Central Court, located on the ground floor of the Lackawanna County Courthouse, was established to efficiently dispose of preliminary hearings in misdemeanor and felony cases filed in any of the ten magisterial districts in the county.
On-call duty rotates between the 10 judges with the on-call judge hearing emergency relief petitions under the Protection From Abuse Act (PFA) and presiding over preliminary arraignments of all criminal matters for the entire county for that 24 hour period.

In addition to 24 hour duty at the home court, Central Court operates each Monday through Friday at the courthouse with the on-call district judge presiding over misdemeanor and felony preliminary hearings and DUI court cases. Central Court provides the advantages of convenience to public defenders and district attorneys, a system of expedited case processing, increases security and reduces costs of transportation for prisoners, and provides more standardization of case management and handling of requests for continu