Criminal Justice
and Court Related Departments
Delaware County
Government Center
Web Site
Delaware County Common Pleas Court
Offers On-line Payments
Instructions on How to Use the Epay System in PDF:
Instructions for Using e-Pay - Search by Name
Instructions for Using e-Pay - Search by Case Number
E-Pay Portal - http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/ePay/Default.aspx
MEDIA — Delaware County Council informed residents that as part of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ongoing efforts to improve court collections, Delaware County’s Common Pleas court now offers “e-Pay”—a Web-based application for the state’s criminal case management systems that allows defendants to make court payments via the Internet with a credit or debit card.
The e-Pay option provides residents with greater convenience in making payments for court fines, costs andrestitution, which is expected to result in an increase in collections.
“This is yet another way that Delaware County is using technology to make things easier for our residents,” said County Council Vice Chair Christine Fizzano Cannon. “Many people are paying their bills online. Now they can pay court fines online at the Common Pleas level. The e-Pay feature should be made available at the Magisterial District Justice level next year, which will make it useful to even more residents.”
Caption: Delaware County residents can now pay their Common Pleas Court fines and costs on-line thanks to a new e-Pay application. County Council Vice-Chairman Christine Fizzano Cannon, left, demonstrates the e-Pay option on the County Web site along with Michael Raith, Deputy Director of Delaware County Court Services. People can access the statewide e-Pay program via the County Web site at www.co.delaware.pa.us.
Vice-Chair Fizzano Cannon explained that residents can access the new e-Pay option through the County’s Web site under both the Court of Common Pleas section and the Office of Judicial Support. She said people can also utilize a step-by-step guide posted on the Web site to better understand the e-Pay transaction process.
Council informed residents about the new “e-Pay” option subsequent to a statewide announcement issued Aug. 23 by Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille.
Chief Justice Castille said: “e-Pay is yet another tool designed by our Judicial Automation staff to assist court officials in performing their duties. The new feature allows the public to securely pay court financial obligations via the Internet, eliminating the need to visit a court office or mail a check. In addition, court staff will be able to quickly process payments received without assisting customers and re-entering payment data into the system.”
The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) is providing this service at no
cost to Delaware County. A transaction convenience fee of $2.75 will be charged to the user. A person
interested in making court payments online will navigate to the Unified Judicial Web Portal at:
http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/ePay/Default.aspx, then search for his/her
cases/payment plans.
The payment amount will be entered along with the credit or debit card information. The Web application will send the user a payment confirmation generated by the e-Pay vendor and court officials will get a notification that a payment is pending.
Fines, costs and restitution for criminal cases can be paid through e-Pay. The processing
of payments is dependent upon the individual court to which the payment has been made. Courts
may restrict certain individuals or cases from online payment.
Since April, 47 Common Pleas courts have implemented e-Pay. To date these courts have received a total of more than $900,000 through the new online payment application.
Amy Ceraso, AOPC Director of Judicial Automation said: “The e-Pay application promises to further improve court collections. Unlike credit/debit card payment functions that may currently exist with some counties, the statewide e-Pay function is ‘online,’ and it is fully integrated with the Delaware County Common Pleas court system. Consequently, when e- Pay is implemented statewide, users will have a one-stop shop for payment of fines, costs and restitution with the ability to search for and locate cases and/or payment plans with balances due across courts and counties.”
Currently, the “e-Pay” option is only available at the Court of Common Pleas level in Delaware County, however the AOPC is in the process of upgrading the magisterial district judge court computer
system statewide to improve efficiency. The new system, to be implemented in Delaware County magisterial district courts in 2011, will not only allow defendants to pay court financial obligations online, it will allow court staff access to statewide bail and warrant information, features expected to save costs and further improve court collections.
For more information about the “e-Pay” option to pay court financial obligations, contact the Help Desk at the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) at 1-877-227-2672. Or access instructions on the Delaware County Web site at www.co.delaware.pa.us.