Perry County Criminal Court Records
A criminal court record in Perry County is the case file maintained after the State of Indiana files a criminal prosecution in Perry Circuit Court. The Perry County Prosecutor represents the State in felony and misdemeanor prosecutions from crimes committed in Perry County. The same office also prosecutes traffic and other infraction violations of state law and handles juvenile adjudications, but this page focuses on adult criminal case records kept by the court and clerk.
Perry County's official local rules say the Perry Circuit Court is the only court of record for the county. That makes the court the central local venue for felony and misdemeanor criminal cases unless a matter belongs in federal court or another state forum. The Perry County Circuit Court Clerk keeps the official case records and court money. Indiana MyCase provides public access to many case summaries and some documents, but certified copies and official balances still come from the clerk.
Criminal court records should also be kept separate from charges after arrest. The charge detail can begin with booking or prosecutor filing, while the court record tracks what happens to those allegations in court. For the arrest-to-charge path, use Perry County arrest records and court charges. For broader civil, probate, family, and traffic case access, use Perry County court records.
Search Perry County Criminal Court Records
Start with Indiana MyCase. Search by case number if known. Otherwise, use the defendant's last name, first name, date-of-birth range when allowed, or attorney information. The court and category filters can narrow results. Public non-confidential criminal case records may show the case number, caption, court, case type, filing date, status, parties, attorneys, chronological case summary, hearings, linked final orders or judgments, and financial information.
MyCase has limits that matter for Perry County criminal court records. It does not make every public document available online, and older cases may not have the same document access as newer cases. If a public document is not a link in the chronological case summary, contact the clerk's office for the county where the case is heard. In Perry County, that is the Perry County Circuit Court Clerk.
- Open MyCase and choose By Case or By Party.
- Enter the case number, or enter the defendant's last name before adding other name or birth-date details.
- Use Perry Circuit Court, criminal category, filing date, and open or closed status filters when available.
- Open the case summary and read the docket from filing through disposition or sentence.
- Contact the clerk for certified copies, missing public documents, or an official financial balance.
Perry County Criminal Case Flow
The criminal court record grows as the case moves through each stage. Early entries may show the charging information, probable cause, initial hearing, bond, no-bond status, appointment of counsel, or appearance of private counsel. Later entries may show motions, continuances, plea negotiations, trial settings, dismissal, verdict, plea, disposition, sentencing, probation, fines, costs, and restitution. A case can end before trial, and a docket can show charges that were reduced, amended, dismissed, or resolved by plea.
Case flow: Charges Filed › Initial Hearing or Arraignment › Pretrial and Motions › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
| Stage | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Charges filed | The prosecutor files formal allegations, often by charging information, after review of law-enforcement facts. |
| Initial hearing or arraignment | The court addresses rights, charges, bond, counsel, and early scheduling. |
| Pretrial and motions | Parties file requests, exchange case positions, seek continuances, and prepare for plea or trial. |
| Plea or trial | The case may resolve by plea, bench trial, jury trial, dismissal, or other disposition. |
| Disposition and sentencing | The record shows outcome, sentence, probation, jail or prison terms, fines, costs, and restitution when ordered. |
Perry County Criminal Record Fields
A Perry County criminal court record can be read field by field. The caption tells who is involved. The case number identifies the file. The chronological case summary tells what happened and when. The disposition tells the outcome. Financial entries show costs, fines, credits, payments, or balances, but MyCase warns that balances may not reflect the most recent payment, charge, or interest. Official balances come from the clerk.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case number | The Odyssey/MyCase identifier used for lookup and copy requests. |
| Defendant | The person accused in the criminal case, with confidential identifiers withheld. |
| Court | Perry Circuit Court for local criminal prosecutions. |
| Charges | The filed allegations, severity level, and any later amendments, reductions, or dismissals shown in the case. |
| Hearings and motions | Initial hearings, pretrial settings, continuances, motions, orders, and notices. |
| Plea or verdict | How the defendant answered or how the trier of fact decided the charge. |
| Disposition and sentence | The outcome, sentence, probation, jail or prison terms, fines, costs, and restitution when public. |
Perry County Charges vs Convictions
A charge is an accusation. A conviction is a guilty result by plea or verdict. Perry County criminal court records may show both, and reading them as the same thing is a serious error. A case may include a charge that was dismissed, reduced, amended, or resolved by a plea to a different count. A docket may also show bond events, violation allegations, or warrant entries that do not by themselves prove conviction.
| Charge | Conviction | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | A filed allegation by the State of Indiana. | A guilty plea, guilty verdict, or other conviction outcome. |
| Record stage | Appears early and may change as the case develops. | Appears after plea, trial, or final disposition. |
| What to verify | Status, amendments, dismissals, and bond conditions. | Disposition, sentence, probation, fines, costs, and restitution. |
Note: A criminal charge line should be checked against disposition and sentence entries before treating it as a final outcome.
Read Perry County Dispositions
Disposition is the current or final outcome of a case or charge. Common outcomes can include guilty, not guilty, dismissed, dismissed with prejudice, dismissed without prejudice, conviction by plea, conviction by trial, or acquittal. Sentencing entries may list jail, prison, probation, community supervision, fines, costs, restitution, treatment conditions, or other court orders. Probation entries can also show later alleged violations and hearings if the person is accused of breaking court-ordered terms.
Perry local rules include a bond schedule for arrests without warrant and custody on criminal charges, including 10% cash deposit amounts for many levels and no-bond treatment for murder. The sheriff bond page says jail staff cannot alter a bond amount unless directed by the judge. Those bond facts may appear near the front end of a criminal case, while the final sentence appears after disposition. They should not be mixed together.
Access Perry County Criminal Records
Indiana law makes many public criminal court records open, but it does not make every criminal case detail public or online. The Indiana Access to Public Records Act provides the general public-records framework. The Indiana Rules on Access to Court Records govern court files and confidential case information. Criminal expungement and access limits are addressed in Indiana criminal procedure and expungement statutes.
The Indiana criminal statutes source is shown below because it is the official state source for criminal procedure and expungement provisions tied to Perry County criminal court records.
Use the statute source for legal authority, then use MyCase and the Perry County Circuit Court Clerk for actual case lookup and copies.
Key access point: Public case lookup starts online, but certified criminal court records come from the Perry County Circuit Court Clerk.
Perry County Sealed and Expunged Records
Sealed and expunged records are not ordinary public lookup records. MyCase says public cases can be searched when they are not confidential, sealed, or expunged. Indiana expungement is a court petition process under criminal or juvenile law. A person should identify whether the record is an arrest with no conviction, a dismissed charge, a conviction, or a juvenile matter because eligibility, notice, waiting periods, and legal effects differ.
| Sealed | Expunged | |
|---|---|---|
| Public visibility | Removed from ordinary public view by court rule or order. | Access is limited after the court grants qualifying relief. |
| How it happens | By statute, rule, or court order for protected information or case types. | By petition under Indiana criminal or juvenile provisions. |
| MyCase effect | May not appear to public users. | Granted expungements may be removed from public access depending on type. |
Restricted Perry County Criminal Records
Juvenile delinquency and CHINS records have special limits under Indiana law. Protection-order cases and protected-person information are also handled differently from ordinary criminal case searches. Adoption, mental-health, sealed, expunged, and personal-identifier material can be redacted or withheld. Rule 5 information such as Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, minor details, and protected addresses should not be expected in a public Perry County criminal court record.
For background checks, do not treat a casual MyCase search as a regulated screening report. FCRA-regulated employment, tenant, credit, insurance, and similar decisions require proper consumer-reporting compliance. A public case lookup may be useful for personal knowledge or court follow-up, but official decisions should rely on certified records, proper identity matching, and lawful screening channels.
Federal Criminal Cases Near Perry County
Some criminal matters connected to Perry County are federal, not local. Federal prosecutions in this district are handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana. Federal district criminal cases are searched through PACER and the federal court systems, not through the Perry County Circuit Court Clerk. Federal custody may involve the U.S. Marshals Service or the Bureau of Prisons after sentencing.
The U.S. Attorney Southern District of Indiana page is the official prosecution source shown below. It is separate from Perry County Prosecutor filings in Perry Circuit Court.
Use federal sources only when the case is a federal prosecution. Local felony and misdemeanor cases remain with Perry Circuit Court and the local clerk.
Perry County Criminal Record Offices
The Perry County Circuit Court Clerk is the copy and official-record office for local criminal case files. The clerk's office is at 2219 Payne Street, Tell City, IN 47586, with phone 812-547-3741 and Monday through Friday hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Central. The Perry Circuit Court phone number is 812-547-7048 for court procedural matters. The Perry County Prosecutor, Samantha Hurst, is also at 2219 Payne Street and can be reached at 812-547-2750 for the prosecutor office, but that office is not a neutral record-copy counter for the court file.
Perry County Circuit Court Clerk
2219 Payne Street
Tell City, IN 47586
812-547-3741
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Central