There shall be one Court of Common Pleas for each judicial district. The General Assembly provides for the division within the Common Pleas court, i.e., Court of Quarter Sessions, Orphans' Court, and the number of Judges having jurisdiction in each Common Pleas Court. The Common Pleas Court will have unlimited original jurisdiction in all cases except as may otherwise be provided by law.
All courts of the Commonwealth are made subject to the supervision and administrative control of the Supreme Court.
The constitution provides that whenever a county shall contain 40,000 inhabitants it shall constitute a separate judicial district and shall elect one Judge learned in the law. Click here for more on the County Judge. The General Assembly is required to designate the several judicial districts after each decennial census. However, the boundaries and number of judicial districts may not be changed by the General Assembly without the approval of the Supreme Court.
2012 Court Calendar
Court Forms
Local Rules
Law Library
The County Commissioners may provide facilities and funds for supplying and maintaining a law library for the use of the court, County Officials, and members of the bar of the county. The bar association or, if there is no bar association in the county, the president Judge of the Court of Common Pleas shall appoint annually a law library committee, of not more than ten members of the bar of the county. The committee shall receive funds and use them in the support and maintenance of the library. The president Judge of the Court of Common Pleas shall annually indicate to the County Commissioners the amount of money to be appropriated to the law library committee. The president Judge may appoint a librarian for the law library. The compensation is paid from the funds of the law library committee.
The Board of Viewers consists of three members appointed by the Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for six-year terms. The Board handles all cases of eminent domain except those for the Federal Government. The Board holds public hearings to assess damages and benefits resulting from public improvements and determines just compensation. All decisions of the Board may be appealed to the Court of Common Pleas.