Search Daviess County Court Records
The main online route for Daviess County court records is Indiana MyCase. The Indiana Judicial Branch Daviess County page points users to MyCase for case information and some documents, and the MyCase help material explains that public users may search non-confidential case information at no cost. MyCase is useful for cause numbers, parties, case type, court, filing dates, docket events, hearing dates, and public document links when they are available.
The official MyCase help material is clear about limits. Some documents are online, some are not, and older Daviess County cases may not be available in the public portal. MyCase data is not the official court record. Official records, certified copies, divorce decrees, child support orders, judgments, and local case-copy questions go to the Daviess County Clerk or to the court that maintains the file.
The Indiana MyCase help page explains public, party, and attorney access before a user starts a Daviess County court records search.
That distinction matters in Daviess County because a public user may see a case summary while the Clerk still controls certified copies and documents not linked online.
- Open MyCase and choose the search mode that fits the information known, such as case number, party name, or attorney.
- Use Daviess County, Daviess Circuit Court, or Daviess Superior Court filters when the interface offers them.
- Enter a last name, business name, first name, cause number, filing date range, or case type to narrow the results.
- Open the matching case and read the chronological case summary, court name, status, party list, hearings, and public document links.
- Contact the Daviess County Clerk or the specific court when a certified copy, missing document, older case, or official record is needed.
Daviess County Court Records Fields
MyCase searches can start broad, but Daviess County court records are easier to locate when the search uses the court, county, case type, or filing window. Name spelling matters. A common name may return results from more than one Indiana county, so the Daviess County filter and court filter are important. A known cause number is the most direct route because it points to one case in the Odyssey/MyCase system.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes / Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search by Case | Tab or mode | No | Use when the Indiana cause number is known. |
| Search by Name | Tab or mode | No | Use party last name, business name, and first name when available. |
| Search by Attorney | Tab or mode | No | Search by attorney name or related attorney information in the public interface. |
| Case Number | Text | Optional unless using case mode | Indiana cause-number format varies by county and case type. |
| Last Name / Business Name | Text | Optional unless using name mode | Spelling and wildcard search tips can affect results. |
| First Name | Text | No | Narrows person searches for common names. |
| Date of Birth | Date | No | May narrow criminal searches where public access allows it. |
| Court / County | Dropdown or filter | No | Use Daviess County, Daviess Circuit Court, or Daviess Superior Court when available. |
| Case Type | Dropdown or filter | No | Civil, criminal, traffic, family, probate, small claims, and other case types may appear. |
| Filing Date / Date Range | Date or range | No | Useful for docket searches and common party names. |
Daviess County Court Record Types
Daviess County court records come from a two-court local trial structure. The county has Daviess Circuit Court and Daviess Superior Court at the courthouse in Washington. The Clerk is the local record keeper for county-level civil, criminal, traffic, estate, guardianship, juvenile, child-support, judgment-payment, warrant, and marriage functions. Superior Court is identified by the county as the court that handles all criminal offenses and some prior small claims and civil litigation.
Public records can cross more than one access path. A traffic matter may appear as a court case in MyCase while a driver-history question belongs with the Indiana BMV. A marriage license lookup is separate from a certified copy. A protective order has special online limits because protected-person information is excluded from public access. Probate and guardianship records can be partly public and partly restricted.
The Indiana Access to Court Records Rule 5 lists categories excluded from public access.
Rule 5 helps explain why Daviess County court records can be searchable in one case but partly hidden in another.
- Civil records may include complaints, summonses, appearances, motions, orders, judgments, garnishments, collections, and small claims.
- Criminal records may include formal charges, probable-cause material when public, hearings, pleas, sentencing orders, fines, costs, probation terms, and final judgments.
- Traffic and infraction records may show citation data, charge, court date, disposition, payment status, and links to eligible payments.
- Family records can include divorce, paternity, custody, support, and protective-order matters, with online limits for confidential information.
- Estate and guardianship records can include petitions, wills, inventories, claims, accountings, and orders about protected persons.
- Juvenile records are handled by the Clerk but are not treated like ordinary public civil records.
What Daviess County Court Records Show
A Daviess County court record is more than one document. In MyCase, the most useful public part is often the chronological case summary, which is the event list for the case. It may show filings, hearings, notices, orders, continuances, judgments, sentence entries, and disposition events. When public document links exist, they can add orders or final judgments. If a link is not present, the Daviess County Clerk or court is the copy source.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Cause number | The Indiana case identifier assigned through court case management. |
| Court | Daviess Circuit Court or Daviess Superior Court for county trial-court cases. |
| Filing date | The date the case was opened in the local court system. |
| Case type | Civil, criminal, infraction, small claims, estate, guardianship, juvenile, domestic, or other category. |
| Status or disposition | Open, pending, disposed, closed, dismissed, judgment entered, transferred, sealed, expunged, or confidential when public. |
| Parties | Plaintiff, defendant, State, petitioner, respondent, estate, decedent, protected person, or other party role. |
| Attorneys | Prosecutor, defense counsel, civil counsel, or other counsel of record when public. |
| Chronological case summary | Docket events, filings, hearings, notices, orders, continuances, judgments, and sentence entries. |
| Documents | Public document links when available online, or clerk/court copy requests when not linked. |
| Financials | Fines, court costs, restitution, bonds, judgment payments, child-support entries, or eligible payment links. |
Daviess County Court Records Access
Indiana court access starts with a public-access rule and then applies exceptions. The Indiana Access to Court Records Rule 4 says court records are generally accessible to the public unless excluded by rule, statute, court order, or other authority. The Indiana Access to Public Records Act, cited in Indiana Code Title 5, also frames public-agency records, but court records are governed by the court-access rules for release and exclusion.
The Rule 6 exclusion process matters when a party asks a court to keep an otherwise public record out of public access. The Rule 9 access process covers when someone seeks access to an excluded record through waiver or court order standards. For a Daviess County case, those rules are applied by the court that has jurisdiction over the file.
The Indiana Rule 6 page describes the process for excluding a record that would otherwise be public.
For Daviess County court records, that process is the reason a public docket may not show every filing in a case.
Note: Certified Daviess County court records come from the Clerk or court, not from a public MyCase screen.
Restricted Daviess County Court Records
Not every Daviess County court record can be viewed by the public. Restricted categories include juvenile matters, sealed and expunged records, adoption records, some protection-order information, medical and mental-health details, Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, and records involving minors. MyCase help also notes that protection-order cases are not found on MyCase, even though public protection-order information has a separate Indiana search path.
Indiana expungement is governed by Indiana Code Title 35, including the expungement chapter. A petition usually identifies the cause number, arresting or prosecuting agency, disposition, sentence completion, and statutory basis. Eligibility depends on the record type and the result of the case. A granted order may limit public MyCase visibility, but the effect can differ by case type and order terms.
The Indiana Rule 9 page explains how excluded court records may be accessed through waiver or a court order.
A Daviess County record that is excluded from public access is not released just because the cause number is known.
Daviess County Clerk Requests
When the online case summary is not enough, the county route is the Clerk or court. The Daviess County Courts page says questions about a case, jury duty, or copies of county documents such as marriage certificates, divorce decrees, child support orders, or judgments should go to the Daviess County Clerk's Office or the court directly. The Indiana Judicial Branch record-request guidance gives the same practical rule for court and case records.
Copy costs in the research are strongest for genealogy and historical requests: the Daviess Clerk genealogy page lists copy pages at $0.10 per page and certifications at $3. Traffic payments at the Clerk's Office are accepted as cash, money order, or cashier's check, while online traffic payments may be made through Indiana Public Courts Online Services and charges apply. Exact civil or probate filing-fee amounts were not located in the official Daviess web text reviewed.
Daviess County Clerk
200 E. Walnut Street
Washington, IN 47501
812-254-8664
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
The Indiana Code Title 5 page is the state-law source for the Access to Public Records Act citation used with local Daviess County court records requests.
State public-record law supports inspection and copy rights, while the court-access rules decide which Daviess County court records can be released.
Older Daviess County Court Records
Older Daviess County court records may not be fully searchable online. MyCase help warns that older cases may not be available and that converted data may appear in limited form. For historical or genealogy research, the Daviess Clerk page allows written requests by mail with names, dates, and the information sought. The state directory lists the Clerk mailing address as P.O. Box 739, Washington, IN 47501.
Historical researchers also have local options outside the court file itself. The Daviess genealogy page points to the Clerk on the top floor of the courthouse, the Washington Carnegie Public Library, and the Daviess County Museum. A current certified copy still must come from the court or Clerk that maintains the record, but older context may require a separate historical search.
The CourtListener search page is a free source for opinions and some docket material, not the official Daviess County court record.
CourtListener can help with legal research, but a certified Daviess County order or judgment still comes from the local Clerk or court.