About the Montour County Prothonotary
Susan M. Kauwell is listed by Montour County as Prothonotary / Clerk of Courts / Clerk of Orphans Court. The county contact page says she was first elected in January 2000 and that the current term expires in January 2028. The Prothonotary office is on the first floor of the Montour County Courthouse, 253 Mill Street, Danville, PA 17821. The department contact page lists phone 570.849.8700 extension 2100, while the court-related clerk pages commonly list 570.271.3010. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00AM to 4:00PM.
The Prothonotary is the civil court filing and records office for Montour County. It is separate from the Clerk of Courts, which handles adult and juvenile criminal records, and separate from the Clerk of Orphans Court, which handles Orphans' Court filings and marriage licenses.
Montour County Prothonotary
Officer: Susan M. Kauwell
253 Mill Street
Danville, PA 17821
570.271.3010
Monday-Friday, 9:00AM-4:00PM
The official Prothonotary page is shown below. Use the Montour County Prothonotary source to confirm current forms, office notices, and civil filing categories.
What the Prothonotary Does in Montour County
The Prothonotary page states that the office stores, files, and distributes documents related to Civil Court. The named case categories are civil lawsuits, protection from abuse, divorce, custody, municipal liens, state liens, federal liens, mortgage foreclosures, executions, and appeals from the magistrate. These records can include complaints, petitions, cover sheets, service papers, motions, praecipes, orders, judgments, writs, satisfactions, and docket entries.
Because the Montour County Courthouse also houses the criminal clerk, Orphans' Court clerk, Sheriff, District Attorney, and Magisterial District Court, civil requesters should name the Prothonotary specifically when calling or appearing at the courthouse.
- Accepts civil filings in the Court of Common Pleas for Montour County.
- Maintains divorce and custody files as civil court records.
- Handles protection from abuse filings, subject to privacy and safety restrictions.
- Files liens, mortgage foreclosure papers, executions, judgments, and magistrate appeals.
- Provides copy and certified-copy access when records are public and fees are paid.
How to Request a Certified Copy
A certified civil copy is a clerk-authenticated copy used when another court, agency, lender, school, employer, or government office needs proof of a filing, judgment, or decree. Divorce decrees are a common example. Before requesting copies, gather the case caption, docket number if known, the parties' names, the filing year, and the exact document needed.
- Search any available docket information first, or collect the case number from prior paperwork.
- Call the Prothonotary at 570.271.3010 to confirm whether the file is available, public, and stored at the courthouse.
- Identify the document type, such as complaint, order, judgment, divorce decree, custody order, lien, or satisfaction.
- Ask for the copy cost, certification cost, page count estimate, and accepted payment methods.
- Submit the request in person, by mail if accepted by the office, or through the county open-records route when the request concerns county agency material rather than a judicial case file.
- Verify whether pickup, mail delivery, or electronic delivery is available for the requested record.
Records Request Form Fields
Montour County's open-records form is not a substitute for every judicial case-file request, but it provides a clear checklist for the type of information a requester should be prepared to supply. The county page lists online, email, fax, and mail channels, with Holly A. Brandon as the county open-records officer. Judicial records should still be routed to the Prothonotary when the file is a civil court record.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Requester name and contact | Yes | First name, last name, address, phone, fax if any, and email appear in the county request inventory. |
| Request description | Yes | Describe the civil case, parties, docket number, document type, date range, and whether certified copies are needed. |
| Delivery method | Yes | County form options include US Postal Service, email, and in-person pickup. |
| Print or digital copies | Yes | The form distinguishes printed copies, which may carry fees, from electronic copies. |
| Record inspection | Yes | Use this when asking to inspect rather than receive copies. |
| Certified copies | Yes | The form asks whether certified copies are requested and notes that fees apply. |
| Cost notification | Yes | Requester can ask to be notified if the cost exceeds $100. |
The open-records screenshot below comes from the original clerk manifest and is relevant to Prothonotary requests only as a fallback and information checklist. Review the Montour County Open Records Request page before using it for non-case agency records.
Montour County Prothonotary Fees
The research file did not include a full Prothonotary civil fee bill with dollar amounts for new civil filings, divorce filing, custody filing, foreclosure filing, or civil certified copies. The county clerk pages do identify accepted payment methods as cash, check, debit card, and credit card, with processing fees for card payments. Because civil filing fees can depend on case type, page count, writ type, state surcharges, and service needs, confirm the current fee directly with the Prothonotary before filing or requesting certified copies.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Civil lawsuit filing | Confirm with Prothonotary |
| Divorce filing | Confirm with Prothonotary |
| Custody filing | Confirm with Prothonotary |
| Protection from abuse filing | Confirm with Prothonotary |
| Certified civil copy | Confirm with Prothonotary |
| Card processing fee | Applies to debit/credit card payments |
Common Civil Forms and Local Rules
The Prothonotary page links the Statewide Civil Coversheet, a 26th Judicial District Civil Cover Sheet, an Application for Continuance in civil matters, and an Order of Court Appointing Special Master for special master circumstances. The 26th Judicial District local rules page also separates Civil Local Rules, Divorce and Orphans' Court Local Rules, Judicial Administration rules, Criminal Local Rules, and Court Transcript materials.
- Montour County Prothonotary forms - local civil filing forms and office links.
- 26th Judicial District local rules - civil, divorce, Orphans' Court, criminal, judicial administration, and transcript rules.
The local rules image below was captured for the original clerk page and is relevant to Prothonotary civil practice because the Prothonotary accepts filings that must comply with those Columbia-Montour rules.
Mail, Counter, and Online Access
For civil case records, start with the Prothonotary counter or phone line. The Pennsylvania UJS Case Search portal is useful for many public court dockets, but the research specifically notes that official public statewide web docket coverage is stronger for criminal Common Pleas and Magisterial District Court records than for civil Common Pleas files. Divorce, custody, PFA, liens, foreclosures, executions, and civil suits may require a courthouse request even when a related docket entry exists elsewhere.
For county agency records outside the civil court file, the open-records page accepts online form submissions, righttoknow@montourcounty.gov, fax 570.271.3088, and mail to Montour County Administration Center, 435 East Front Street, Danville, PA 17821. Appeals from a county open-records denial go to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, but judicial case-record access is controlled by court policies and clerk procedures rather than only by the county agency request process.