Indiana Free Public Records Directory

Located in the Great Lakes region of the U.S., is the state of Indiana. It is one of 8 states that make up the Great Lakes region. Indiana has a total area of 36,418 sq. miles and is ranked as the 38th largest state in size. It is bordered on the north by Michigan, on the east by Ohio, and on the west by Illinois. Indiana is bordered by Lake Michigan on the northwest and is separated from Kentucky on the south by the Ohio River.

Much of Indiana’s northern and central regions’ appearance is a result of elements left behind by glaciers. Central Indiana is mainly flat with exceptional farmland. Northern Indiana has similar terrain including hundreds of kettle lakes (lakes formed after partially-buried ice blocks melt). Contrasting from the rest of the state, southern Indiana has rugged hilly terrain.

There are 65 rivers, streams and creeks, and about 900 lakes in Indiana. The Wabash River is the official river of Indiana, and is the longest free-flowing river east of the Mississippi River. Indiana borders Lake Michigan, one of the five Great Lakes, the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world. Indiana experiences hot, wet summers and cold winters with some variation in the temperature ranges in the north and south sections of the state. Snowfall varies widely across the state ranging from 80 inches in the northwest along Lake Michigan to 14 inches in the far south.

On December 11, 1816, Indiana was admitted to the union as the 19th state. In the early 19th century, many European immigrants went west to settle in Indiana. Germans, as well as immigrants from Ireland and England, were the largest group to settle in Indiana. Following statehood, the new government worked to transform the frontier of Indiana into a developed, well populated thriving state. During the Civil War, Indiana became politically influential and played an important role in the affairs of the nation.

There are 13 states that observe more than 1 time zone, Indiana is one of them with 80 counties observing Eastern Time and 12 counties observing Central Time. Indiana has 117 cities and 450 towns ranking it 17th in the U.S. in population with an estimated 6,666,818. Indiana’s largest city and state capital is Indianapolis, with a population of 829,817. There are 3 other cities in Indiana with a population greater than 100,000.

Since 1975, northwest Indiana has been the largest steel producing center in the U.S. and nearly 17 percent of Indiana’s non-farm workforce is employed in manufacturing, the highest of any U.S. state. Seven Fortune 500 companies call Indiana home with the state’s largest corporation being the pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly. In 2011, Indiana was ranked first in the Midwest and sixth in the country for the best place to do business.^[1]

The Indiana pubic records listed below are sorted by category and record type. The over 25 types of records include historical records and present day records.

Abbreviation	IN
Capital	Indianapolis
Population	6,666,818 (2017 est.)
Area size	36,418 sq. mi.
Demonym	Hoosier
Primary languages spoken	English
Governor	Eric Holcomb
Lieutenant Governor	Suzanne Crouch
U.S. Senators	Joe Donnelly, Todd Young
U.S. House Delegation	7 Republicans, 2 Democrats
Time Zone - - - 80 Counties - 12 Counties	Eastern: UTC -5/-4 Central: UTC -6/-5

*The map and data in the table are from Wikipedia.

Browse by Public Record Category

There are two types of public records; 1) personal public records that document major life milestones such as birth certificates, death certificates, divorce records, and marriage records, etc.; and 2) government records that are made public such as property tax records, recorded land records, voter records, crime data, jail inmate records, and court records. The Freedom of Information Act is a national law that releases government agency public records and makes it possible to view most public records. ^[2] The Indiana Access to Public Records Act is a series of laws designed to guarantee that the public has access to public records of government bodies at all levels. Public records are defined as essentially any information created, maintained or filed by government agencies. ^[3]

Since there are a multitude of records available, it can be difficult to know how or where to access them. When you are ready to start your search, you’ll find our Public Records Directory website easy to use since all of the records can be searched by federal, state, county, city, town or type of record. The links provided will connect you to the best website for the record search, provide details about the record, or provide contact information for those records without search capabilities.