerous satellite locations, is judicially staffed during the primary and general elections in order to enable all citizens to exercise their right to vote
  • Supervises the Office of the Prothonotary, the library of the Court (all locations), and the Court Messenger Service
  • Supervises all Official Court Reporters, assigning them as needed, and monitors the transcription of notes of testimony which are needed to complete the Court record
  • Supervises the Mental Health Review Officer(s) who act on behalf of the Court in hearings pursuant to the Mental Health Procedures Act of 1976, as amended
  • Entertains all petitions which seeks to modify monetary judgments issued against defendants accused of criminal offences, and their sureties, when defendants violate the terms of their bail and fail to appear for court hearings
  • Maintains a Disbarment Docket of local attorneys who are suspended or disbarred by the Supreme Court

The President Judge's office is located at 386 City Hall, and the President Judge may be reached by telephone at (215) 686-8334, and by FAX at (215) 567-7328.

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Court Locations
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All Court Offices are open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday thru Friday unless stated otherwise.

Municipal Court - Criminal Division
Preliminary Arraignment Courtroom is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Traffic Court
Monday to Friday 8:30 AM to 7:30 PM

Court News

Friday, May 17, 2013
Traffic Court
Due to scheduled maintenance, the Philadelphia Traffic Court's Citation Online Payment System will be unavailable Sunday 5/19/13, from 2:00 AM to 8:00 AM (EST).

Friday, May 17, 2013
First Judicial District
View the Judicial Schedules for the week of May 19, 2013. Documents are in Adobe PDF Format

Thursday, May 16, 2013
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
COURTROOM CHANGE CENTRAL ELECTION COURT 2013 PRIMARY ELECTION - MAY 21, 2013

Thursday, May 09, 2013
First Judicial District
View the Judicial Schedules for the week of May 12, 2013. Documents are in Adobe PDF Format

Tuesday, May 07, 2013
Court of Common Pleas
Notice - RE: Update to the President Judge Inactive Attorney List . The following Attorneys are Suspended Effective 05/03/2013: Brooks, Quentin Zane #40504, Glazer, Neil L. #207268, Graziano, Michael C. #83884, Jones, Ervin G. #33841, Metzger, Michael F. #84331, Seidel, Richard Stephen #55801, Stow, Meredith Anne #209701, Tiagha, Kahiga A. #86363.

Friday, May 03, 2013
Court of Common Pleas
Notice - RE: Update to the President Judge Inactive Attorney List : Oluwafunmilayo Angela Idowu #310948 Reinstated effective 03/25/13, Jonathan R. Marcus #88147 Reinstated effective 04/08/13

Friday, May 03, 2013
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS AND MUNICIPAL COURT - CRIMINAL
Notice to the Bar: IMPLEMENTATION OF CRIMINAL ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM Documents are in Adobe PDF Format

Friday, May 03, 2013
First Judicial District
View the Judicial Schedules for the week of May 5, 2013. Documents are in Adobe PDF Format

More News

Court Fees

Office of the Prothonotary

All documents are in Adobe PDF format.
The latest version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader software is required to view, print and search these PDF documents. Please download this free software from the Adobe Acrobat Web site.

Please note that the Philadelphia Courts does not provide Technical Support for Acrobat Reader Software. For technical support, please contact Adobe.

Courthouse Room Reservations

Courthouse Reservations

If your organization is seeking to request the use of courthouse facilities, please email the following to crtrmrsrv@courts.phila.gov


1. Name and address of your organization
2. Contact person with contact information
3. Date(s)
4. Time(s)
5. Purpose (mock trials competition, meeting, etc)
6. Number and type of rooms (courtroom, conference room, etc)
7. Number of people attending
8. Is your organization an 501(C)(3) non-profit

Please note: Courtrooms are only available for reservations after hours and on weekends. There is a fee of $150 per room for any organization that is not a 501(C) (3) non-profit.

Departments of the First Judicial District
Employment

Office of Human Resources
First Judicial District of Pennsylvania
City Hall, Room 668
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Hours of operation:
Mon-Fri: 8:30 am-5 pm ET
Tel: 215 683-6950
Fax: 215 683-6952
Email: hr@courts.phila.gov

Job Opportunities
FJD Employee Sick Hotline Instructions
Medical and Dental forms for Employees
Judicial Art and History
Phone Directory

For general Court information, contact (215) 686-7000.

Municipal Phone Directory

This section allows you to search for the contact information of any City of Philadelphia employee. Enter an employee's first or last name and click "search", or select a department from the list.

You may also search by first initial if you do not know the exact spelling of a name.

For general City information, contact (215) 686-1776.

Publications

All documents are in Adobe PDF format.
The latest version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader software is required to view, print and search these PDF documents. Please download this free software from the Adobe Acrobat Web site.

Please note that the Philadelphia Courts does not provide Technical Support for Acrobat Reader Software. For technical support, please contact Adobe.

Public Access Policy

ELECTRONIC CASE RECORDS (Criminal: Court of Common Pleas and Municipal Court)

Electronic Information available to the public pursuant to the Unified Judicial System Electronic Case Record Public Access Policy may be accessed or requested as provided in the links below.

RIGHT TO KNOW LAW

The Right to Know Law, generally, does not apply to the Court System (referenced in the Right to Know Law as "Judicial Agencies" and also known as "Unified Judicial System"). The Right to Know Law only applies to Judicial Agencies to the extent provided in Pennsylvania Rule of Judicial Administration No. 509 - which deals with Financial Records. See detailed information below.

Financial Records

Rule 509 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Judicial Administration was amended by the Supreme Court, effective January 1, 2009, to facilitate public access to financial records of the Unified Judicial System, and establishes a systematic process for requesting and accessing the applicable financial records of a court.

As a general rule, financial records of the Unified Judicial System are presumed to be open to any member of the public for inspection or copying during established business hours. Exceptions are listed in Rule 509 (B). Certain records may be requested from the UJS and others from the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania ("FJD" or Philadelphia Courts). See below forms.

The term "financial records" is defined as any account, contract, invoice or equivalent dealing with: 1) the receipt or disbursement of funds appropriated to the system; or 2) acquisition, use or disposal of services, supplies, materials, equipment or property secured through funds appropriated to the system.

Detailed information related to the Rule 509 Process can be found via the links below.

This Web site provides public access to search, view and print Unified Judicial System (UJS) contracts and purchase orders. The Web site displays summary information on purchase orders and contracts of $5000 or more that were executed on or after July 1, 2008.

Denials of requests for access must be appealed as provided in Rule 509(c)(5): in writing, within 15 business days of the date of the written response by the records manager.

(Completed Request Form must be attached to email)

Fee Schedule
Photocopying: 11+ pages - $0.15/Page
Retrieval/Redaction: $7.00/15 Minutes
CD: $5.00 Each
Postage: Actual Cost

The FJD may levy additional fees as necessary to cover costs incurred in fulfilling specific information requests. Pre-payment will be required if expected compliance costs exceed $100.

ADA Accommodations

THE FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA complies with THE AMERICANS with DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) which requires that all court services and facilities be as reasonably accessible to persons with disabilities as those without disabilities.

If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodations to file a claim, participate in a court proceeding, or use any service provided by THE FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, please call the appropriate ADA coordinator from the link below.

Requests for reasonable accommodation must be made at least three business days in advance of the court activity or within three business days following notice of the court activity, whichever is later. Because some accommodations require additional time, as much notice as possible is requested. On occasion, the court activity will be postponed until accommodation is achieved.

Request for Proposals (RFP)

There are no Request for Proposals (RFP) listed at this time.

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