in-county-courts

Indiana County Courts (Roll-Up: All Counties Other Than Marion + Lake)

This skill covers Indiana's other 90 counties — the most-populous counties by civil docket are detailed below, and the long tail is served by the statewide directory. Indiana has 92 counties, each with its own Circuit Court (IC 33-28) and most also have one or more Superior Courts (IC 33-29). Most counties have concurrent civil jurisdiction between the Circuit Court and the Superior Court(s); the Circuit Court has the constitutionally guaranteed jurisdiction (Ind. Const. art. 7, § 8) and the Superior Court is statutory (IC 33-29-1-1).

NOT LEGAL ADVICE. Generated content is a drafting aid; verify against the current local rules of the venue county and the assigned court's chambers practice before filing.

Circuit vs. Superior Court — what's the difference?

Functionally, very little in most counties. Both courts have:

• Civil jurisdiction over the same dollar amounts (no monetary ceiling in the Circuit Court; no monetary floor in most Superior Courts)
• Criminal jurisdiction (Class C/D felonies and misdemeanors in most Superior Courts; full felony jurisdiction in Circuit Courts)
• Probate, juvenile, family-law jurisdiction (varies by county rule)

The historical distinction:

• Circuit Courts are constitutional; every county has exactly one Circuit Court with one elected judge.
• Superior Courts are statutory; counties with sufficient population get one or more Superior Courts to handle overflow.

Cause-number prefix identifies which:

• [CC]C01 = Circuit Court of that county (e.g., 49C01 = Marion Circuit; 02C01 = Allen Circuit; 71C01 = St. Joseph Circuit)
• [CC]D01, D02, ... = Superior Court Divisions (e.g., 02D02 = Allen Superior Court 2; 71D01 = St. Joseph Superior 1)

The Indiana county code map is on the Indiana Supreme Court's website; the first two digits of every cause number identify the county (01 Adams, 02 Allen, 03 Bartholomew, ..., 92 Whitley).

Most-populous counties — at-a-glance directory

Allen County (02) — Fort Wayne

• Allen Circuit Court (02C01) — Allen County Courthouse, 715 S. Calhoun St., Fort Wayne, IN 46802
• Allen Superior Courts 1-9 (02D01-D09) — sub-specialized by case type:
  • 02D01 — Civil Plenary
  • 02D02 — Civil Plenary
  • 02D03 — Civil Plenary / Domestic Relations
  • 02D04 — Civil Collections
  • 02D05 — Criminal
  • 02D06 — Criminal
  • 02D07 — Domestic Relations
  • 02D08 — Family Relations
  • 02D09 — Juvenile
• Local rules: LR02 series. Allen has its own civil case- management standing order similar to Marion's CPC.
• E-filing: Mandatory via Odyssey since 2018.

St. Joseph County (71) — South Bend / Mishawaka

• St. Joseph Circuit Court (71C01) — 101 S. Main Street, South Bend, IN 46601
• St. Joseph Superior Courts 1-8 (71D01-D08) — divided across South Bend and Mishawaka locations; specialized civil and domestic-relations divisions
• Local rules: LR71 series.
• Notable: St. Joseph has a separate Probate Court (71J01) for estates and adoptions.

Hamilton County (29) — Noblesville / Fishers / Carmel

• Hamilton Circuit Court (29C01) — Hamilton County Government & Judicial Center, One Hamilton County Square, Noblesville, IN 46060
• Hamilton Superior Courts 1-7 (29D01-D07) — fast-growing docket; 29D01-D03 carry civil cases, 29D04-D07 split between criminal and family law
• Local rules: LR29 series; Hamilton requires a CMS within 45 days (faster than Marion's 60).
• E-filing: Mandatory.

Vanderburgh County (82) — Evansville

• Vanderburgh Circuit Court (82C01) — Civic Center Complex, 1 N.W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Evansville, IN 47708
• Vanderburgh Superior Courts 1-6 (82D01-D06) — Civil Division 1 and 2; County Division for small claims
• Local rules: LR82 series.

Tippecanoe County (79) — Lafayette / West Lafayette

• Tippecanoe Circuit Court (79C01) — 301 Main Street, Lafayette, IN 47901
• Tippecanoe Superior Courts 1-6 (79D01-D06) — civil docket splits across D01-D03
• Local rules: LR79 series.

Vigo County (84) — Terre Haute

• Vigo Circuit Court (84C01) — Vigo County Courthouse, 33 S. 3rd St., Terre Haute, IN 47807
• Vigo Superior Courts 1-6 (84D01-D06)
• Local rules: LR84 series.

Elkhart County (20) — Goshen / Elkhart

• Elkhart Circuit Court (20C01) — 101 N. Main Street, Goshen, IN 46526
• Elkhart Superior Courts 1-6 (20D01-D06) — civil docket through D01 and D02
• Local rules: LR20 series.

Hendricks County (32) — Danville

• Hendricks Circuit Court (32C01) — 1 Courthouse Square, Danville, IN 46122
• Hendricks Superior Courts 1-5 (32D01-D05)
• Local rules: LR32 series. Fast-growing suburban-Indianapolis docket.

Johnson County (41) — Franklin / Greenwood

• Johnson Circuit Court (41C01) — Johnson County Courthouse, 5 E. Jefferson Street, Franklin, IN 46131
• Johnson Superior Courts 1-3 (41D01-D03)
• Local rules: LR41 series.

Monroe County (53) — Bloomington

• Monroe Circuit Court Divisions 1-10 (53C01-C10) — Monroe is unusual: it operates ten Circuit Court Divisions rather than a Circuit + Superior pair. Civil cases distribute across all ten divisions.
• Local rules: LR53 series.
• Notable: Monroe operates a Civil Settlement Conference Program (CSCP) requiring mandatory settlement conference before trial.

Bartholomew County (03) — Columbus

• Bartholomew Circuit Court (03C01) — 234 Washington St., Columbus, IN 47201
• Bartholomew Superior Courts 1-2 (03D01-D02)
• Local rules: LR03 series.

Madison County (48) — Anderson

• Madison Circuit Court Divisions 1-6 (48C01-C06) — like Monroe, Madison runs multiple Circuit Court Divisions.
• Local rules: LR48 series.

Porter County (64) — Valparaiso

• Porter Circuit Court (64C01) — 16 Lincolnway, Valparaiso, IN 46383
• Porter Superior Courts 1-4 (64D01-D04)
• Local rules: LR64 series.

Clark County (10) — Jeffersonville

• Clark Circuit Court Divisions 1-4 (10C01-C04)
• Clark Superior Court (10D01)
• Local rules: LR10 series. Clark uses a unique unified Circuit-Court-Divisions model.

Howard County (34) — Kokomo

• Howard Circuit Court (34C01) — 117 N. Main St., Kokomo, IN 46901
• Howard Superior Courts 1-4 (34D01-D04)
• Local rules: LR34 series.

LaPorte County (46) — La Porte / Michigan City

• LaPorte Circuit Court (46C01)
• LaPorte Superior Courts 1-4 (46D01-D04) — split between La Porte and Michigan City locations
• Local rules: LR46 series.

Delaware County (18) — Muncie

• Delaware Circuit Court Divisions 1-5 (18C01-C05)
• Local rules: LR18 series.

Long-tail counties — accessing local rules

For counties not in the table above, look up the cause-number prefix on the Indiana Supreme Court website (courts.in.gov/forms-and-publications/court-orders/local-court- rules). Every county publishes its local rule set as a single PDF.

Common features across long-tail counties:

• Single Circuit Court Judge in many smaller counties (e.g., Crawford, Switzerland, Ohio, Owen) — the same judge hears civil, criminal, probate, and family cases
• Concurrent Circuit + Superior Court jurisdiction — pleadings may name the Circuit Court if uncertain; the case may be transferred under IC 33-29-1-9
• Mandatory Odyssey e-filing is now statewide (effective June 2018); the only paper filings accepted are pro se filings under the Indiana Administrative Rule 16 carve-out

Statewide directory (all 92 counties)

The full 92-county directory (county code, courts, addresses, clerk phone, local-rule PDF link) lives in references/county-directory.md. The directory is sorted alphabetically and includes population, judicial district, and notable practice quirks.

Indiana counties are grouped into 6 administrative districts for Court of Appeals review (Ind. App. Rule 1 — appellate districts):

• District 1 (Southeast): includes Marion, Dearborn, Shelby, Bartholomew, Johnson, Brown, Monroe
• District 2 (Northeast): includes Allen, Wells, Adams, Huntington, Steuben
• District 3 (Northwest): includes Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Newton, Pulaski, Starke
• District 4 (West Central): includes Tippecanoe, Vermillion, Parke, Putnam, Fountain, Clinton, Warren
• District 5 (East Central): includes Madison, Delaware, Henry, Randolph, Hancock, Hamilton, Rush
• District 6 (Southwest): includes Vanderburgh, Posey, Gibson, Knox, Daviess, Martin, Pike

Composition — which skills layer here

• in-statewide-format for T.R. 5(E) / T.R. 10 baseline
• in-pro-se for self-represented filing
• in-discovery for T.R. 26-37
• in-deadlines for T.R. 6 deadline math
• in-schedule-hearing for setting hearings (per-county routing varies; the county directory has chambers contacts)
• in-consumer-debt if the case is a debt-collection action

References

• references/county-directory.md — the 92-county directory
• references/circuit-vs-superior.md — the dual-court structure
• references/appellate-districts.md — the six App. Court districts and venue rules

NOT LEGAL ADVICE. Generated content is a drafting aid; verify against current local rules and case law before filing.