Overview
mycase.in.gov allows you to search by:
- Case - using case number, citation number OR cross reference number
- Party - using a business name OR last name AND at least first, middle or date of birth
- Attorney - using attorney number OR last name AND at least first or middle
No search will result in more than 1,000 results.
For a comprehensive list of document types available online or in person to the public, to parties, and to attorneys, see the Public Access to Court Documents lookup.
Search by case
To search by case, enter only one of the following:
- Case number
- Citation number
- Cross reference number
When entering a case number, you need not include hyphens or leading zeroes. Learn more about case numbers, citation numbers, cross reference numbers and searching with wild cards below.
Search by party
To search by party, enter only one of the following:
- Last name
- Business name
If you search by last name, you can narrow your results by adding first name, middle name, and/or date of birth. You may also use wild cards for any portion of the party name. Learn more about using wild cards below.
Note that even though you can search by date of birth, this information will not display in the case details because it is excluded from public access. Also, date of birth is typically not recorded in civil cases and some criminal cases, so including this may exclude records that meet your search criteria.
When searching by business name, you must type the business name exactly as it appears in the case record to return results. For example, if you search for "General Business" as the business name, you'll find only cases in which the party is exactly "General Business" and not "General Business LLC" or "General Business, LLC". Using a wildcard in your search will improve your results. Searching for "General Business*" with the asterisk at the end will allow both cases with "General Business" and "General Business LLC" to appear in the results. See below for more on searching with wildcards.
Search by attorney
To search by attorney, enter only one of the following:
- Last name AND either first or middle
- Attorney / bar number
If you search by last name, you can narrow your results by adding first or middle name. You may also use wild cards for any portion of the attorney name. Learn more about using wild cards below.
If you do not know an attorney's bar number, you may search for it on the Roll of Attorneys website.
Sounds-like search
The sounds-like search only appears on party or attorney searches because it specifically affects searches by name. Use the sounds-like search if you aren't sure how the name is spelled, want to look for alternate spellings, or you're looking for a similar name.
For example, using the sounds-like search for the name "Shepherd" can produce case results for names like Shepard, Shephard, Shepherd, and Sheppard as well as Syfert, Seifert and Seibert.
Searching by court
You may limit your search to a specific court or set of courts (e.g., appellate courts, commercial courts). Some of the options in the "Court" menu will change or remove the available case type limitations.
Limiting search by case type
By default, mycase.in.gov will search all cases in the database, including cases in the appellate courts. You may limit a search to "Commercial" and click the "Search" button without entering any search terms (e.g., case number, party name) to return a list of all cases filed in Indiana's Commercial Courts. The volume of these cases is currently low while the 6 commercial courts participate in this pilot project.
Advanced search options
- Status - To narrow your results, change the case status to "open" or "closed" depending on your desired result.
- File date - To narrow your results, add a date range for the day the case was initially filed. You can also enter only a start date to search cases filed on or after that date, or you can enter only an end date to search cases filed on or before that date.
Case numbers
Indiana has a uniform case numbering system outlined in detail in Administrative Rule 8. Each part of the case number corresponds to information about the case, including the county, court, date filed, and case type.
The hyphens between sections and the zero(s) at the beginning of the sequence number may be included, but do not need to be included, in what you type into the case number field. For example, all of these variations on the case number above should return results:
- 57C038805DR06314
- 57C038805DR6314
- 57C03-8805-DR-06314
- 57C03-8805-DR-6314
Note that the number assigned to a case can change, for example, if a case is moved to a different court. Searching by case number searches the entire case number history. So if a search for one number results in a case with a different number, the case number may have changed at some point.
Citation numbers and cross reference numbers
Citation numbers do not have a single uniform format. Cross reference numbers may be uniform Indiana case numbers as described above, old case numbers from before we had a uniform format, or case numbers from other agencies, such as Department of Workforce Development.
When searching by citation or cross reference number, you will likely only get results if you type the number exactly as it appears in Odyssey. These types of searches are less common than a case number search and do not typically produce many search results.
Searching with wild cards
A search using wild cards, also called a "starts-with search," allows you to conduct a search even if you don't have all of the information required.
To use a wild card, you can simply replace the trailing part of your search term with an asterisk *. That is, you can search for names that start with J or JO or JOH but you cannot search for names that end with SKY or STEIN.
Example - Name Search
Let's say you know the party's last name is "Sheppard" with a first name starting with the letter "J." You can enter "Sheppard" for the last name and "J*" for the first name, and produce results that include "John Sheppard," "Johnny Sheppard," and "James Sheppard."
You may use a wild card in either the first or last name, but you may not replace the entire first or last name with a wild card. Also, if you check the box for a sounds-like search, it will not work on any name that includes a wild card.
Example - Case Number
In a case number search, wild cards are most effective in place of the sequence number. Using a wild card in place of a sequence number allows you to search for all cases of a particular type, filed in a specific month and court.
For example, a search for 53C02-1512-IF* will show you all Infraction (IF) cases filed in Monroe Circuit Court 2 in December 2015.
Using a wild card earlier in the case number can produce too many results depending on the court and its caseload.
For example, a search for 53C02-1512* will show you all cases of all case types filed in Monroe Circuit Court 2 in December 2015. This could be 750+ results.