Search Franklin County Court Records
Franklin County court records are searched first through Indiana MyCase, the Odyssey Public Access portal used by Indiana courts. MyCase can show public case indexes, chronological case summaries, hearings, parties, attorneys, charges, dispositions, financial entries, and some linked documents. The Indiana Judicial Branch Franklin County Courts page also points users to MyCase and tells users to contact the local court for jury duty, court dates, or case documents that are not online.
For Franklin County, MyCase is a search index and partial document channel, not a full copy counter. Public cases that are not sealed, expunged, or confidential may appear. Older converted records may show limited entries, and a public document can be absent online even when the clerk can provide a copy. Certified copies, divorce decrees, marriage certificates, wills, and many older estate files should be requested from the Franklin County Clerk of the Circuit Court.
- Open MyCase directly or start from the Franklin County Courts page on IN.gov.
- Use a case number when known. For a name search, enter the last name and add a first name or date filter for common names.
- Narrow the county or court filter to Franklin County when the case should be local.
- Open the result and read the chronological case summary for filings, hearings, orders, payments, and disposition entries.
- Download linked public documents when available, then call the clerk for certified copies or documents that do not appear online.
The Franklin County official homepage shows the local government structure that supports these record channels.
The county site is useful for office pages, while MyCase remains the main court case search tool.
Franklin County Court System
Indiana trial courts include circuit courts, superior courts, and local city or town courts. Franklin County is centered on the Franklin County Circuit Court in Brookville. The Indiana Judicial Branch lists Franklin County in Judicial District 18 with Fayette, Rush, Union, and Wayne counties. Appeals from a final Franklin County Circuit Court judgment generally move to the Court of Appeals of Indiana unless a case type has a direct or specialized route.
The local court structure is compact. The Circuit Court hears the county trial work, the clerk maintains filings and payments, and local city or town channels may matter for some ordinance or traffic matters. Federal cases are separate and go through the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, not the Franklin County Circuit Court.
Case flow: law-enforcement or civil filing › Franklin County Circuit Court › final order or judgment › Court of Appeals of Indiana › possible Supreme Court of Indiana review.
| Court | Jurisdiction | Case Types |
|---|---|---|
| Franklin County Circuit Court | Main county trial court | Criminal, civil, family, probate, small claims, protection orders, traffic, and local trial matters as routed by Indiana law and local practice. |
| City or town court channels | Lower local court level where applicable | Ordinance, infraction, or local police matters when a city or town court is the issuing venue. |
| Court of Appeals of Indiana | State appellate review | Appeals from final trial-court judgments unless a direct Supreme Court or specialized route applies. |
The Indiana Judicial Branch court structure overview explains why trial court names vary by county.
Franklin County Courthouse Offices
Franklin County court users usually start at the courthouse in Brookville. The Clerk of the Circuit Court is on the first floor, the Circuit Court is on the second floor, and the prosecutor is also in the courthouse. The annex and sheriff's security center sit nearby but serve different record needs, so a person looking for a court case copy should not confuse probation supervision, jail custody, and clerk case records.
Clerk office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with a daily noon to 1:00 p.m. lunch closure. Marriage licenses are issued from 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The sheriff and security center are open for law-enforcement service at all times, while the front office lists weekday front-office hours.
Franklin County Courthouse
459 Main Street
Brookville, IN 47012
Clerk: 765-647-5111
Franklin County Annex
493 Main Street
Brookville, IN 47012
Probation: 765-647-5741
Probation and CASA offices
The state Franklin County courts page provides the court-side entry point for MyCase, e-filing, statistics, and Judicial District 18 information.
That state page is especially useful when a local office page does not answer a case-search question.
Franklin County Court Record Types
Franklin County court records include civil complaints, small claims, criminal charges and case files, family cases, probate matters, traffic infractions, ordinance violations, protection orders, and financial entries tied to fines or judgments. MyCase is the first place to search public records, but the clerk remains the source for certified documents and many copies that are not linked online.
Some record labels sound similar but point to different offices. A jail booking record is maintained through the sheriff and jail. A charge record appears when the prosecutor files a criminal case. A full criminal court record includes hearings, motions, plea, disposition, sentence, costs, and probation-related court entries. A traffic court record differs from a BMV driver record.
- Criminal records include filed charges, bond, hearings, pleas, disposition, sentencing, and court financial entries.
- Civil records include complaints, appearances, motions, judgments, liens, garnishments, and post-judgment collection entries.
- Family and divorce records include dissolution, custody, support, paternity, and protective-order cases when public.
- Probate records include estate, will, guardianship, trust, and small-estate related filings handled through the circuit-court clerk.
- Traffic records include citations, infractions, payments, court dates, dispositions, and failure-to-appear events.
What Franklin County Court Records Show
MyCase records are built around the Indiana case number, parties, court, filing date, case type, status, chronological case summary, and linked documents when public. A Franklin County Circuit Court case may also show attorneys, hearing settings, charges, financial entries, bonds, judgments, orders, dispositions, and sentence terms. Redacted or excluded data can include Social Security numbers, financial account data, protected-person information, confidential addresses, juvenile records, sealed records, and expunged matters.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case Number | Indiana uniform case number with county, court, case type, filing year, and sequence information. |
| Filing Date | Date the complaint, charge, petition, citation, or probate filing opened the case. |
| Parties | Plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, respondent, State of Indiana, decedent, estate, protected person, or other case parties. |
| Charges / Cause | Criminal charge descriptions, statute numbers, offense level, civil cause, probate type, or traffic violation. |
| Disposition | Dismissal, plea, conviction, judgment, decree, order, estate closing, or other final or interim result. |
| Sentence / Judgment | Sentence terms, probation, fines, costs, restitution, civil judgment amount, or payment status when public. |
Franklin County Court Access Laws
Franklin County court records are governed by Indiana public-record and court-record access rules. The basic rule is open access unless a statute, court rule, seal, expungement, or confidentiality category limits release. Public access also depends on the channel. A courthouse inspection rule does not mean every document will be linked in MyCase, and a public MyCase index does not make an online copy certified.
Key Statutes:
Indiana Access to Public Records Act, IC 5-14-3 - Indiana agency records are generally open unless a law or rule makes them confidential or permits withholding.
Indiana Administrative Rule 9 - Court records are available at the courthouse during regular hours, with remote electronic access where allowed.
Indiana criminal expungement, IC 35-38-9 - Qualifying arrest and conviction records may be restricted after statutory conditions are met.
Indiana juvenile records, IC 31-39 - Juvenile records have separate confidentiality and expungement rules.
Restricted Franklin County Records
Not every Franklin County case is open through a public search. Juvenile delinquency and CHINS records, adoption records, many mental-health proceedings, sealed cases, expunged cases, and protected-person details in protection-order cases are restricted by Indiana law or court rule. MyCase help also notes that juvenile paternity cases have date-sensitive access rules, with newer cases generally public unless made confidential and older juvenile paternity cases remaining confidential except for later public entries.
Adult expungement is handled under Indiana criminal expungement law, and juvenile sealing or destruction uses a separate juvenile process. A person seeking access to excluded records usually needs party status, attorney access, agency authority, or a court order. The practical Franklin County path is to check MyCase, then ask the Clerk of the Circuit Court what filing or access process applies.
Franklin County Court Programs
No official Franklin County drug court, veterans court, mental health court, DUI court, family treatment court, or reentry court page was located in the reviewed county or Indiana Judicial Branch sources. The official court-adjacent channels located are Franklin County Probation in the annex, prosecutor victim assistance at the courthouse, and regular Circuit Court supervision or sentencing entries that may appear in public case records.
Recent local reporting described a Community Corrections program tied to Judges Alex Dudley and Clay Kellerman with daily reporting, drug screening, treatment, domestic-violence intervention, and community service. Because no official county court program page was found, it should be confirmed through the court, probation, or clerk before being treated as a formal specialty-court program.
Franklin County Sheriff and Jail
Franklin County Sheriff Peter Cates operates from the Franklin County Sheriff's Department and Security Center at 371 Main Street in Brookville. Current custody information routes through the sheriff inmate-roster page, the Indiana County Jail Public Portal, Indiana SAVIN, VINE, and the IDOC locator for state-prison custody. The sheriff office should be called for custody and law-enforcement questions that are not answered online.
Jail records and court records answer different questions. A jail roster may show current custody, booking information, bond, or charges, while the court file shows what the prosecutor filed and what the judge ordered. Full roster, visitation, mail, commissary, and custody-status details belong with Franklin County inmate records. Franklin County did not publish an official active criminal warrant search in the sources reviewed, so warrant records depend on sheriff, court, clerk, and MyCase fallback channels.
The Franklin County Sheriff's Department contact page gives the sheriff office address, front-office hours, phone, fax, and email.
That contact channel matters when a jail, bond, warrant, or sheriff record question cannot be resolved through a court search.
Marriage, Divorce, and Probate
Marriage licenses are issued by the Franklin County Clerk of the Circuit Court, not by Batesville City Court. Applicants start online through the Indiana marriage-license portal and then appear at the clerk during marriage-license hours. Certified marriage copies come from the county clerk where the marriage occurred. Divorce is a court case that may be searchable in MyCase, but Indiana courts state certified divorce decrees are not available online and must be requested from the county clerk.
Probate matters in Franklin County are handled through the Probate Division of the Circuit Court and the clerk, rather than a separate surrogate or orphans' court. Estates, wills filed in court, guardianships, trust disputes, and related filings may be indexed in MyCase when public. Detailed application steps are handled in marriage and divorce records, while estate and will access belongs with probate records.
- Testator
- A person who made a will.
- Executor
- A person named to administer an estate under a will, subject to court appointment where required.
- Guardianship
- A court case asking for authority to act for a minor or adult who needs a guardian.
Franklin County Court Records Fees
Franklin County's clerk page lists accepted payment methods and the credit-card surcharge, but no full Franklin-specific civil, probate, or copy fee schedule was located in the official sources reviewed. The safest record-access step is to call the clerk before mailing a request or payment. Statewide fees located in the research include marriage-license, certified marriage-copy, BMV driver-record, and criminal-history fees.
| Item | Amount or payment note |
|---|---|
| Clerk payment methods | Cash, money order, cashier check, or credit card only. |
| Clerk credit-card fee | 3.5 percent or minimum $0.50. |
| Indiana marriage license, resident | $25 if one or both applicants are Indiana residents. |
| Indiana marriage license, out-of-state | $65 if both applicants are out-of-state residents. |
| Certified marriage license copy | $4 per copy. |
| BMV Official Driver Record | $4 through Indiana BMV channels. |
| ISP Limited Criminal History | $15 subscriber or $15.70 credit-card fee. |
| Probate, civil, and copy fees | Not located in official Franklin County sources reviewed; ask the clerk. |
Interpret Franklin County Court Records
Indiana public case records often use the chronological case summary as the main event list. That summary can show complaint filed, summons issued, appearance entered, hearing set, order signed, bond posted, warrant issued, judgment entered, or case disposed. A docket entry is not always the full document. If no document link appears, the entry may still be public, but a copy request must go to the clerk.
Criminal records require care. A filed charge is not the same as a conviction. A disposition explains what happened to a charge or case, such as dismissal, guilty plea, conviction, deferral, or sentence. Sealed and expunged cases are not ordinary public results. Online records can also lag behind recent hearings or payments, so official action should be confirmed with the clerk or court.
Franklin County Record Limits
MyCase includes Odyssey data and converted data from older electronic systems. Converted events may not carry the detail a newer entry has, and older documents may not be online. A document can be public but still require a clerk copy request. MyCase is also not a complete criminal-history search; Indiana courts direct criminal-history users to Indiana State Police limited criminal-history services.
Traffic payments also have limits. Indiana ePay can show eligible payable cases, but the payment portal warns that online information is not the official court record and can contain errors or omissions. For official records, certified copies, and correction questions, use the Franklin County Clerk of the Circuit Court or the court that maintains the case.
The Indiana ePay Public Access portal is the payment route for eligible Franklin County traffic tickets, fines, and costs.
The ePay portal is useful for payments, but it does not replace the official court file kept by the court and clerk.
Note: Confirm online case, payment, bond, and hearing details with the originating Franklin County office before relying on them.
History of Franklin County Courts
Franklin County was authorized February 1, 1811 and named for Benjamin Franklin. Brookville is the county seat. Modern record access is shaped less by older courthouse history than by the county's compact court-government layout and Indiana's statewide MyCase modernization. The courthouse houses the judge, clerk, and prosecutor; the annex houses probation and CASA; the sheriff and security center handle custody and law-enforcement records at a separate Main Street address.
This split explains why record seekers may need more than one office. Land and recorded-document questions route to county administrative offices, case records route to the clerk and MyCase, probation supervision routes to the annex, and arrest or custody questions route to the sheriff.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Franklin County court records be searched online?
Yes. Public Franklin County case information is searched through Indiana MyCase. The portal can show case details and some documents, but not every public document is online. Certified copies and missing documents should be requested from the Franklin County Clerk.
Where are certified divorce decrees requested?
Indiana courts state that certified divorce decrees are not available online. For a Franklin County divorce, request the certified decree from the Franklin County Clerk of the Circuit Court in Brookville.
Is there a Franklin County active warrant search?
No official Franklin County active criminal warrant database was located in the sources reviewed. MyCase may show warrant-related docket entries, but active status should be confirmed with the sheriff, clerk, or court.
Are jail records the same as criminal court records?
No. Jail records show custody and booking information. Criminal court records show charges filed by the prosecutor, court hearings, pleas, dispositions, sentences, costs, and orders.
Can traffic tickets be paid online?
Eligible Franklin County traffic tickets, fines, and court costs may be payable through Indiana ePay. If no payment option appears or a court appearance is required, contact the Franklin County Clerk.
The Indiana MyCase portal is the main online search tool for Franklin County case records.
Use MyCase for case lookup, then use the Franklin County Clerk when a certified document or nonlinked filing is needed.