Arrest Records for Tippecanoe County, Indiana

When you have a specific name in mind and need to trace an arrest record in Tippecanoe County, the search runs through three distinct systems: the statewide MyCase court portal, the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office Records Division, and the Tippecanoe County Clerk of the Courts. The Clerk’s office is located at the Tippecanoe County Courthouse, 20 North Third Street, Lafayette, Indiana 47901, and keeps weekday hours of 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. MyCase is free to search by name, case number, or attorney. The Sheriff’s Records Division handles criminal incident reports and booking records directly.

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

If you need records outside Tippecanoe County

A nationwide search may help when the record you need pre-dates MyCase’s online window — Indiana’s portal doesn’t reach back to every case filed before the statewide system launched. Run a preliminary scan below to surface records that may not appear in Tippecanoe County’s local portals.

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How to look up arrest records in Tippecanoe County

What does Indiana law actually open to the public — and where do you go to get it in Tippecanoe County? Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act (Ind. Code § 5-14-3) makes booking records, including booking photos, presumptively public. That means you don’t need to explain why you want the record; you just need to know which office holds it.

MyCase — court-side records online. The statewide MyCase portal covers Tippecanoe County’s Circuit Court and Superior Courts. Search by name, case number, or attorney of record. MyCase shows charges filed, hearing dates, dispositions, and attorney assignments. One practical limitation: the portal does not display probable cause affidavits, search warrants, or related supporting paperwork. For those documents, you need to visit the Clerk’s office in person or submit a written request. The Tippecanoe Court Records page on the county website links directly to MyCase and explains what the portal covers.

Sheriff’s Records Division — booking and incident reports. The Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office Records Division handles criminal incident reports and booking records that originate from Sheriff’s Office arrests. Call (765) 423-9388 to ask about the current records-request process and any applicable fees. The Sheriff’s Records Division also handles crash reports and background check requests — see the county’s Criminal Incident Reports page for request instructions.

Clerk of Courts — case files and certified copies. The Tippecanoe County Clerk maintains the official court file for every criminal case filed in the county. Certified copies of charging documents, judgments, and other docket entries are available in person at the Tippecanoe County Courthouse, 20 North Third Street, Lafayette. The Clerk’s office is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Call (765) 423-1655 to confirm current fees before visiting. Court Services fees can be paid in person by cash or money order; online payment is also available through the county’s court fees portal. The Tippecanoe County Parking Garage at 301 Main Street, Lafayette, has 480 spaces if you’re driving to the courthouse.

IDOC inmate lookup — state-sentenced individuals. If the person you’re researching received a state prison sentence, the Indiana Department of Correction offender search shows current custody status, sentence length, and facility assignment. This is separate from the Tippecanoe County Jail roster, which covers pre-trial detainees and those serving local sentences. Confirm numbers and hours before visiting or calling any facility.

Are Tippecanoe County arrest records public?

Keep juvenile records out of your search entirely — Indiana law treats juvenile court proceedings as confidential, and those records are not accessible through MyCase or any public records request. That exclusion is built into the state’s juvenile-confidentiality framework and applies county-wide in Tippecanoe.

For adult records, the default rule under Ind. Code § 5-14-3 is public access. Booking records — including the booking date, charges, and booking photo — are open to anyone who asks. The Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office operates under this framework, which means a records request doesn’t require you to state a reason or demonstrate a legal interest.

Exceptions narrow the default in specific situations. A record that has been expunged under Indiana’s Second Chance Law is removed from public view — MyCase will no longer display it, and the Clerk’s office will not confirm its existence to a member of the public. Law enforcement agencies retain access to expunged records, but the general public does not. Sealed cases work the same way from a public-access standpoint.

Victim-protection redactions apply in cases involving certain crimes. Addresses, contact information, and other identifying details for protected victims may be withheld from the public copy of a record even when the case itself remains open. If you request a document and receive a redacted version, that’s the reason.

Pending charges that were never prosecuted — a case where charges were filed but later dismissed — remain in the public record unless the defendant successfully petitions for expungement. An arrest alone, without a conviction, is still a public record in Indiana until a court orders otherwise.

What’s in a Tippecanoe County arrest record?

“Booking records are public records” under Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act — but what that phrase actually means in practice depends on which system you’re looking at, because the Sheriff’s booking entry and the court’s docket entry are two different documents that live in two different systems.

A Sheriff’s booking record — the record created at the Tippecanoe County Jail when someone is processed — typically contains: the subject’s full legal name, date of birth, booking date and time, booking number, arresting agency, and the charges as listed at the time of booking. A booking photo is generally part of this record. The charges on the booking record reflect what law enforcement alleged at the moment of arrest; they may differ from what the prosecutor ultimately files in court.

A court docket entry — what you find in MyCase or in the Clerk’s physical file at the Tippecanoe County Courthouse — shows the case number, the charges as formally filed by the prosecutor, all hearing dates and outcomes, attorney of record (both defense and prosecution), bond amount and conditions, and the final disposition. If the case went to trial, the verdict appears here. If the defendant pleaded guilty, the plea agreement and sentencing order are part of the file.

The gap between these two systems matters. A booking record may show a charge that was later reduced or dropped entirely by the prosecutor. MyCase will show the reduced or dismissed charge, but a third-party database that scraped the booking record may still display the original. If you’re checking your own record for accuracy, compare both sources.

Mugshot release policy for Tippecanoe County: booking photos are generally public under Ind. Code § 5-14-3, but specific release practices — including whether the Sheriff’s Office posts a public booking log online — are worth confirming directly. Call the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office at (765) 423-9388 to ask about current online publication practices.

How to expunge an arrest record in Tippecanoe County

If the arrest you’re looking at resulted in no conviction — or if enough time has passed since a conviction — petitioning to seal that record under Indiana law is a routine legal procedure that many people complete successfully. The governing statute is Ind. Code § 35-38-9 (Indiana “Second Chance Law”), and the filing fee question is the practical place to start: call the Clerk to confirm the current filing fee, since court fees change and the current amount isn’t posted in a single verified location.

Arrests that didn’t result in conviction. If you were arrested but never charged, or if the charges were dismissed or you were acquitted, Indiana law provides a streamlined path. A dismissal or acquittal triggers an automatic expungement order — that order takes effect no sooner than 60 days after the disposition. For an arrest where no charges were ever filed, you can petition to expunge the arrest record one year after the arrest date. You don’t need to wait for a conviction-based timeline.

Misdemeanor convictions. A misdemeanor conviction becomes eligible for expungement five years after the conviction date, provided you meet the eligibility criteria in Ind. Code § 35-38-9. The court must grant a qualifying petition — this is a mandatory grant, not a discretionary one, if you meet the requirements.

Class D / Level 6 felony convictions. The waiting period is eight years from the conviction date. Like misdemeanors, the court must grant a qualifying petition.

More serious felonies. The court may expunge after the later of eight years from conviction or three years from completing the sentence. The most serious felonies — which also require the prosecutor’s written consent — have a waiting period of the later of ten years from conviction or five years from finishing the sentence.

Excluded offenses. Sex offenses, violent offenses, and official-misconduct offenses are excluded from Indiana’s expungement framework entirely. If the conviction falls into one of those categories, Ind. Code § 35-38-9 does not provide a path.

Where and how to file. File a verified petition in the county court where the conviction occurred — for non-conviction records, file in the county of arrest. For Tippecanoe County cases, that means filing at the Tippecanoe County Courthouse. Indiana requires that all petitions in a given county be filed together in a single filing. You effectively get one expungement petition per lifetime, so timing matters. Confirm the current statute text or ask the Clerk of Court before filing.

Self-petition vs. attorney-assisted. The Tippecanoe County Clerk’s self-help resources explain how to handle your own case. The Indiana Courts self-service center at courts.in.gov/selfservice also provides forms and instructions. For complex cases — multiple convictions, serious felonies requiring prosecutor consent — an attorney can help you avoid the one-petition limit. Find a licensed Indiana attorney through the Indiana Roll of Attorneys or a public defender through the Indiana Public Defender Commission.

After expungement. Law enforcement agencies retain access to expunged records. The general public — including background-check databases that rely on public court records — will no longer see the record once the expungement order takes effect.

Frequently asked questions about Tippecanoe County arrest records

What charges will show up on a Tippecanoe County arrest record, and what happens if the case was dismissed?

A Tippecanoe County arrest record will show the charges as they were listed at the time of booking — those come from the Sheriff’s booking entry. The court docket in MyCase shows what the prosecutor formally filed, which may differ from the booking charges. If the case was dismissed, the dismissal appears in MyCase as the disposition. A dismissed case remains a public record unless the defendant petitions for expungement under Ind. Code § 35-38-9. An acquittal triggers an automatic expungement order, effective no sooner than 60 days after the verdict. Until an expungement order takes effect, both the arrest record and the court docket remain publicly accessible.

How do I get a Tippecanoe County arrest record expunged under Indiana’s Second Chance Law?

File a verified petition at the Tippecanoe County Courthouse, 20 North Third Street, Lafayette — that’s where the Clerk of Courts accepts expungement filings. Call (765) 423-1655 to confirm the current filing fee before you go. Indiana law (Ind. Code § 35-38-9) sets the waiting periods: one year after an arrest with no conviction, five years after a misdemeanor conviction, and eight years after a Class D or Level 6 felony conviction. More serious felonies have longer timelines and may require the prosecutor’s written consent. Indiana allows effectively one expungement petition per lifetime, so confirm your eligibility and timing against the current statute text or ask the Clerk before filing. The Indiana Courts self-service center at courts.in.gov/selfservice has petition forms and instructions if you plan to file without an attorney.