McKean County Prothonotary Office
The official McKean County page names Vicky Madine as Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts. For Phase B structure, the Prothonotary page focuses on civil Common Pleas filing work, courthouse file access, copy requests, civil forms, and public services connected to those records. The same local office also performs Clerk of Courts functions for criminal records, so criminal case filing duties are separated on the McKean County Clerk of Courts page.
The office is based at the McKean County Courthouse in Smethport. The county says the office provides civil and criminal court proceeding services, fees and collections, jury selection, bail collection, and public services for court-affiliated offices and law-enforcement agencies. It also offers genealogy information involving divorces, custody issues, and criminal record searches, which makes a phone call useful when UJS does not show the file a user expects.
Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts
Prothonotary: Vicky Madine
500 West Main Street
Smethport, PA 16749
814-887-3270
Fax: 814-887-3219
Courthouse hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
McKean County Prothonotary Duties
The Prothonotary is the practical filing office for McKean County Court of Common Pleas civil records. Civil filings can include complaints, answers, praecipes, motions, continuance requests, arbitration packets, judgments, and orders. UJS may show some docket information, but full documents, certified copies, and older civil files should be requested through the courthouse office rather than assumed to be downloadable.
The office also works with many county and state record users. Research lists the Judge's Office, District Attorney, Juvenile Probation, Adult Probation, Children and Youth Services, Sheriff's Office, Public Defender, Domestic Relations, Court Administrator, Law Clerk, and Family Law Master Office among the internal offices served. External agencies include magisterial district judges, attorneys, AOPC, PennDOT, police agencies, Pennsylvania State Police, and the FBI.
- Accepts and maintains civil Common Pleas filings and related court records.
- Provides record-search and genealogy help for divorce and custody information when available.
- Collects fees and supports court-related reporting and public services.
- Coordinates with court offices, law enforcement, attorneys, and state reporting agencies.
- Directs probate and marriage-license requests to the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court.
Search McKean County Prothonotary Records
Start with Pennsylvania UJS Case Search for public docket data. McKean County links users to the Pennsylvania Judiciary Web Portal for appellate, Common Pleas, and Magisterial District Court docket sheets, calendars, local rules, and ePay. For a civil Common Pleas search, use a participant name, organization, docket number, date filed, or attorney search, then narrow the county field to McKean when the form offers that option.
UJS is a docket access tool, not a full file cabinet. Public docket sheets may be viewable and printable, while pleadings, orders with restricted attachments, and certified copies may require a direct request. UJS also warns that some civil Common Pleas cases may not appear in public results, and recent entries may lag. That is why the Prothonotary phone and courthouse counter remain part of the access channel.
| Search Field | Use | McKean County Note |
|---|---|---|
| Participant Name | Find a person connected to a case. | Use County = McKean to reduce statewide matches. |
| Docket Number | Find a known court file. | Common Pleas docket numbers begin with CP in the Pennsylvania format. |
| Date Filed | Limit results to a filing range. | Date ranges can help when names are common. |
| Organization | Search business or agency parties. | Add McKean County where the field appears. |
Request Certified McKean Copies
A certified copy is issued by the filing office and bears the official certification needed for legal use. Online docket printouts are useful for reference, but they are not the same as a certified court document. For McKean County Prothonotary records, identify the case, decide which document is needed, and contact the office before mailing payment or traveling to Smethport.
- Search UJS or your own papers for the case caption, docket number, filing date, and party names.
- Call the Prothonotary at 814-887-3270 to confirm that the office holds the record and can issue the copy type you need.
- Ask whether the request can be handled by mail, in person, or through a county form from the official forms page.
- Confirm the current copy and certification fee before sending payment because the research did not extract exact fee amounts.
- Pick up the certified copy or follow the office's mailing instructions.
McKean County Forms and Fields
The Court of Common Pleas forms page and the county document centers are the official sources for civil division packets and related court forms. The research captured a document-center search field, category listings, and reset control. When a user requests a file or searches for a form, the strongest identifiers are the case number, party names, document type, and the number of copies.
| Field or Control | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Search for file name | Optional | Used on county document-center pages to locate forms. |
| Category listings | Optional | Expandable lists group civil, court, family, and related packets. |
| Case number | Strongly preferred | Needed for precise copy requests when known. |
| Party names | Yes for most requests | Use full names and any former names available. |
| Document type | Yes | Examples include complaint, order, judgment, docket sheet, or decree. |
McKean County Prothonotary Fees
The research found that the Prothonotary page links a fee schedule, but exact copy and filing amounts were not readable in the opened page. The page therefore should not state guessed amounts. PAePay card payments are a separate statewide payment channel and the UJS Pay Online page states that PAePay and PAePay Bail card payments carry a 2.75% nonrefundable service fee.
| Item | Status From Research |
|---|---|
| Civil filing fees | Official fee schedule linked, exact amounts not extracted. |
| Plain copies | Confirm with the Prothonotary before ordering. |
| Certified copies | Confirm copy and certification charges with the office. |
| PAePay card service fee | 2.75% nonrefundable service fee for PAePay card payments. |
Note: Fee amounts should come from the current official schedule or the office, not from an old docket printout.
Prothonotary vs Other McKean Offices
McKean County uses a split clerk structure. The Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts office is the combined local Common Pleas filing office, but probate, adoption, guardianship, inheritance tax, and marriage-license work belongs to the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court. That office is led by Wendy Yaros and has its own phone number, forms, and search requests.
For family records, the routing can depend on the exact record. Divorce case and genealogy questions may go through the Prothonotary. Active family procedure and custody forms can involve the Family Law Forms page and the Family Law office at Route 6. Probate search requests, adoption paperwork, and guardianship filings should not be sent to the Prothonotary when the Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans' Court is the correct office.