To pay court costs and fines in Blair County, you have three options: pay online through Pennsylvania’s PAePay portal with a credit or debit card, mail a check or money order to the Cost and Fines Office in Hollidaysburg, or pay in person at the office window on Allegheny Street during business hours.1Blair County. Make A Payment If you can’t pay the full balance, the office can set up a monthly payment plan, and you have the right to a hearing before a judge if the proposed amount is more than you can afford.
Confirm What You Owe First
Before you send money, verify your balance. Every Pennsylvania case has a unique docket number, and payments without one can sit unmatched while your account still shows a balance due. The Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System web portal lets you search by name, case number, offense tracking number, or state ID to pull up your docket and the total still owed.2Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Judiciary Web Portal Blair County Common Pleas criminal cases carry a CP-07-CR prefix; Magisterial District Court cases start with MJ-07.
Pay Online With PAePay
PAePay handles traffic tickets, court costs, fines, and restitution with a credit or debit card, and payments process immediately.3Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. PAePay Traffic Ticket or Court Costs Two things to know before you click pay. A 2.75% service fee applies to every transaction, and no single transaction can exceed $2,500.4The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Pay Online If you owe more than that, split it into multiple payments.
Pay by Mail
Send a check or money order made payable to “Costs and Fines” to:1Blair County. Make A Payment
Costs and Fines
423 Allegheny Street, Ste. 139
Hollidaysburg, PA 16648
Write your full docket number on the memo line. Without it, staff may not be able to match the payment to your case.
Pay in Person
The Blair County Cost and Fine Office takes walk-in payments at the window Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.5Blair County. Cost and Fines You get a printed receipt on the spot. To confirm anything before you drive over, call (814) 693-3200.
Set Up a Payment Plan If You Can’t Pay in Full
Most people don’t pay the whole balance at once. The Cost and Fine Office arranges monthly payment plans based on what you can afford, and staff handle these routinely.
If the amount the office proposes is still out of reach, ask for a payment determination hearing before a judge. The court will review your income, expenses, and assets to set a monthly figure that fits your actual situation. Bring financial disclosure paperwork documenting what you earn, what you spend, and what you own.
Once a plan is in place, keep it current. Call the office before you miss a payment, not after. A change in your circumstances is something staff can usually work with; silence followed by missed payments is what triggers enforcement.
What Happens If You Don’t Pay
Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 706 draws a clear line between people who can’t pay and people who won’t. The court cannot jail you for nonpayment unless it holds a hearing and finds that you had the ability to pay and chose not to.6Pennsylvania Code. 234 Pa Code Rule 706 – Fines or Costs
That protection only works if you show up. Miss a scheduled payment hearing and the court can issue a bench warrant, which stays active until you appear and can lead to arrest at any police encounter. If the court then finds you had the money and didn’t pay, imprisonment for nonpayment is on the table.
The court can also enter a civil judgment against you for the unpaid amount. The major credit bureaus largely stopped reporting civil judgments after 2017, but the judgment remains a public record that can surface in background checks for housing, employment, and credit.
License Suspension on Traffic Cases
Unpaid traffic fines can cost you your driver’s license. The court first has to hold a hearing and find you able to pay. If it does and you still haven’t paid, it notifies PennDOT, which suspends your license until the debt is resolved or a new payment agreement is in place. Getting the license back after suspension costs an additional $119 restoration fee to PennDOT on top of what you still owe the court.7Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Payments and Fees
What Bankruptcy and Tax Deductions Won’t Do
Two common assumptions are wrong. Filing bankruptcy will not wipe out Blair County court costs, fines, or restitution. Federal law specifically exempts fines, penalties, and forfeitures owed to a government from discharge, and the U.S. Supreme Court held in Kelly v. Robinson that criminal restitution falls under that same protection.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523
Fines and court costs are also not tax-deductible. Federal tax law bars any deduction for amounts paid to a government in connection with a law violation.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 162 – Trade or Business Expenses A narrow exception exists for payments the court order specifically identifies as restitution for a victim’s actual losses, but for most people paying the Blair County Cost and Fine Office, none of it reduces a tax bill.