Arrest Records for DeKalb County, Indiana

Pull up the Indiana MyCase statewide court portal and type in the name you’re researching — DeKalb County Circuit and Superior Court case records appear there alongside every other Indiana county. For booking-side records held by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, submit a records request through the DeKalb County Sheriff’s records request page. The DeKalb County Courthouse sits at 100 S Main Street, Auburn, IN 46706, and the Clerk’s Office is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Bring photo ID — it’s required for all courthouse visits. The courthouse entrance is on the north side off 7th Street, and cell phones are not permitted inside the building.

If someone you know was just booked tonight, our DeKalb County inmate-search page has phone-first contact info.

If your person has a history in other states

DeKalb County’s own portals only surface Indiana cases — federal court cases and records from other states won’t appear in MyCase or the Sheriff’s records system. A nationwide database search may help fill gaps that local portals often leave, particularly for name variants, records predating Indiana’s online window, or charges filed in neighboring states like Ohio or Michigan.

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This tool is not a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA and may not be used to screen anyone for employment, housing, credit, or any other purpose covered by that law.

How to look up arrest records in DeKalb County

Someone walking into the DeKalb County Courthouse at 100 S Main Street, Auburn, can access court records at the public-access terminals in the Clerk’s Office — available weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. That same person’s attorney, or any third party, has the same access under Indiana’s open-records framework: arrest and court records are presumptively public, and no special requester status is required to view them.

The Indiana MyCase portal is the fastest online path. Search by name or case number to pull DeKalb County Circuit Court and Superior Court docket entries. MyCase shows case status, charge descriptions, hearing dates, and attorney of record. It does not show booking photos or Sheriff-side intake data — those live in a separate system.

For Sheriff-side records — arrest reports, booking data, incident reports — go directly to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s records request page. The Sheriff’s Office handles these requests separately from the Clerk. Fees and turnaround times are listed on that page; confirm current amounts before submitting. The Indiana Judicial Branch DeKalb County court information page links to local court contacts and can help you identify which division — Circuit or Superior — holds the case you need.

If the person you’re researching was sentenced to a state facility rather than held locally, the Indiana Department of Correction offender search covers IDOC-managed facilities. The DeKalb County Jail inmate search at Inmate Search covers people currently held locally. For transfers to state facilities, the Sheriff’s Office maintains a separate inmate transport information page.

Payments to the Clerk’s Office are accepted by cash, money order, credit/debit card, or personal check — include the case number with any payment. The Clerk’s Office is made payable to the DeKalb Court Circuit Clerk’s Office. If you’re visiting in person, Monday midday tends to see shorter lines at the courthouse. Confirm numbers and hours before visiting or calling.

Are DeKalb County arrest records public?

“Each person has a right to inspect and copy the public records of any public agency,” reads the core mandate of Indiana’s open-records law — and that principle governs what you can retrieve about a DeKalb County arrest. Under Ind. Code § 5-14-3, booking records including booking photographs are presumptively open to the public. No requester needs to explain why they want the record or demonstrate any particular interest in it.

The default-public rule has narrow but important exceptions. Juvenile records are not public — a person arrested as a minor has a separate, restricted record that requires a court order to access. Victim-protection redactions apply in certain cases, particularly those involving domestic violence or sexual offenses, where victim names and addresses are withheld from the public copy. Cases that have been expunged under Indiana’s Second Chance Law are removed from public view entirely — the docket entry disappears from MyCase and the Clerk’s public index.

Active investigations present a practical limit even when no formal exception applies. The Sheriff’s Office may withhold specific details from an incident report if releasing them would compromise an ongoing investigation. That withholding is temporary and subject to challenge under APRA once the investigation closes.

Sealed cases occupy a middle ground worth understanding. When a court grants an expungement petition in DeKalb County, the public record is restricted — but law enforcement agencies retain access to the underlying data. A sealed DeKalb County arrest record will not appear in a MyCase search or in a response to a public-records request, but it remains visible to prosecutors, courts, and law enforcement in subsequent proceedings.

For mugshot release policy specific to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, call (260) 925-3365 — the policy isn’t published in detail online, and practices can vary by case type.

What’s in a DeKalb County arrest record?

At the moment a person is booked into the DeKalb County Jail, the Sheriff’s Office generates a booking entry that is separate from anything the court system creates. Those two records — booking entry and court docket — live in different systems and may show different fields depending on where you look.

The booking entry held by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office typically includes: the booking date and time, the arresting agency, the charges as written at intake (which may differ from what the prosecutor later files), the booking photograph, physical descriptors, and the assigned case or booking number. You retrieve this through the Sheriff’s records request page or by calling (260) 925-3365.

The court docket in Indiana MyCase shows what happened after charges were formally filed at the DeKalb County Courthouse. Docket entries include the case number, the formal charge or charges as filed by the prosecutor, all hearing dates and outcomes, bond amounts, attorney of record, and the final disposition — whether that’s a conviction, dismissal, acquittal, or plea. Disposition data is often the most important field for a records-checker, because it distinguishes an arrest that led nowhere from one that resulted in a conviction.

A partial-sealing scenario creates a visible gap worth knowing about. If a case has been expunged under Indiana law, the docket entry in MyCase is restricted — you may see that a case number exists but the case details are sealed. The docket shell remains as a placeholder, but charge information, disposition, and party names are hidden from public view. This is different from a case that was never filed: a never-filed arrest has no court docket at all, only a Sheriff-side booking record.

Bond information appears on both sides: the Sheriff’s Office records the bond amount set at booking, and the court docket at the DeKalb County Courthouse reflects any modifications made by a judge. If you need licensed bondsman information, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s bail and bonds page lists that separately.

How to expunge an arrest record in DeKalb County

Petitioning to seal an arrest record in DeKalb County is a routine legal procedure governed by a single statewide statute. Indiana handles all criminal-record relief through Ind. Code § 35-38-9 (Indiana “Second Chance Law”) — there is no separate sealing statute and no separate expungement statute. One law covers everything, and it is tiered by offense level.

An arrest that did not result in a conviction is the most accessible category. If you were arrested in DeKalb County but the charges were dismissed or you were acquitted, the expungement is automatic — the order takes effect no sooner than 60 days after the dismissal or acquittal. If the arrest never led to charges being filed, you can petition to expunge the arrest record one year after the arrest date. No conviction means no waiting period beyond that one year.

Conviction-based petitions follow a tiered waiting schedule. A misdemeanor conviction can be petitioned five years after the conviction date, and the court must grant it if eligibility criteria are met. A Class D or Level 6 felony carries an eight-year wait from conviction, also mandatory-grant if eligible. More serious felonies require the later of eight years from conviction or three years from completing the sentence, and the court has discretion on whether to grant. The most serious felonies — those that also require the prosecutor’s written consent — require the later of ten years from conviction or five years from completing the sentence.

Indiana law gives each person effectively one expungement petition per lifetime. All petitions in a given county must be filed together in a single filing. That means if you have multiple cases in DeKalb County, you cannot file for one now and return for another later — they go in together. Getting the timing right before filing is essential. Confirm the current statute text or ask the DeKalb County Clerk before submitting anything.

File the verified petition in the court where the conviction occurred — for DeKalb County cases, that means the Circuit or Superior Court at the DeKalb County Courthouse, 100 S Main Street, Auburn, IN 46706. For non-conviction arrests, file in the county where the arrest occurred. The Clerk’s Office is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. An indigency waiver path exists for the filing fee — ask the Clerk about the current fee and waiver process when you arrive.

You can self-petition without an attorney. The Indiana courts system provides self-help resources, and the Indiana Public Defender Council can help identify whether you qualify for appointed counsel. If your case involves a serious felony requiring prosecutor consent, having an attorney familiar with DeKalb County practice is worth considering. Find licensed Indiana attorneys through the Indiana Roll of Attorneys search.

After a successful expungement, the public record disappears from MyCase and from responses to public-records requests. Law enforcement agencies, courts, and prosecutors retain access to the underlying data. The record does not vanish entirely — it is restricted from public view, not destroyed.

Quick-contacts reference

Frequently asked questions about DeKalb County arrest records

What is the timeline for a DeKalb County arrest record to appear in public systems after booking?

Booking entries at the DeKalb County Jail are generally accessible through the Sheriff’s inmate search shortly after processing is complete. Court docket entries in Indiana MyCase appear after the prosecutor formally files charges and the Clerk’s Office enters the case — that step typically follows the initial hearing at the DeKalb County Courthouse. The two records are on different timelines: the booking entry comes first, the court docket follows once charges are filed. If a case is dismissed before filing, no court docket entry will appear at all.

How do I get a DeKalb County arrest record expunged under Indiana law?

Indiana’s expungement process is governed by Ind. Code § 35-38-9 (the Second Chance Law). For an arrest that did not result in a conviction, you can petition one year after the arrest date; dismissals and acquittals are handled automatically, with the order effective no sooner than 60 days after the court’s ruling. For conviction-based petitions, waiting periods run from five years (misdemeanor) to ten or more years (serious felonies), depending on offense level. File a verified petition at the DeKalb County Courthouse, 100 S Main Street, Auburn, IN 46706, during Clerk’s Office hours — Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Indiana requires all petitions in a county to be filed together in a single filing, so confirm your complete case history before submitting. Ask the Clerk about the current filing fee and indigency waiver options.