Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site on September 23, 2026.
Centre County, Pennsylvania, has about 160,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A traffic ticket written in Centre County is a court case in the Magisterial District Courts, and the conviction it ends in goes on the driving record kept by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. This guide says which court takes the ticket, who writes them and where the driving record lives.
This guide covers where tickets go, who writes them, the driving record, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Centre County public records, Centre County arrest records, Centre County warrants, Centre County inmate search, Centre County criminal records, Pennsylvania arrest records and Pennsylvania inmate search.
Where a Ticket Written in Centre County Goes
Tickets in Centre County go to the Magisterial District Courts, which take traffic tickets, summary offenses, small claims and preliminary hearings; Philadelphia has the Municipal Court instead. A paid ticket, a dismissal and a trial all end up in that court's records.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at civil.centrecountypa.gov/courts.civil.portal/CaseSearch.
Statewide, UJS Web Portal is the Pennsylvania courts' free statewide docket search.
Who Writes the Tickets in Centre County
The Centre County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for State College and Bellefonte write the traffic tickets in Centre County.
The FBI's agency list also places one campus police department, four state agencies and one state police unit in Centre County (the arrest records guide names each one); the Centre County State Police writes the tickets on the state highways.
The Driving Record and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
The driving record is a separate document from the court file. It is kept by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which adds each conviction the court reports and handles suspensions; the court does not issue driving records.
Paying a ticket is a conviction, reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation like any other; contesting it means a plea of not guilty entered with the court by the date on the ticket.
A DUI is a criminal charge rather than a ticket, with its own license case before PennDOT (see Centre County DUI).
Cities in Centre County
Wherever in the county a ticket is written, it is answered in the Magisterial District Courts.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Centre County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own traffic tickets guide opens there:
- State College (41,228)
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I pay a traffic ticket from Centre County?
With the Magisterial District Courts.
Who keeps my driving record in Pennsylvania?
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. The court reports each conviction to it, and paying a ticket counts as one.
Which court handles traffic tickets in Centre County?
The Magisterial District Courts, which take traffic tickets, summary offenses, small claims and preliminary hearings; Philadelphia has the Municipal Court instead.
Is this the official Centre County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.