The Prothonotary Office of Fayette County

The Prothonotary office of Fayette County, as well as other Counties in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, essentially handles the civil side and family division of the county courts administration. Additionally, the Prothonotary office is commissioned to process applications for Passports for travel outside the United States.

In order to efficiently handle these functions, the office must act as the legal custodian of all civil instruments filed with the Court of Common Pleas in accordance with the rules of Civil Procedure as promulgated by the legislature of the Commonwealth. Each County also establishes local rules and Fayette County is no exception having established the Fayette County Rules of Court. These records must be maintained accurately and indexed properly so as to allow for their retrieval whenever necessary.

The office of Prothonotary is often defined as the Court Official who acts as the principal Clerk responsible for the accuracy of the court records, issuance of processes, entering judgments and orders and certifying records. The office is responsible for the processing and filing of the great magnitude of documents that directly and materially affect the legal relationships and legal commerce of the citizens of the County. Historically, the office was entrusted to record documents including the list of assets, doctors and dentists, as well as the recording of the filing of Charters and Articles of Incorporation. Currently, the office records such legal documents as Appeals, Assignments, Commencement of Actions (Complaints and Writs), Divorce Actions, Custody Actions, Execution against assets, Final Orders, Judgments, Liens, Mechanics Liens, Municipal Liens, Federal and State Tax Liens, Name Change Petitions, Petitions for Protection from Abuse, Signatures of Notary Publics, Satisfactions of Judgments and Liens, Subpoena's, Arbitrations, License Suspension Appeals, as well as many other issues. Additionally, the office initiates judgments entered by District Judges and also processes appeals from the District Judge offices to the Court of Common Pleas. Likewise, the Office must process the appeals from the Court of Common Pleas to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, The Commonwealth Court as well as the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth involving these civil matters.

The term Prothonotary is a Latin word meaning First Notary, or Highest Notary. This term was derived from the English court system and has been retained by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a distinguished office of the Court of Common Pleas.