Northampton County Police Records
Northampton County sits in the heart of Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, sharing borders with Lehigh County to the west and the Delaware River to the east along the New Jersey line. With a population of approximately 310,000 residents, Northampton County is one of the more densely populated counties in eastern Pennsylvania. The county seat of Easton has served as the governmental hub since the county's founding. Police records in Northampton County are distributed across several agencies: the county Sheriff, the Clerk of Courts, individual municipal police departments, and the Pennsylvania State Police. Understanding which agency holds the specific record you need is the first step toward a successful search.
This guide explains how to locate Northampton County police records through local offices, the statewide PATCH system, the Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System portal, and the Right-to-Know Law. Whether you need an arrest record, criminal history summary, incident report, or court docket, the following sections walk through each available resource and the procedures required to access them.
Northampton County Quick Facts
Northampton County Police Records Overview
Police records in Northampton County include arrest logs, incident reports, criminal court dockets, warrant information, and related law enforcement documentation. These records are produced by multiple agencies and stored in separate systems. The main county-level repositories are the Sheriff's Office and the Clerk of Courts. Municipal police departments such as Bethlehem City Police and Easton City Police maintain their own records separately. The Pennsylvania State Police barracks at Bethlehem and Wind Gap also generate records for the portions of the county they patrol.
The image below is from the Northampton County official website, which provides links to county departments including law enforcement and court offices.
Residents and researchers should start with the county website when trying to identify the right office for a specific type of record. The site lists all departments with contact information and links to department-specific pages.
Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law, codified at 65 P.S. §§ 67.101-67.3104, governs public access to government records including police records. Criminal history record information is further governed by the Criminal History Record Information Act (CHRIA) at 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 9101-9183. Together, these statutes define what records are public, who may access them, and under what conditions. Certain investigative records and juvenile records are exempt from disclosure under both laws.
Northampton County Sheriff's Office
The Northampton County Sheriff's Office is located at 669 Washington Street, Easton, PA 18042. The Sheriff's Office handles civil process service, warrant execution, courthouse security, and maintains public-facing records related to its law enforcement functions. The Sheriff serves the county and works alongside municipal police and the Pennsylvania State Police to enforce court orders and execute warrants.
The Sheriff's Office maintains warrant information and civil process records that are subject to disclosure under the Right-to-Know Law. Requests for records held by the Sheriff's Office should be directed to the Sheriff's designated open records officer. You can contact the office directly to confirm current procedures for submitting a formal records request. Written requests are typically required for anything beyond general warrant lookups.
The Sheriff also publishes information about active warrants and may assist the public in confirming custody status for individuals held in the Northampton County Prison. Contact the Sheriff's Office at the Washington Street address or check the Northampton County website for the most current contact details and online tools.
In addition to warrant services, the Northampton County Sheriff conducts sheriff's sales of real and personal property. These transactions generate public records that are maintained by the office and available through records requests. Sheriff's sale records are relevant to civil judgments that may stem from court proceedings in the county.
Clerk of Courts Criminal Records
The Northampton County Clerk of Courts is the primary repository for adult criminal case files in the county. Located in the Northampton County Government Center in Easton, the Clerk maintains all criminal court records from the Court of Common Pleas. This includes charging documents, plea agreements, sentencing orders, conviction records, and any post-sentencing filings such as appeals or probation modifications.
Criminal records at the Clerk of Courts are governed by CHRIA at 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 9101-9183. Under this statute, conviction records are generally public, while non-conviction data and certain juvenile records carry access restrictions. Certified copies of criminal records are available for a fee. Contact the Clerk's office directly to confirm current copy fees and request procedures.
The Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System (UJS) Portal offers free online access to Northampton County court dockets. You can search by name or docket number and retrieve publicly available case information without visiting the courthouse. The UJS Portal covers criminal, civil, domestic relations, and traffic cases. It is regularly updated and provides case status, scheduled hearings, and disposition records.
The image below is from the Northampton County Prothonotary's office page, which maintains civil court records separate from criminal files.
The Prothonotary handles civil case filings, which may intersect with law enforcement activity in cases involving civil judgments, restraining orders, or civil claims arising from criminal incidents. For civil records in Northampton County, the Prothonotary is the appropriate starting point.
Note: Expunged and limited access records are not available through the UJS Portal or the Clerk of Courts. If a record does not appear online, it may have been expunged or sealed by court order.
Right-to-Know Requests in Northampton County
Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law gives the public the right to request access to government records held by state and local agencies, including police departments and county offices. In Northampton County, each agency has a designated open records officer who handles RTK requests. The county government's open records contact information is available on the Northampton County website.
Under the RTKL, agencies must respond within five business days of receiving a written request. The agency may grant access, deny access with a written explanation citing applicable exemptions, or request a 30-day extension for good cause. Copy fees are set at $0.25 per page for standard paper copies. Electronic records may be provided at no cost depending on the agency and format requested.
If a request is denied or only partially fulfilled, you have the right to appeal to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records (OOR). The OOR is located at 333 Market Street, 16th Floor, Harrisburg, PA, and can be reached at 717-346-9903. Their website at openrecords.pa.gov includes appeal forms, instructions, and guidance on the appeals process. Appeals must generally be filed within 15 business days of the denial.
Not all police records are subject to disclosure. Active criminal investigation records, certain confidential informant information, and records protected by other statutes such as CHRIA may be withheld. The open records officer will provide a written explanation identifying the applicable exemption if a request is denied in whole or in part.
For records held by the Pennsylvania State Police barracks serving Northampton County, submit your RTK request directly to PSP rather than to the county. PSP has its own open records process and designated RTK officer for each barracks.
Municipal Police Departments in Northampton County
Northampton County is home to numerous municipal police departments that serve the county's cities, boroughs, and townships. The largest are Bethlehem City Police and Easton City Police, both of which operate independently and maintain their own records systems. Bethlehem, shared between Northampton and Lehigh Counties, is one of the larger cities in the Lehigh Valley and generates a substantial volume of incident reports and arrest records each year.
Easton City Police, serving the county seat, maintains records for incidents within the city limits. To obtain records from Easton City Police, contact the department directly and submit a written request. The city's police department website and the Easton City website provide contact information and may have online forms for routine requests such as crash reports.
Other municipal departments in Northampton County include departments serving Palmer Township, Bethlehem Township, Wilson Borough, and Pen Argyl Borough, among others. Each of these departments is a separate public agency with its own open records officer. Records from municipal departments are accessed through that department rather than through the county Sheriff or Clerk of Courts.
For municipalities that do not have their own police department, coverage is provided by the Pennsylvania State Police. Residents in those unincorporated or un-policed areas should direct records requests to the PSP barracks responsible for their area, which would be either PSP Bethlehem or PSP Wind Gap depending on location within the county.
Crime statistics for Northampton County municipalities are compiled through the Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Reporting system. You can review aggregate crime data for jurisdictions across the county at the Pennsylvania UCR Statistics page maintained by the Office of Attorney General.
PATCH System for Northampton County Criminal History
The Pennsylvania Access To Criminal History (PATCH) system is administered by the Pennsylvania State Police and provides statewide criminal background checks for a fee of $22 per search. PATCH searches cover all 67 Pennsylvania counties, including Northampton, and return conviction data maintained under CHRIA at 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 9101-9183.
Requests can be submitted online through the PATCH overview page. The system searches by name and date of birth and returns any Pennsylvania conviction records on file for that individual. Results are returned electronically in most cases, making PATCH one of the fastest ways to obtain a Pennsylvania criminal history summary.
PATCH results reflect conviction records only. Arrests that did not result in conviction, expunged records, and cases that are still pending are not included. PATCH also does not include federal convictions or records from other states. For comprehensive background screening purposes, additional searches through federal systems or other state repositories may be necessary.
Employers and licensing agencies that require criminal background checks often use PATCH as one component of a broader screening process. Individuals may also submit PATCH requests about themselves to confirm what information is on file before applying for employment, housing, or professional licenses.
Sex Offender Registry in Northampton County
Pennsylvania's Megan's Law sex offender registry is maintained by the Pennsylvania State Police and is freely searchable online. The Pennsylvania Megan's Law website allows anyone to search by name, address, county, or zip code to find registered sex offenders in Northampton County and any other area of the state.
The registry includes offender names, photographs where available, home addresses, offense descriptions, and registration tier classifications. Northampton County offenders who are required to register do so through the nearest PSP barracks. The PSP Bethlehem Barracks and PSP Wind Gap Barracks handle registration for offenders in their respective service areas within the county.
Registration requirements vary based on the offense of conviction and the offender's classification tier under Pennsylvania's Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Tier I offenders register for 15 years, Tier II for 25 years, and Tier III and sexually violent predators must register for life. Failure to register is a criminal offense under state law.
Community notification procedures are handled through the PSP and may involve notification to local schools, community organizations, and neighbors depending on the offender's risk classification. The Megan's Law website is the primary public-facing tool for locating registered sex offenders in Northampton County.
Nearby Counties
Northampton County borders several Pennsylvania counties and adjoins New Jersey across the Delaware River. If the records you are searching for involve activity near county boundaries, the neighboring county may hold relevant records.