To run an Indiana court records search online, use one of three portals depending on where the case was filed: MyCase at mycase.in.gov for trial court records, the Appellate Case Search at publicaccess.courts.in.gov/docket for appeals, and PACER at pacer.uscourts.gov for federal cases filed in Indiana. The state portals are free and require no account. Federal records through PACER involve per-page fees with a quarterly waiver.
Searching Trial Court Records on MyCase
MyCase is the statewide portal for Indiana trial court records. It covers Circuit, Superior, City, and Town courts that use the Odyssey case management system, which includes the vast majority of Indiana’s courts.1Indiana Judicial Branch. Public Records You can search by party name, case number, or attorney name. No account, no fee.
What you get back is the Chronological Case Summary, usually called the CCS or docket. It’s a date-ordered list of every filing, hearing, motion, and order in the case. Some underlying documents can be opened directly from the portal, but access varies by case type. In criminal cases, public users generally see only sentencing orders online. In civil cases, non-confidential orders and other documents tend to be available.2Indiana Judicial Branch. Public Access to Court Documents Anything filed under seal or ordered confidential by a judge stays invisible regardless of case type.
For older cases or documents that were never digitized, contact the clerk of the court where the case was filed. Many clerk offices take requests by mail, email, or in person.
Searching Appellate Cases and Opinions
Indiana keeps appeals in a separate system. The Appellate Case Search at publicaccess.courts.in.gov/docket covers every case pending or decided in the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court, and the Tax Court. You can search by litigant name, attorney name, or case number, or use the advanced search to narrow by court, case type, county of origin, or date range.3Indiana Judicial Branch. Searching for Cases on the Appellate Docket This is the tool for tracking an appeal’s progress or checking whether a decision has come down.
For the text of appellate decisions, the Indiana Judiciary website publishes opinions from the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Tax Court.4Indiana Judicial Branch. Appellate Decisions The site’s disclaimer notes these are informational copies rather than the official versions from West (Thomson/Reuters) or the Clerk, though for most purposes the posted versions are enough. Google Scholar’s case law feature is another free option for keyword searches of Indiana opinions.
If you plan to rely on a decision in your own case, note the difference between a published opinion and a memorandum decision. A published Supreme Court opinion binds every Indiana court, and a published Court of Appeals opinion binds all trial courts. Memorandum decisions are not binding precedent, but since January 1, 2023, any memorandum decision may be cited for persuasive value by any litigant in any court.5Indiana Court Rules. Appellate Rules – Rule 65 Opinions and Memorandum Decisions
Federal Cases Filed in Indiana
State and federal court records live in completely separate systems. If the case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern or Southern District of Indiana, a federal bankruptcy court, or the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, use PACER at pacer.uscourts.gov. A free account is required to log in.6Public Access to Court Electronic Records. PACER Federal Court Records
Unlike MyCase, PACER charges fees: $0.10 per page for case information, capped at $3.00 per individual document. If your total charges for the quarter stay at $30 or under, the fees are waived entirely.6Public Access to Court Electronic Records. PACER Federal Court Records You can search by case number or party name within a specific court, or use the PACER Case Locator to find where a party has been involved in federal litigation nationwide.
What You Won’t Find in an Online Search
Not every court record is publicly viewable. Indiana’s Administrative Rule 5 excludes several categories of records from public access automatically, and the list is longer than most people expect.7Access to Court Records Rules. Rule 5 Records Excluded From Public Access
Whole case types are off limits, including mental health proceedings, pre-execution search warrants and investigative subpoenas, and paternity records created between July 1, 1941 and July 1, 2014. Within cases that are otherwise public, these categories stay confidential:
- Complete Social Security numbers, account numbers, PINs, and passwords
- Addresses, dates of birth, and phone numbers of witnesses and victims in criminal, juvenile, and civil protection order cases
- Medical and mental health records, including examiner reports and treatment records
- Pre-sentence reports
- Drug and alcohol program records governed by 42 CFR Part 2
- Records created by pre-trial release programs, drug courts, and other problem-solving courts
Juvenile records follow their own rules. The public can view juvenile delinquency records without a court order only when the petition alleges an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult, or when there are at least two unrelated acts that would be misdemeanors (for children 12 and older) or five such acts (for children under 12). Even then, only the child’s name, age, nature of the offense, the CCS, orders, petitions, and similar procedural documents are released. The rest goes into a confidential envelope, and the identity of any child victim or witness always stays confidential.8Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 31-39-2-8 Public Access to Records of Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings
Expunged records are another reason a search may turn up nothing. Indiana allows people with criminal histories to petition for expungement under IC 35-38-9, with waiting periods that scale with the severity of the offense.10IN.gov. IC 35-38-9 Chapter 9 Sealing and Expunging Conviction Records
Reading an Indiana Case Number
Every Indiana trial court case is assigned a number under the Uniform Case Numbering System. A number like 49D06-0709-PL-0000123 looks cryptic, but each segment carries meaning.9Indiana Court Rules. Rule 8 Uniform Case Numbering System
- First five characters (49D06): county code (49 = Marion), court type (D = Superior), and division number (06)
- Next four characters (0709): year and month of filing (September 2007)
- Two-letter code (PL): case type (PL = Plenary Civil)
- Final digits (0000123): the sequential filing number for that year
If you only have part of a case number, knowing that the first two digits identify the county or that the two-letter code identifies the case type can help you narrow a MyCase search or confirm you’ve pulled the right record.11IN.gov. Initiating a Case and Assigning a Case Number
Getting Certified Copies and Transcripts
A printout from MyCase is not an official court document. If you need a court order or decree for an employer, a Social Security matter, or another court proceeding, request a certified copy from the clerk of the court where the case was filed. Indiana law sets the copy fee at $1.00 per page, with a separate certification fee that varies by county.12Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 33-37-5-1 Preparing Transcript or Copy of Record Most clerks accept requests by mail or email if you include the party names, a description of the document, and payment.
A transcript, meaning the verbatim written record of a hearing or trial, comes from the court reporter rather than the clerk. Indiana does not set a single statewide rate. Each county adopts its own local rule governing court reporter fees, subject to Supreme Court approval, and counties may charge a minimum fee of up to $35.00 per transcript.13IN.gov. Court Reporters and Transcript Preparation Administrative Rule 15 Submit a written request to the court reporter assigned to your case, and expect a wait of several weeks in busy courts. If you’re on an appeal deadline and the transcript is delayed, you can file a motion asking the court for an extension.