Getting Tippecanoe County Court Records
One office holds most of the paper. The Clerk of the Circuit and Superior Courts, listed by the county as Julie Roush, keeps the unified files. Those files cover Circuit and Superior criminal, civil, family, probate, and small-claims cases. West Lafayette City Court runs its own municipal docket. A sensible first stop is the county's Tippecanoe Court Records page paired with Indiana MyCase. If the public filing you want is not imaged, or you need a plain or certified copy, go straight to the Clerk. He or she can produce it.
- Identify the court, cause number, party name, and exact filing or date range. A narrow description avoids confusion between similarly named parties.
- Search Indiana MyCase for the public Case Summary and available document links. A missing link does not mean the filing is unavailable.
- Choose inspection, an electronic or paper copy, or certification. State whether an older paper exhibit or transcript is involved.
- Submit through the Clerk's SBS Internet Service Request, visit 301 Main Street, second floor, call 765-423-9326 extension 7, fax 765-423-9194, or mail PO Box 1665, Lafayette, IN 47902.
- Wait for the Clerk's quote or payment notice. Confirm the current charge before paying because official local and statutory fee references do not form one current court-copy schedule.
- Check the copy against the cause number and document date. Use the Clerk-authenticated version when an official record is required.
From SBS Request to PayGov Notice
The Clerk's online request route is no instant download. It runs through the SBS Internet Service Request. That service asks you to pick a known category or choose the general option. Expect email notices marking receipt, processing, and completion, so check your spam folder. When payment comes due, you return to the identified portal rather than guessing a charge up front. PayGov.US takes Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. The county publishes a 3% convenience charge, with a $1 minimum on transactions under $33.
Particular requests move more cleanly: name the court, cause number, exact document, date range, desired format, and whether certification is required. Ask whether the record is public and already imaged before ordering.
This workflow suits a known pleading, order, or judgment. Asking staff to research a legal issue or build a new report is a different animal from requesting an identifiable existing court record.
Court Record Types
The county's Odyssey-based system can tie several record forms to one cause number. Think of the online docket as the index and procedural history. The Clerk's file holds the actual filings, kept under access and retention rules.
- Case Summaries and Chronological Case Summaries showing public events and status history
- Complaints, petitions, answers, motions, briefs, and other filed pleadings
- Signed orders, judgments, sentencing entries, and public dispositions
- Public criminal charges, bond entries, hearing settings, and financial entries
- Civil, family, probate, estate, guardianship, eviction, collection, and small-claims files where public
- Exhibits retained in paper or electronic form under local retention rules
- Certified copies, certificates under seal, and judgment transcripts
- Court-reporter transcripts ordered separately from ordinary document copies
A docket is not a full trial transcript or a driver record. Nor is a case listing proof that an allegation was established. Read the underlying order and disposition before drawing any conclusion.
Inspection, Digital Copy, or Certified Copy
| Access form | Best use | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
| Public inspection | Reviewing an available file at the custodian during regular hours | An appointment may be required; restricted portions remain unavailable |
| MyCase document | Convenient reference to an imaged public filing | MyCase is not the official court record |
| Plain copy | Keeping a readable paper or digital version | The exact fee and format require Clerk confirmation |
| Certified copy | Producing a Clerk-authenticated record where required | Certification is not supplied by printing a MyCase screen |
| Transcript | Obtaining a verbatim record when a hearing was recorded | Ordered and quoted through the official reporter or court |
County APRA policy puts no fee on inspection itself. Locating, searching, redacting, indexing, or making a record available costs nothing. That policy does not erase lawful charges for the copy, certification, medium, or court-reporter work you actually request.
Inside a Tippecanoe County Court Record
A MyCase result usually carries enough detail to confirm you have the right local matter. The first block of an Indiana cause number tells you the county and court. 79C01 is Tippecanoe Circuit Court. 79D01 through 79D07 are Superior Courts 1 through 7. 79H01 is West Lafayette City Court.
| Case Number | County, court, filing year and month, case type, and filing sequence; transferred matters may preserve a searchable number history. |
|---|---|
| Case Summary | Court, case type, filing date, status, status date, style, and public party roles. |
| CCS | The Chronological Case Summary records procedural entries, filings, orders, settings, and disposition activity. |
| Pleadings | Public petitions, motions, answers, briefs, and attachments when filed and accessible. |
| Orders & Judgments | Signed rulings and final or post-judgment entries; these explain more than an open or closed label. |
| Exhibits | Filed evidence subject to access, imaging, and local retention requirements. |
| Financial Information | Selected assessments, credits, balances, or payments; the Clerk supplies the current official balance. |
Requesting an Older Paper Exhibit
"Not online" can mean several things. It can be un-imaged, paper-only, restricted, transferred, retained elsewhere, or disposed of under an authorized schedule. For an older exhibit, come prepared. Bring the cause number, court, filing or hearing date, exhibit description, and the party who offered it. Ask whether retrieval needs an appointment, and whether the exhibit can be inspected or copied. Tippecanoe local rules allow disposal of some exhibits after imaging and notice. Certain civil, adoption, paternity, and juvenile exhibits may go four months after decision, longer where an appeal applies. Misdemeanor, ordinance, and Level 4 through 6 matters carry a three-year window. Serious felony and murder exhibits sit at 20 years. Those periods never prove a particular item still exists. Only the Clerk or assigned court can check the actual file.
Do not record inside a court office or hearing: local rules prohibit audio or video recording in the courtroom, hearing, or court office without judicial permission. Request the retained exhibit or official transcript instead.
Fees and Certified Copies
Different official references cover different products, and the county publishes no single current price sheet for certified copies and electronic documents. Resolution 2005-43-CM offers a county copying reference. Indiana statutes set maximum or specific clerk charges. An older county ordinance with lower paper, fax, and per-certified-page amounts should not be treated as the current universal court schedule.
| Item | Published reference |
|---|---|
| County paper copying reference | $0.50 per sheet per side under Resolution 2005-43-CM |
| Letter- or legal-size court copy | $1 under IC 33-37-5-1 unless a lower county ordinance applies |
| Certificate under seal | $1 statutory reference under IC 33-37-5-3 |
| Judgment transcript lien | $3 statutory reference under IC 33-37-5-4 |
| PayGov card convenience charge | 3%, with a $1 minimum for transactions under $33 |
| Current certified or electronic copy | Confirm with the Clerk before ordering |
Clerk of the Circuit and Superior Courts
301 Main Street, Second Floor
Lafayette, IN 47901
Mail: PO Box 1665, Lafayette, IN 47902
765-423-9326 ext. 7
Fax: 765-423-9194
Tippecanoe Transcript Timing and Rates
A transcript is court-reporter work, not an ordinary Clerk photocopy. Local Rule LR79-AR00-7 caps the rates. Private, county, or state-indigent work runs up to $5 per page. An expedited transcript of up to 50 pages within 24 hours is capped at $8.50 per page, five-day work up to 150 pages at $7.50, and more than 150 pages within 15 days at $10. Additional copies may reach $1 per page. Deposits and late charges can apply. Ask the official reporter or the assigned court whether the hearing was recorded, whether a transcript already exists, and what the estimated page count, deposit, delivery date, and permitted format are. A CCS entry showing a hearing occurred does not mean a transcript was prepared automatically.
Sealed Records and Public Access
Indiana Access to Court Records Rule 4 starts from public access. It is subject to Rule 5 and other law. Rule 5 covers both whole cases and particular information. Its list includes many juvenile, CHINS, termination, mental-health, treatment, confidential investigative, protected-report, and victim or child-witness materials. Social Security numbers, account numbers, PINs, and passwords get redacted. Protection-order cases do not appear in the ordinary public MyCase search. An approved expungement can remove a public result entirely.
Key rules:
Indiana Access to Court Records Rule 4 establishes the general public-access rule for court records unless an exclusion applies.
Indiana Access to Court Records Rule 5 identifies confidential cases, documents, and information that cannot be released through an ordinary request.
Indiana Code 5-14-3-3 addresses reasonably particular requests to inspect and copy public-agency records during regular business hours.
Rule 6 lays out a careful path for restricting a court record. It takes a verified motion, notice, and a hearing. The filer must also show sealing is the least restrictive method available. The Clerk cannot hand out restricted material just because someone asks. And the flip side matters too: a record can stay public. That holds even if no remote image exists for it.
APRA Windows for County-Held Records
Indiana's Access to Public Records Act fits county administrative records best. Case records from the courts answer to the Access to Court Records rules instead. Tippecanoe County's public-records policy spells out what a request needs. That means your contact details and a clear Public Records Request label. Add a specific description of the record. Include a commercial-use statement if you want a list of individuals. State your preference between printed and digital copies.
Timing works in two tiers. Ask in person and the county must respond in writing within 24 business hours. Send the request by mail, fax, or email. The window then stretches to seven calendar days. A response can approve the request or ask for clarification. It can also claim more production time, provide installments, or cite the exemption behind a denial or redaction. None of that guarantees every court file lands in your hands on those deadlines. If you are unsure whether the Clerk holds the record or another county office does, describe it and ask for the right routing.