Pennsylvania, county records
Find the right office in Luzerne County. Court cases, deeds and parcels, sheriff and jail records, vital records and county filings, each linked to the office that keeps them.
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Every card below goes to the government office responsible for that record. Use the category buttons to narrow the list.
Police & jail
Luzerne County Sheriff Civil Division, the elected county law enforcement office, with incident reports, warrants and jail information as the office publishes them.
Open official site Luzerne County Sheriff Civil DivisionProperty records
Luzerne Recorder of Deeds, the office that records deeds, mortgages and land documents, with its index and copy rules as published.
Open official site Luzerne Recorder of DeedsPolice & jail
Luzerne County Criminal History Repository, with the criminal case, warrant and offender information the agency publishes.
Open official site Luzerne County Criminal History RepositoryVital records
Luzerne County Birth Records and Certificates, the office that issues these certificates, with the application, identification and fee rules it publishes.
Open official site Luzerne County Birth Records and CertificatesCity records
Luzerne County Office Open Records Requests: Access official county public records and legal documents.
Open official site Luzerne County Office Open Records RequestsFederal
Luzerne County Council: Council for county affairs and policies, on the official site of the office that keeps it.
Open official site Luzerne County CouncilCourt records
Luzerne County Clerk of the Court Criminal Records, with the criminal case, warrant and offender information the agency publishes.
Open official site Luzerne County Clerk of the Court Criminal RecordsProperty records
Luzerne County Tax Claim Bureau: Collection of delinquent real estate taxes, on the official site of the office that keeps it.
Open official site Luzerne County Tax Claim BureauPolice & jail
Sheriff Sales of Real Property Foreclosures and Forfeitures, the elected law enforcement office for Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with incident reports, warrants and jail information as the office publishes them.
Open official site Sheriff Sales of Real Property Foreclosures and ForfeituresVital records
Luzerne County Death Records, the office that issues these certificates, with the application, identification and fee rules it publishes.
Open official site Luzerne County Death RecordsCity records
Directory of Luzerne County Municipalities, the county government site, with its department pages, elected officials and contact information.
Open official site Directory of Luzerne County MunicipalitiesFederal
Luzerne County Veterans Affairs: Help with obtaining benefits and services for military veterans.
Open official site Luzerne County Veterans AffairsEverything else, organized
30 more Luzerne County sources not listed above.
Local record guide
County profile
Sheriff & Law Enforcement. Luzerne County Sheriff's Office is responsible for law enforcement duties within Luzerne County, particularly in unincorporated areas.
Police Departments. Luzerne County is served by several law enforcement agencies, including Luzerne County Sheriff's Office and municipal police departments.
Law Enforcement & Arrests. Law enforcement in Luzerne County is provided by multiple agencies working across 76 municipalities. The Sheriff can be contacted through the office’s website, and the office website provides information on warrant checks and sheriff sales at www.luzernecounty.org. Luzerne County Correctional Facility, located at 200 Water Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702, houses pre-trial detainees and sentenced inmates. Arrest records in Luzerne County are considered public records under Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law, 65 P.S. § 67.101 et seq.
Criminal Records. Luzerne County Clerk of Courts manages court records, while the Sheriff's Office and local police departments maintain arrest and incident records.
Arrest Records. Arrest records in Luzerne County are maintained by Luzerne County Sheriff's Office and local police departments.
Mugshots & Booking Photos. These images are part of the arrest record and can be accessed through the facility's online inmate search tool or by request from the Sheriff's Office.
Abandoned mine records
Where the workings are, and the office that holds the mine maps.
From the old mine records
The mine records hold 36 mine sites inside the county: 22 past producers, now closed, 1 prospect or occurrence that was never worked, 12 sites producing when the record was made, 1 processing plant, which is not a working; the old survey maps add 204 holes drawn inside the county, 63 of them shafts or tunnels. The minerals the records name are construction sand and gravel; crushed stone; Peat.
A point in either file is a location, not a property line: the sheet shows the opening on the surface, not the rooms under it. The record that shows what runs under a parcel is the mine map. The OSMRE National Mine Map Repository holds scanned underground mine maps and answers requests for a named mine or an area. DEP has an address lookup for mine subsidence risk at gis.dep.pa.gov/msiRisk where you enter a street address: if the site falls in a gray Underground Mining Area it is over or near a known mined area. The PHUMMIS inventory of historic underground mine maps sits at www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/Phummis and is linked from the DEP Act 54 maps page.
Rows taken off the old survey maps open the USGS record of what sits at that spot, because no single feature on those maps has a page of its own. Rows from the mine records open their own USGS page.
Luzerne County lies on the edge of the Pennsylvania Anthracite Region coal field and the coal there is anthracite, worked underground in many places. The two federal files record a shaft, an adit or a deposit where one was drawn on a survey sheet or catalogued as a site; neither file carries the outline of the workings, so the counts above are not the measure of what was mined under this county. The record that shows it is the mine map, held by Pennsylvania Mine Map Atlas (DEP, hosted by Penn State) and linked below.
Pennsylvania abandoned mine maps ranks every county and town in the state by the workings recorded inside it, names the office that holds the mine maps, and says what to do if the ground moves.
Disclaimer: The mine information here is for general information only. Old mine records can be incomplete, outdated or wrong, and finding nothing here does not mean there is nothing there. Check with the mine map office named here before you rely on it, and have a qualified engineer look at any ground you are worried about. PublicRecordCenter.com assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions, or consequences arising from the use of this information.
Know before you ask
Each figure below was read on the official source linked beside it, October to November 2026. A fee or rule the source does not state is left out rather than guessed, and offices can change their schedules, so confirm on the source before you pay or travel.
The Recorder access guide directs older deeds from 1786 through 1967 to IQS and E-Film resources, with Landex covering later material. It distinguishes image availability from indexing dates and identifies certified copies as an in-office product. The office also announces a $15 increase for deeds, exempt deeds and mortgages beginning July 1, 2026. That increase is an addition to the applicable fee, not the whole recording price. Use the current schedule for the instrument being submitted.
The Prothonotary FAQ dates electronic searching from March 1, 2005, while noting that some earlier records may also appear. It identifies civil suits, divorce, custody, foreclosure, liens and related civil filings as Prothonotary subjects. An older case absent from the online system may still require a book or office search. Keep its filing year, parties and docket reference so staff can determine the relevant retained format.
The Prothonotary archived bulletin specifically says divorce, custody and Protection From Abuse cases are not viewable through the online viewer and directs permitted inspection to office terminals. It also describes historical realty, lien and judgment index books under Infodex. Because this is an archived notice, confirm the current method with the office; do not read the broader FAQ as a guarantee of remote access to every listed case category.
The county 2024 achievements report documents scanning of estate indexes for 1875 through 2004 and free online searching through IQS Infodex. An index entry identifies a file or proceeding but does not necessarily reproduce the entire estate. Preserve the decedent's recorded name, year and file reference, then identify which probate document is required. A will, grant of authority and later account answer different questions even when they belong to the same estate.
The Records Center holdings handout includes projected changes described as future work in 2019. A recently crawled or republished file can therefore contain an older access roadmap. Use it to identify record series, then compare the active office instructions before relying on its portal names or coverage. Distinguish an index, scanned image and complete case file in your notes; those layers can have different availability even within the same collection.
A recorded deed may identify an estate, while a foreclosure docket may point to a mortgage and later sheriff-sale instrument. Follow the cited references rather than merge results merely because the same name appears. Preserve the document date, recording date and case event date separately when reconstructing the sequence. The Pennsylvania records guide provides the statewide criminal and appellate routes that sit outside these local land, estate and civil collections.
Where to go
Each office below was read on its own site. A field the office does not publish is left out rather than filled in from a directory.
Recorded instruments, older deed access and in-office certified copies.
Office page: luzernecounty.org
Labor Department file
The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division closed 508 investigations in Luzerne County since fiscal 2005 and recorded $3,633,030 in back wages agreed for 4,469 workers. The county is the one the Census Bureau puts each employer's ZIP code in. Snapshot of April 22, 2026; a case here is a finding by the Division, not a court judgment.
The 25 employers with the most back wages agreed, of 400 on the Luzerne County record; 133 employers have a page of their own and open from the table, the rest show their whole record here. The 375 more with smaller records are on the Pennsylvania wage theft records page, whose search answers for every employer in the state.
Straight answers
Open only the answer you need.
Booking photos are kept by the agency that made the arrest, such as the Luzerne County Sheriff's Department or a city police department in Luzerne County. Ask that agency for its record.
The Pennsylvania criminal history record comes from the Pennsylvania State Police, Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History (PATCH). Run a name based PATCH check online at epatch.pa.gov or send a mail in PATCH request. Fee: $22.00 for each PATCH check; online card payments add a 2% fee.
Search the Pennsylvania State Police Megan's Law Website, or every state at once on the National Sex Offender Public Website run by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Register with the county voter registration office (county board of elections) or through the Pennsylvania Department of State. You can also register online with the state online registration. You must register at least 15 days before the election.
Deeds and other recorded land documents in Luzerne County are kept by the Luzerne County recorder of deeds. Property values are set by the county assessment office, and tax bills come from the local elected tax collector; county treasurer in some counties. Source: official state page.
Certified birth and death certificates for Pennsylvania come from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Division of Vital Records. The Department of Health runs six Vital Records public offices across the state for in person requests. Online through VitalChek at mycertificates.health.pa.gov, the state's only authorized vendor, by mail to Division of Vital Records, Birth Certificate Processing Unit, PO Box 1528, New Castle, PA 16103, or in person at a Vital Records public office. Fee: $20 for each birth certificate; online orders add a $10 processing fee.
Business entity filings are searched with the Pennsylvania Department of State, Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations. There is no general business license that all Pennsylvania businesses must obtain; licensing depends on the business activity and location, and owners contact their locality about local business licenses.
The Recorder guidance routes the older deed collection to IQS and E-Film resources rather than treating Landex as the only system.
The notice describes a $15 increase for specified instruments, not a complete flat total.
The Prothonotary FAQ identifies March 1, 2005, with some earlier material also online.
The archived bulletin describes category restrictions. Confirm the current office-access method.
The bulletin identifies the Infodex section of the Prothonotary viewer.
The report identifies indexes from 1875 through 2004, searchable through IQS Infodex.
The Records Center handout contains forward-looking 2019 language, so its internal dates must be checked.
The digitization report describes indexes. Use the entry's reference to request the underlying documents.
Same county
Use the city page when a record was created by a municipal police department or city office; use the county page for courts, deeds, vital records and jail custody.