Dearborn County, IN Courts and Public Records

The Clerk of the Circuit Court keeps the court records for Dearborn County, and the circuit and superior courts hear most felony, misdemeanor, civil, family, probate, and juvenile cases. The exact court for a case can vary by case type, so check your paperwork.

Have the full name, the case number if you know it, and approximate dates ready before you search Dearborn County records.

Dearborn County trial courts recorded 6,739 new filings in 2024, according to the Indiana Judicial Service Report. These counts cover all trial courts in the county, including city and town courts and ordinance violations, so infraction counts are a large share of the total.

The largest increase was in civil violations (+16.3%), and the largest decrease was in juvenile (-17.2%).

Total new filings in Dearborn County rose 4.2% from 2023 to 2024. County figures are available for these two years only. Figures marked with ~ are estimates based on the other years shown for this county.

The largest change in count was in civil violations (+328 filings). Statewide, new filings rose 20.4% from 950,557 in 2020 to 1,144,342 in 2024. Statewide, the only annual decline in this period was in 2022 (-0.9%).

Indiana statewide new filings by year, for context:

The largest category in Dearborn County is civil violations at 34.6% of the 6,739 new filings in 2024, which include city and town court filings.

The largest increase was in civil violations (+16.3%), and the largest decrease was in juvenile (-17.2%).

Dearborn County accounted for 0.6% of new trial court filings in Indiana in 2024, while its residents make up 0.7% of the state population.

With 131.0 filings per 1,000 residents compared with 165.3 statewide, the county files fewer cases per resident than Indiana overall. Its mix differs most from the state in civil filings, at 7.0 points lower share than statewide.

These figures are Indiana statewide totals as reported to the FBI, not counts for Dearborn County. Agency reporting may be incomplete, and county crime counts are not available here. Statewide violent and property crimes combined fell 15.1% from 2024 to 2025. In 2025, reporting agencies covered about 87.8% of Indiana's population, so year-over-year changes can partly reflect which agencies reported.

Rates use the Indiana 2025 population of 6,973,333. County-level rates are not published, so this section does not compare Dearborn County with the state. The property crimes total includes arson, so it is larger than the sum of the property offenses listed above.

Dearborn County has 1 courthouse location, in Lawrenceburg. Check your notice or ticket for the courtroom or division before you go.

Most Dearborn County cases are filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in Lawrenceburg, but the exact court depends on the case type. Federal cases are heard in the U.S. District Court for Indiana, not in county courts.

Yes, most Dearborn County court records are public, with exceptions set by the Indiana Access to Court Records Rules (Indiana Supreme Court Administrative Rule 9). The Indiana Access to Public Records Act covers executive-branch records and does not itself govern court files.

Public records

Most case files in the circuit and superior courts are open, including dockets, filings, and orders in criminal, civil, family, and other case types.

Restricted or confidential records

Juvenile, sealed, expunged, adoption, mental health, and protective-order-restricted records are not publicly available. A court order or the law may also restrict other records.

Online access

MyCase is the statewide Indiana public case search. Online results show case information, not every document, and restricted cases are not shown.

In-person access

Visit the Clerk of the Circuit Court at 165 Mary Street, Lawrenceburg, IN 47025 to view or request records. Call 812-537-8867 to confirm which office holds your case.

Fees

This page does not list copy or certification fees. Ask the Clerk of the Circuit Court about fees before you request records.

Use MyCase to search Dearborn County cases by name or case number, then contact the Clerk of the Circuit Court for documents that are not online.

1. Identify the case type, such as criminal, traffic, civil, small claims, family, probate, or juvenile.
2. Open mycase.in.gov, the statewide Indiana public case search.
3. Search by party name or case number and note the case number from the results.
4. Review the case information for status, parties, and scheduled dates.
5. Contact the Clerk of the Circuit Court at 812-537-8867 to request documents that are not online.

Contact the Clerk of the Circuit Court at 812-537-8867 or visit 165 Mary Street, Lawrenceburg, IN 47025 to ask how to pay a Dearborn County traffic citation or criminal fine.

1. Phone: Call 812-537-8867 to ask which payment options apply to your case. Fees and accepted payment types are not listed in this data, so confirm them with the clerk.
2. In person: Visit 165 Mary Street, Lawrenceburg, IN 47025 to ask the clerk about payment options for your case. Confirm fees and accepted payment types with the clerk.

Parking tickets are handled by the city or agency that issued them, not by the circuit or superior court. Tickets issued by city or town courts may be paid through the local court.