Daviess County Criminal Records
A Daviess County criminal court record is the court case file for a prosecution. It begins once a formal criminal case is opened and then grows as the prosecutor, defense, clerk, and judge add filings and orders. The record can include the charging information, probable-cause material when public, arraignment entries, bond-related orders, motions, hearing dates, plea entries, trial events, disposition, sentencing order, probation terms, fines, costs, restitution, and post-judgment entries.
The county court structure is local and specific. Daviess County has Daviess Circuit Court and Daviess Superior Court at the courthouse in Washington. The county's Superior Court page states that Superior Court handles all criminal offenses and some previous small claims and civil litigation. The County Clerk is the record keeper for county-level criminal cases. The Prosecutor's Office handles serious felony prosecution and the prosecution side of criminal filings.
For a closer look at the arrest-to-charge path before the full case file develops, use Daviess County arrest records and court charges. For the broader mix of civil, family, probate, traffic, and criminal files, use Daviess County court records.
Search Daviess Criminal Court Records
The main online case-search tool for Daviess County criminal court records is Indiana MyCase. Public users can search non-confidential case information and many public documents. MyCase may show the court, cause number, defendant name where public, case type, charge entries, hearing events, final orders, judgments, disposition, financial links, and public document links. It is a public lookup route, not the official certified record.
The practical fallback is local. When a criminal case summary exists but a document is not linked, the Daviess County Clerk or court is the copy source. The county courts page says case questions, jury duty questions, and copies of documents such as judgments should be directed to the Clerk's Office or court directly. Use Daviess Superior Court for criminal-court scheduling questions when the docket lists that court, and use the Clerk for copies and record handling.
The Indiana Code Title 35 page is the state source for criminal law, criminal procedure, and expungement citations used with Daviess County criminal court records.
Title 35 provides the state-law backdrop, but the Daviess County case file is maintained by the local court and Clerk.
- Open MyCase and search by cause number when it is known.
- For a name search, use the defendant's last name and first name, then narrow to Daviess County or the Daviess court.
- Open the matching criminal case and review the chronological case summary.
- Check the charge entries, hearing events, plea, disposition, sentencing order, and public document links.
- Contact the Daviess County Clerk or the listed court when a certified copy, missing order, or older criminal record is needed.
Daviess Criminal Case Flow
A criminal court record should be read as a sequence. Early entries may reflect the charging document, probable-cause review, warrant or summons activity, bond, and initial hearing. Later entries show motions, continuances, plea offers, trial settings, verdicts, sentence terms, and post-sentence supervision. A single criminal case can have several counts, and each count may have a different result.
Case flow: Charges Filed › Arraignment › Pretrial / Motions › Plea or Trial › Disposition › Sentencing
| Stage | What Happens in the Record |
|---|---|
| Charges filed | The prosecutor files the formal charge, and the court opens the criminal case under a cause number. |
| Arraignment | The defendant is advised of the charge, rights, next settings, and bond or release conditions. |
| Pretrial / motions | The docket may show discovery, motions, hearings, continuances, and orders before plea or trial. |
| Plea or trial | The record shows a negotiated plea, trial setting, verdict, acquittal, dismissal, or other case result. |
| Disposition | The court records the outcome for the case or for each charge. |
| Sentencing | The court enters jail, prison, probation, fines, costs, restitution, or community-corrections terms when imposed. |
Daviess Criminal Court Record Fields
The field list in a Daviess County criminal court record should be read with care. A charge entry is not always a conviction. A dismissed count can stay visible unless sealed or expunged. A plea may apply to one count while another count is dismissed. A sentencing entry may include jail credit, probation, fines, court costs, restitution, community corrections, or other terms that need the actual order for full detail.
| Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Cause number | The Indiana case identifier for the Daviess County criminal case. |
| Court | Daviess Superior Court or Daviess Circuit Court as listed on the case. |
| Defendant | The person charged, subject to public-access and identifier limits. |
| Prosecutor | The State's attorney or Daviess County Prosecutor involvement when public. |
| Charge | The alleged offense, count, severity, and charge status when shown. |
| Arraignment | Initial hearing entries, advisement, plea entry, bond, and next setting. |
| Motions | Requests filed by counsel or the State and related court rulings. |
| Plea or verdict | Guilty plea, trial verdict, acquittal, or other case outcome. |
| Disposition | Dismissed, guilty, not guilty, disposed, closed, transferred, or other status by count or case. |
| Sentence | Jail, prison, probation, fines, costs, restitution, or community-corrections terms. |
| Documents | Public orders and judgments online when available, or clerk/court copy request when not linked. |
Charges and Convictions Compared
A criminal court record often contains both allegations and outcomes. The charge is the formal accusation filed in court. The conviction is a finding, plea, or judgment that the defendant committed an offense. A Daviess County criminal court record can show a charge that was amended, reduced, dismissed, or resolved by plea to a different count. The final disposition is the best place to start when reading the outcome.
| Point | Charge | Conviction |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | An allegation filed in a criminal case. | A guilty plea, verdict, or finding entered by the court. |
| Timing | Appears early in the prosecution. | Appears after plea, trial, or judgment. |
| Record use | Shows what was alleged and prosecuted. | Shows the final criminal liability for that count. |
| Possible result | May be amended, reduced, dropped, or dismissed. | May lead to sentence, probation, fines, costs, or restitution. |
The Daviess County Prosecutor's Office page identifies the office involved in felony prosecution and child-support enforcement.
The prosecutor role is central to filed charges, while the court record tracks how those charges are resolved.
Daviess Criminal Case Offices
Indiana uses county prosecutors, not district attorneys. The Daviess Prosecutor's Office is at 200 E. Walnut Street in Washington, with phone 812-254-8673 and weekday hours listed as 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The staff directory names Abby Brown as County Prosecutor. Prosecutor information is relevant to criminal court records because prosecutor-filed charges become part of the formal court file, and the Prosecutor may receive notice and object in expungement matters.
No separate Daviess County Public Defender office page was located in official sources reviewed. Indiana Public Defender Commission guidance says Indiana has many public defender offices at county, state, and federal levels, and that a person first needs to know which office represents them or the loved one. For an active Daviess County criminal case, indigent-defense questions should be directed to the court handling the case or the attorney appointed in that case.
The Indiana Public Defender Commission links page gives state guidance for finding the correct public-defender contact.
Because no separate local public-defender page was found, the court record and appointed-attorney information are the safer sources for case-specific defense contacts.
Daviess Sentences and Supervision
Criminal court records may connect to jail, probation, or Community Corrections after disposition. The Daviess County Community Corrections page describes court-approved alternatives to incarceration under authority of Daviess Circuit Court and Daviess Superior Court. The program combines structured supervision, case management, evidence-based interventions, accountability, reduced recidivism, reintegration, and public-safety goals.
Community Corrections is at 415 W. Walnut Street in Washington, with phone 812-254-8665. Related program functions from the official research include work release, home detention/GPS, community service, sanctions for home detention or work release, juvenile probation use, and programs tied to court sentencing. These details can appear after a conviction or plea when the sentencing order assigns a person to a local supervision program.
The Daviess County Community Corrections page describes local alternatives to incarceration used in court-approved sentencing.
A sentence that includes Community Corrections should be read from the court order, not just from a short docket entry.
Sealed or Expunged Criminal Records
Sealing and expungement affect public access, but they are not the same thing in practical use. Indiana expungement is governed by Indiana Code 35-38-9 within Title 35. A petition typically identifies the case or cause number, arresting or prosecuting agency, disposition, sentence completion, and statutory basis. Waiting periods and eligibility depend on the record type and result, including arrest or nonconviction records, misdemeanors, Level 6 or Class D felonies, more serious felonies, and excluded offenses.
The Daviess County Prosecutor may receive notice and can object where the statute allows it. If the court grants relief, the order directs agencies and courts how to restrict public access. A granted expungement can change public MyCase visibility, but the effect depends on the case type and order. Juvenile matters, sealed cases, adoption matters, protected-person information, medical details, financial identifiers, and minor information may also be excluded by court rule or statute.
| Point | Sealed | Expunged |
|---|---|---|
| Basic effect | Excluded from public access by rule, statute, or court order. | Restricted under Indiana expungement law after a qualifying order. |
| Where handled | The court with control over the record. | The court with jurisdiction over the arrest, charge, or conviction. |
| Public MyCase view | May hide the record or specific documents. | May limit public visibility depending on the expungement type. |
| Access request | Rule 9 may require waiver or court order standards. | Relief depends on the statute and the court order. |
Daviess Criminal Record Access
Indiana court records are generally public unless an exception applies. Indiana Access to Court Records Rule 4 sets the general public-access rule. Rule 5 identifies records excluded from public access. Rule 6 covers excluding otherwise public records, and Rule 9 covers access to excluded records by waiver or court order.
For Daviess County criminal court records, the public channel is MyCase for searchable case information and public documents. The local official-copy channel is the Daviess County Clerk or the court. The Clerk page lists criminal cases among county-level case types handled by the office. The Clerk page also gives the public counter address at 200 E. Walnut Street in Washington, phone 812-254-8664, and Monday-Friday hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Note: A criminal charge in a Daviess County court record is not the same as a conviction or sentence.