Pennsylvania State Archives

Government Records

All citizens of the Commonwealth live under the jurisdiction of one of Pennsylvania's 67 counties. The jurisdiction of Philadelphia city and county has the largest population with over one and a half million people while the smallest is Forest County with approximately five thousand. Though the Constitution establishes a basic organizational framework, the counties are free to adopt their own form of government. The counties of Philadelphia, Delaware, Erie, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, and Northampton have adopted home rule charters.

County Functions

County governments fulfill such traditional functions as law enforcement, judicial administration and the conduct of elections. Counties are also responsible for conducting property assessments, regional planning, and providing solid waste disposal and public health services. They also administer such public welfare programs as mental health services, hospitals and homes for the aged, and provide support for local libraries and community colleges. County governments sometimes establish housing and redevelopment authorities and direct other types of community development programs. Legislation enacted in recent years has strengthened the policy making role of boards of county commissioners, granting them greater control of and responsibility for county government. The geographic size of counties enables them to more efficiently pursue implementation of mass transportation systems and address local environmental protection concerns than would be the case if such services were administered at the state or federal levels.

County Government

The chief county governing body is the three-member Board of County Commissioners. In addition, county governments employ the services of a variety of elected officials who carry out their routine duties largely independently of the county commissioners. These offices include Sheriff, District Attorney, Prothonotary, Clerk of Courts, Register of Wills, Clerk of the Orphans' Court, Coroner, Recorder of Deeds and two jury commissioners who serve the county court. Other elective offices may include the Controller or three Auditors and the Treasurer, who are responsible for county finances. A Public Defender is appointed as provided by statute. The County Commissioners, the other elected officers and the county court, either individually or jointly, appoint a number of other county officials and employees who are needed to carry out the daily functions of the county government.

Whereas the names of eleven elected county offices are described in the Pennsylvania constitution, the powers and duties of these offices are prescribed by statutes that are scattered throughout the county codes and general state laws. Consolidation of certain elected offices is provided for by state law in the smaller class counties. These involve the offices of Prothonotary, Clerk of Courts, Register of Wills, Clerk of the Orphans' Court, and Recorder of Deeds. The originals of most county government records are held at the county level. Occasionally, some older county records may be placed into the custody of a local county historical society for safekeeping. At other times, preservation of permanently valuable records of the activities of county governments has resulted in the transfer of such records to the custody of the Pennsylvania State Archives.

The following are original records among the holdings of the State Archives. In addition, the Archives makes available microfilm copies of county records. See the link below for the County Governments Microfilm List.