When you have a specific name to look up, Union County arrest records flow through two parallel systems: the Union County Circuit Court Clerk, whose criminal case dockets are searchable through Indiana’s statewide MyCase portal at Indiana MyCase docket search, and the Union County Sheriff’s Office, which holds booking records under Indiana’s open-records law. The Union County Courthouse sits at 26 West Union Street, Liberty, IN 47353 — reachable by phone at (765) 458-6121. Confirm hours before visiting, as phone lines at the Courthouse can run long during busy periods.
If someone you know was just booked tonight, our Union County inmate-search page has phone-first contact info.
If your person has a history in other states
MyCase covers Indiana court filings, and the Union County Sheriff’s records cover local bookings — but neither reaches arrests that occurred in other states or federal jurisdictions, nor records that pre-date the portal’s online window. A nationwide search may help surface those gaps across multiple state databases. The preliminary scan is free; a full report requires creating an account.
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How to look up arrest records in Union County
Even if someone has been transferred out of the county jail after sentencing, you can still trace the record — the path just shifts depending on where they are now.
MyCase — court dockets online. Indiana’s statewide court portal, MyCase, covers Union County Circuit Court and Union County Superior Court filings. Search by name or case number. You’ll see charges filed, hearing dates, dispositions, and attorney of record. MyCase reflects court-side data; it does not show raw booking entries from the Sheriff’s jail log.
Union County Sheriff’s Office — booking records. The Union County Indiana Sheriff’s Office maintains arrest and booking records for incidents handled by the Sheriff’s department. The Sheriff’s department page on the state portal at Sheriff lists department contacts and links. For a specific booking record not visible online, call the Courthouse at (765) 458-6121 to be directed to the correct records desk. In-person visits to the Courthouse at 26 West Union Street, Liberty can involve wait times — plan accordingly.
Clerk of Court — certified copies and case files. The Union County Clerk of Courts handles certified copies of criminal case records. The Clerk’s office is located inside the Union County Courthouse, 26 West Union Street, Liberty, IN 47353. Call (765) 458-6121 to confirm current hours, records-request fees, and whether requests can be submitted by mail. The Clerk’s office page at Clerk has current contact details.
IDOC — post-conviction transfers. When someone has been convicted and transferred to a state facility, the Indiana Department of Correction offender search at Indiana DOC Offender / Incarcerated Locator is the tool to use. It shows current facility, sentence details, and projected release date for people in IDOC custody. The Union County Sheriff’s jail roster won’t show someone who has already been transferred to a state prison.
Access to Public Records requests. Union County’s public-records framework is explained at Access To Public Records. If you need to formally request records the online portals don’t surface, that page outlines the process. The Indiana Public Access Counselor can assist if a request is denied or delayed.
Are Union County arrest records public?
Unless a record has been sealed or involves a protected category, arrest records in Union County are open to the public by default — that’s the baseline the law sets.
The controlling statute is Ind. Code § 5-14-3, Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act (APRA). Under APRA, booking records — including booking photos — are generally public records. Any person can request them from the Union County Sheriff’s Office or the Clerk of Courts without needing to state a reason. Indiana’s rules on public access are codified in Title 5, Article 14 of the Indiana Statutes. The Indiana Public Access Counselor interprets and enforces APRA statewide.
The narrow exceptions matter. Juvenile records are not public — arrests of persons under 18 are handled through a separate juvenile justice process and are shielded from general disclosure. Records that have been expunged under Indiana’s Second Chance Law are removed from public view; after a successful expungement, the Clerk and Sheriff are required to treat the record as if it does not exist for public-access purposes. Victim-identifying information — names and addresses of crime victims in certain offense categories — may be redacted before a record is released. Ongoing investigations may also have portions withheld if disclosure would compromise the case.
Mugshot release policy for Union County: the Sheriff’s Office is the authoritative source on whether booking photos are released on request or posted publicly. Call (765) 458-6121 to confirm the current practice before making a formal request.
Court dockets are also public by default, with sealed cases excluded from public view entirely. If a case doesn’t appear in MyCase, it may have been expunged, or it may be a juvenile matter — not necessarily an error in the search.
What’s in a Union County arrest record?
Most Union County arrest records go back as far as the digitization window of the system that holds them — older paper records may require an in-person visit to the Union County Courthouse to retrieve.
The record you retrieve depends on which system you pull from. Booking entries and court dockets are separate documents maintained by different offices, and they don’t always show the same fields.
Sheriff’s booking record (jail-side). When someone is arrested and booked at the Union County jail, the Union County Sheriff’s Office creates a booking entry. It typically contains: full legal name and date of birth, booking date and time, arresting agency, charges as listed at booking (these may differ from charges later filed by the prosecutor), bail or bond amount set at initial appearance, and a booking photo. The booking record reflects the arrest — not the outcome. A person booked on a charge that was later dismissed will still have a booking record unless the arrest has been expunged.
Court docket (Clerk-side). The Union County Clerk of Courts maintains the case file once charges are formally filed. The docket shows: case number, charges as filed by the prosecutor (which may be different from booking charges), all hearing dates and outcomes, bond conditions, attorney of record, and final disposition — guilty plea, dismissal, acquittal, or conviction with sentence. The docket is the authoritative record of what happened legally after the arrest.
What the docket does not show. MyCase does not display raw booking entries, booking photos, or the arresting officer’s narrative. Those live in the Sheriff’s records. For a complete picture of a Union County arrest, you may need to pull both the booking record from the Sheriff and the case docket from the Clerk — they live in different systems and require separate requests.
Older records. Records predating the MyCase digitization window may exist only in paper form at the Union County Courthouse, 26 West Union Street, Liberty, IN 47353. The Clerk’s office can advise on how far back electronic records extend and what the process is for retrieving older files.
How to expunge an arrest record in Union County
Petitioning to seal an arrest record in Union County is a routine legal procedure — many people pursue it after a case is resolved, and the Indiana legislature designed the process to be accessible without an attorney for straightforward situations.
Eligibility depends on what happened with the case. Indiana handles all criminal-record relief through Ind. Code § 35-38-9 (Indiana “Second Chance Law”), a tiered statute that sets different waiting periods and requirements based on offense level.
Arrests with no conviction. If you were arrested in Union County but never convicted — the charge was dismissed, you were acquitted, or the case was never filed — you can petition to expunge the arrest record one year after the arrest date. Dismissals and acquittals are expunged automatically by court order, though the order takes effect no sooner than 60 days after it is entered. This is the most accessible path under the Second Chance Law.
Misdemeanor convictions. A misdemeanor conviction becomes eligible for expungement five years after the conviction date, provided you have no intervening convictions and meet the other statutory requirements. The court must grant the petition if eligibility criteria are satisfied.
Class D / Level 6 felony convictions. These become eligible eight years after the conviction date. As with misdemeanors, the court must grant the petition when the statutory criteria are met.
More serious felonies. A felony above Level 6 may be expunged after the later of eight years from conviction or three years from completing the sentence — and the court has discretion whether to grant it. The most serious felonies require the prosecutor’s written consent in addition to meeting the time thresholds, with a waiting period of the later of ten years from conviction or five years from completing the sentence. Sex offenses, violent offenses, and official-misconduct offenses are excluded from expungement entirely.
Where to file. File a verified petition in the Union County court where the conviction occurred. For non-conviction arrests, file in the county where the arrest took place — Union County Circuit Court or Superior Court, at the Union County Courthouse, 26 West Union Street, Liberty, IN 47353. Indiana law requires that all petitions in a given county be filed together in a single petition. You effectively get one lifetime petition per county, so timing matters.
Filing fees and waivers. The Clerk of Courts sets the filing fee for expungement petitions. Call (765) 458-6121 to confirm the current fee. An indigency waiver may be available if you cannot afford the fee — ask the Clerk about the waiver process when you call.
Self-petition vs. attorney-assisted. Indiana’s expungement forms are available through the Indiana courts system. For a straightforward non-conviction expungement, many people file without an attorney. For felony petitions — especially those requiring prosecutorial consent — attorney assistance is worth considering. The Indiana Roll of Attorneys search can help you find licensed counsel. If cost is a barrier, the Indiana Public Defender Commission locator at Indiana Public Defender Council lists public defender resources.
What remains visible after expungement. Law enforcement agencies retain access to expunged records. The public — including background-check databases that rely on court records — does not. Confirm the current statute text or ask the Union County Clerk before filing, as statutory details can change.
| Resource | What it confirms | What it cannot confirm | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| MyCase — Indiana Courts | Charges filed, case dispositions, hearing dates, attorney of record for Union County court cases | Raw booking entries, booking photos, Sheriff-side arrest data, expunged cases | Search by name or case number; no account required for public records |
| Union County Indiana Sheriff’s Office | Booking records, arrest dates, charges at time of booking, bond amounts | Court dispositions, post-transfer inmate location, expunged records | Contact the Sheriff’s Office or call the Courthouse at (765) 458-6121 for records requests |
| Union County Clerk of Courts | Certified copies of criminal case files, docket entries, final judgments | Booking photos, Sheriff-side arrest logs, IDOC custody status | Call (765) 458-6121 to confirm fees, hours, and mail-request options before visiting |
| Indiana DOC Offender / Incarcerated Locator | Current facility, sentence length, projected release date for people in IDOC custody | County jail bookings, court dockets, pre-conviction status | Search by name or IDOC number; use when someone has been transferred from county jail to a state prison |
| Union County Access to Public Records | Formal APRA request process for records not available online | Does not itself provide records — routes you to the correct custodian | Use when an online search returns nothing and you need to submit a formal written request |
| Nationwide database search | May surface records from other states or records that pre-date the MyCase online window | Cannot guarantee completeness; does not replace official county or state records | Use as a supplemental check when the person has lived in multiple states; preliminary scan is free |
Sources verified 2026-07-21:
- Union County Sheriff — official Sheriff’s department page, records and contacts
- Union County Indiana Sheriff’s Office — Sheriff’s Office main site, booking and public safety information
- Union County: Access to Public Records — county APRA request process and framework
- Clerk — Union County — Clerk of Courts contact and records information
- Union County — Indiana Judicial Branch — local court directory and judicial contacts
- MyCase — Indiana Courts — statewide public case search portal
- Indiana Department of Correction Offender Search — post-conviction inmate lookup
- Indiana Public Access Counselor — APRA interpretation and denied-request assistance
- Title 5, Article 14 of the Indiana Statutes — Access to Public Records Act (APRA) statutory text
- Indiana Judicial Branch: Public Records — statewide court public-records guidance
Errors or outdated information? Submit a correction — we review and update within 48 hours.
Frequently asked questions about Union County arrest records
How do I find out what bond was set on a Union County arrest, and how is it paid?
Bond amounts set at initial appearance appear in the Union County case docket on MyCase — search by the person’s name and look for the bond entry in the case events. The Union County Indiana Sheriff’s Office can also confirm bond status for someone currently held at the county jail. For general information on bond types in Indiana, the Marion County bond-types reference at Bond Types And Payments explains the common structures — cash bond, surety bond, and personal recognizance — that apply statewide. To pay bond or add funds to a jail account, the Sheriff’s Office uses the JailATM platform at Webdeposits. Confirm current payment options directly with the Sheriff’s Office, as procedures can change.
How do I get a Union County arrest record expunged under Indiana’s Second Chance Law?
File a verified petition at the Union County Courthouse, 26 West Union Street, Liberty, IN 47353, in the court where the case was heard. Under Ind. Code § 35-38-9 (Indiana “Second Chance Law”), the waiting period depends on the outcome: one year after arrest for cases with no conviction, five years after conviction for misdemeanors, and eight years for Class D or Level 6 felonies. More serious felonies have longer waits and may require the prosecutor’s written consent. Indiana requires all petitions in a given county to be filed together — you effectively have one lifetime petition per county, so confirm your eligibility and timing with the Clerk at (765) 458-6121 before filing. Self-represented petitions are possible for straightforward non-conviction cases; attorney assistance is worth considering for felony matters.
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