Pike County Police Records
Pike County sits in the far northeastern corner of Pennsylvania, sharing borders with both New Jersey and New York. The county seat is Milford, and the county has approximately 55,000 residents, many of whom commute to the New York metropolitan area. The county encompasses large portions of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Pike County police records are generated by the Pike County Sheriff, the Pennsylvania State Police Blooming Grove Barracks, the Clerk of Courts in Milford, and the few municipal police departments that operate in the county. This guide explains how to access each of those record sources through the correct agencies and request procedures.
Pike County is unusual among Pennsylvania counties in that it has relatively few municipal police departments. The Pennsylvania State Police provide primary law enforcement coverage across most of the county, meaning that a large share of arrest records and incident reports originate with PSP rather than a local borough or township department. This affects how and where you need to submit records requests. Understanding that structure will save you time and ensure your request goes to the correct agency the first time.
Pike County Quick Facts
Pike County Police Records and RTK Law
Police records in Pike County are subject to Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law at 65 P.S. §§ 67.101-67.3104. This statute gives any person the right to submit a written request for public records held by a Pennsylvania government agency, including local police departments, the Sheriff's Office, and the county government itself. Agencies must respond within five business days, and copy fees are set at $0.25 per page. If an agency needs more time, it may invoke a 30-day extension, but it must notify you in writing within the initial five-day response window.
Criminal history records are additionally governed by the Criminal History Record Information Act (CHRIA) at 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 9101-9183. CHRIA controls what criminal history information may be released, to whom, and under what conditions. Conviction records are generally public, while arrest records that did not lead to conviction and records involving juveniles have additional protections.
For any records request that is denied, you have 15 business days from the date of the denial to file an appeal with the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records (OOR). The OOR is located at 333 Market Street, 16th Floor, Harrisburg, and can be reached at 717-346-9903. The OOR website at openrecords.pa.gov has forms, instructions, and contact information for filing an appeal. The OOR issues a binding final determination on all appeals, which can be further appealed to the Court of Common Pleas if you disagree with the outcome.
Pike County's records infrastructure is centered in Milford, where the courthouse and most county offices are located. The Pike County government website provides department contact information and links to records-related resources. When submitting a records request, always include as much identifying detail as possible: full name, date of birth, approximate date of the incident or case, and the specific type of record you are seeking.
Sheriff's Office
The Pike County Sheriff's Office is located at 506 Broad Street, Milford, PA 18337. The Sheriff is a constitutionally established county officer in Pennsylvania and is responsible for civil process service, warrant execution, court security, and prisoner transport. The Sheriff's Office generates its own records in the course of these activities, including returns of service on civil process, warrant-related documentation, and records related to inmate transport and custody.
The Pike County Sheriff's Office maintains civil records related to sheriff's sales, writs of execution, and other court-ordered civil process. These records are public and can be requested from the Sheriff's Office directly. Requests for civil process records should be directed to the Sheriff's Office at 506 Broad Street in Milford. Contact the office to confirm current hours, accepted payment methods, and any specific request procedures before submitting a request.
Warrant information in Pike County is primarily managed through the court system, with the Sheriff's Office playing a role in serving and executing warrants issued by the courts. If you need to confirm whether an active warrant exists for a specific individual, contacting the Sheriff's Office directly is the best starting point. Not all warrant information is publicly available, but the office can often confirm basic warrant status.
In addition to its civil and court-related duties, the Pike County Sheriff operates the county jail. Jail records including booking logs and inmate rosters may be available as public records. Contact the Sheriff's Office to inquire about the process for accessing jail records and whether an online inmate lookup tool is available.
Clerk of Courts Records
The Pike County Clerk of Courts maintains all criminal case records for matters adjudicated in the Pike County Court of Common Pleas. This includes felony and serious misdemeanor cases, appeals from the Magisterial District Courts, and related criminal court filings. Records maintained by the Clerk of Courts include criminal complaints, informations, plea agreements, sentencing orders, probation records, and jury verdicts.
The Clerk of Courts office is located in the Pike County Courthouse in Milford. Contact the courthouse directly for current office hours, fee schedules for certified copies, and instructions for submitting a records request. Copy fees for certified records may differ from the standard $0.25 per page RTK copy fee, depending on the type of certification required.
The Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System (UJS) Portal provides free online access to Pike County court dockets. You can search by name, docket number, or other identifiers and review publicly available case information without visiting the courthouse in person. The portal covers criminal, civil, traffic, and other cases handled in the Pike County Court of Common Pleas and the Magisterial District Courts. This is often the fastest and most convenient way to look up Pike County court records.
Criminal history records held by the Clerk of Courts are governed under CHRIA at 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 9101-9183. Conviction records are generally public, but pre-conviction records, juvenile records, and expunged records have additional protections. If you find that a record does not appear in the UJS Portal or the Clerk of Courts files, it may have been expunged by court order. Expunged records are removed from public access and cannot be disclosed by the courts.
Right-to-Know Requests in Pike County
Pike County has a designated Right-to-Know officer who handles public records requests submitted to county agencies under 65 P.S. §§ 67.101-67.3104. To submit a Right-to-Know request to the county or any of its departments, contact the Pike County Open Records office through the Pike County Courthouse in Milford. The county's main website provides contact information for the RTK officer and may include a downloadable RTK request form.
A proper Right-to-Know request must be in writing and must describe the records you are seeking with enough detail for the agency to identify and locate them. You do not need to state a reason for your request or provide personal identification in most circumstances. The agency must respond within five business days by granting the request, denying it with a written explanation citing the applicable exemption under the RTKL, or notifying you that a 30-day extension is needed.
The standard copy fee under the Right-to-Know Law is $0.25 per page for paper copies. Electronic records may be provided at no charge or a reduced cost if they can be transmitted without significant expense to the agency. Before submitting a large records request, consider asking whether electronic delivery is available to reduce copying costs.
For records from the Pennsylvania State Police, which provides primary coverage in most of Pike County, you must submit a separate Right-to-Know request to the PSP rather than to Pike County. The PSP has its own RTK officer and its own procedures for handling records requests. Details on submitting a PSP records request are found in the State Police Coverage section below.
If your Right-to-Know request is denied, you have 15 business days to appeal to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records at 333 Market Street, 16th Floor, Harrisburg, PA. You can reach the OOR at 717-346-9903 or file an online appeal through openrecords.pa.gov. The OOR's determination is binding on the agency unless further appealed to court.
State Police Coverage
The Pennsylvania State Police Blooming Grove Barracks provides primary law enforcement coverage throughout Pike County. Because Pike County has few municipal police departments, PSP troopers handle the majority of law enforcement calls across the county's townships and communities. This means that a significant portion of all arrest records, incident reports, and criminal investigation files for Pike County are held by the PSP rather than by local or county agencies.
PSP incident reports are state agency records. To request a copy of a PSP incident report from the Blooming Grove Barracks, you must submit a request to the Pennsylvania State Police directly. You can use the PSP Records Request portal on the Pennsylvania government website to submit your request online. The PSP has its own RTK officer, and the same five-business-day response timeline applies.
Vehicle crash reports for accidents investigated by PSP troopers in Pike County cost $22 each. You can order a crash report through the PSP crash report request page. You will need to provide the date and location of the crash and identifying information about the parties involved. Crash reports are typically available several weeks after the incident date.
Crime statistics for Pike County are collected through the Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Reporting system. Statewide and county-level UCR data is available from the Pennsylvania UCR website operated by the Office of the Attorney General. These statistics allow researchers and residents to review crime trends in Pike County over time.
The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area within Pike County also falls under federal jurisdiction in certain respects. The National Park Service maintains law enforcement rangers who generate their own incident reports. Records from the National Park Service are subject to federal Freedom of Information Act procedures rather than Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law.
PATCH System
The Pennsylvania Access To Criminal History (PATCH) system provides statewide criminal background checks through the Pennsylvania State Police. A PATCH search costs $22 per request and covers all 67 Pennsylvania counties, including Pike County. Results are drawn from the state's criminal history database maintained under 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 9101-9183 and include conviction records, guilty pleas, and sentences imposed by Pennsylvania courts.
You can submit a PATCH request online through the PATCH overview page on the Pennsylvania government website. The search is conducted by name and date of birth. Online requests typically return results within a short time. You can also request PATCH results by mail using forms available through the PSP, though mail requests take longer to process.
PATCH results reflect conviction records only. The system does not include arrests that did not result in conviction, expunged records, federal records, or records from other states. If the person you are researching has lived in multiple states, a Pennsylvania PATCH search alone will not capture out-of-state criminal history. For a more comprehensive check, you would need to contact the criminal records agencies of other relevant states or submit a request to the FBI for a national criminal history check.
PATCH is used widely for employment background checks, volunteer screening, professional licensing, and other purposes. Pennsylvania law requires PATCH checks for many categories of employees and volunteers who work with children or vulnerable adults. The results of a PATCH search are typically valid for one year for most licensing and employment purposes, though the applicable period varies depending on the specific requirement involved.
Nearby Counties
Pike County borders several counties in Pennsylvania. If the records you are searching for involve activity near county lines or you are tracking someone who may have operated in multiple counties, these neighboring counties are worth checking as well.