Search Dearborn County Court Records

Search MyCase for Dearborn Court Records

The main public case search for Dearborn County court records is Indiana MyCase. The Indiana Judicial Branch's Dearborn County page links users to statewide case search, e-filing, local rules, and court statistics. Dearborn County's own court system page also routes public access and assistance to Indiana court resources. That means searches for Dearborn Circuit Court, Dearborn Superior Court I, and Dearborn Superior Court II should start in MyCase, with the Dearborn County Clerk of Courts used when the online entry does not include the needed document.

Before starting, gather a case number, citation number, party name, attorney name, filing date range, or court name. MyCase can search public, non-confidential trial and appellate case information. It can also show some public documents at no charge. It is not the official record copy, and it does not display every document. The Indiana MyCase help page says party and attorney access can show more to authorized users, while the public view is limited by court rules, case type, sealed status, and document availability.

1. Open Indiana MyCase and choose Case, Party, or Attorney search based on the information you have.
2. Enter the case number, citation number, party name, business name, or attorney information as closely as possible.
3. Use Court, Case Type, Status, and File Date filters to narrow results to Dearborn County and the right court.
4. Open the matching case and review the chronological case summary, parties, hearings, financial entries, and document links.
5. Contact the Dearborn County Clerk of Courts for certified copies, older archive help, or documents not available online.

The Indiana MyCase access help page explains public, party, and attorney access levels.

That access distinction matters in Dearborn County because a public user may see the docket but still need the clerk for a complete or certified court record.

Dearborn County Court Records Search Fields

MyCase search fields are more exact than many local name indexes. The official search tips say case numbers may be entered with or without hyphens and leading zeroes, but citation and cross-reference numbers often need the same format used in Odyssey. Name searches can use a trailing wildcard, and the sounds-like option can help with uncertain spelling. Broad searches can fail because MyCase does not return more than 1,000 results.

The MyCase search tips page gives field behavior for case, party, attorney, wildcard, court, status, and file-date searches.

Those rules are especially useful when a Dearborn County court record has an older case number, a citation number, or a party name with several possible spellings.

Types of Dearborn County Court Records

Dearborn County court records come from the Circuit Court and two Superior Courts. The Circuit Court handles probate matters, juvenile matters, civil cases over the amount listed by the county, and major felony matters under the county's description. Superior Court I lists criminal, civil tort, civil plenary, traffic, small claims, protective orders, and other proceedings. Superior Court II is also part of the county trial court system.

The record category matters because online document access and confidentiality rules change by case type. A public civil order may be easier to view online than a family filing, adoption file, or juvenile matter. Protection order cases are not found in MyCase because protected-person identifying information is excluded from online public access. Traffic files are court records when filed in court, but they are not the same thing as a state BMV driver record.

• Civil records can include complaints, appearances, motions, orders, judgments, collections, and hearing settings.
• Criminal records can include charging information, bond entries, pleas, motions, hearings, sentencing orders, and fines.
• Family records can include divorce, domestic relations, custody, and support entries, with public document limits.
• Probate records can include estates, guardianships, trusts, and adoption-related matters in Circuit Court.
• Traffic and small claims records are generally searched by citation, case number, party, or court.

The Indiana Office of Judicial Administration describes Odyssey case management as the statewide system behind public access and court record management.

Because Dearborn County uses statewide Odyssey access, the same search logic applies across Circuit and Superior Court records.

What Dearborn County Court Records Show

A Dearborn County court record usually starts with the Indiana uniform case number, court, case type, filing date, status, and public party names. The case then grows through the chronological case summary, which is Indiana's docket or event log. Entries can show appearances, motions, continuances, hearings, orders, judgments, sentencing orders, payment entries, notices, and document links. Public documents may include many civil orders, final criminal orders and judgments, appellate materials, and non-confidential miscellaneous criminal documents. Other files may require clerk contact.

The Public Access to Court Documents lookup helps explain which documents are online for each audience and case type.

That lookup is a useful checkpoint before assuming that a missing document means the Dearborn County court record does not exist.

Public Access for Dearborn County Court Records

Indiana court access is controlled by court rules as well as public-records law. Indiana Administrative Rule 9 says publicly accessible court records must be available at the courthouse during regular business hours, and it governs remote access, compiled data, and vendor limits. The Indiana Access to Public Records Act, at IC 5-14-3, applies to many government records, but court records also follow the Indiana Rules on Access to Court Records. For Dearborn County, that makes the local clerk route important when online access is incomplete.

Remote access is broad but not absolute. MyCase is a public service portal, while the official case record remains with the court and clerk. Administrative Rule 9 also routes bulk data or compiled information requests to the Indiana Office of Judicial Administration, where limits and fees may apply. For sheriff reports, jail records, prosecutor administrative files, and other non-court agency records, the request usually goes to the agency that holds the record rather than to MyCase.

The official Administrative Rule 9 text is the main court-access rule for Dearborn County court records.

Rule 9 explains why a public court record can be available at the courthouse even when the same document is not shown online.

Restricted Dearborn County Court Records

Some Dearborn County court records are sealed, confidential, or partly redacted. Indiana Access to Court Records Rule 5 excludes certain records from public access, including confidential categories and records sealed by court order. Juvenile cases are especially limited because Dearborn Circuit Court has exclusive juvenile jurisdiction, including child-in-need-of-services matters. Adoption records are highly restricted. Protection order cases are not shown in MyCase because federal law and court rules protect identifying information for protected persons.

Expunged or sealed criminal records may be removed from public access, while pending or denied expungement matters may still appear. Personal identifiers are also withheld. A date of birth can narrow a MyCase search, but it does not display in public details. Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, protected-party data, minor identities, and confidential medical or mental-health attachments are excluded or redacted. A restricted result is not proof that no court action occurred.

The Access to Court Records Rule 5 page identifies categories excluded from public court access.

That rule is the reason some Dearborn County court records need clerk review, party access, attorney access, or a court order before more detail is released.

Dearborn County Clerk Record Requests

The Dearborn County Clerk of Courts serves the Circuit Court and Superior Courts I and II. The clerk page lists public access support for genealogy, archive, court records, and computer terminal access. It also lists marriage license processing, traffic fine and fee payments, protective order processing, probation fee payments, and small claims filing. Use the clerk when a MyCase entry lacks a document, when a certified copy is needed, when an older file may be in archives, or when a public terminal search is needed at the courthouse.

Call before mailing a request or faxing documents because the research did not locate a Dearborn County court-copy fee schedule in official sources. The clerk can confirm the correct division, copy cost, certification process, fax number, and whether the file must be reviewed for restricted content before release.