Indiana Public Records

How the Indiana Access to Public Records Act works

Indiana's Access to Public Records Act (APRA) is IC 5-14-3 (Indiana Code Title 5 on the General Assembly site). The Public Access Counselor publishes the text with notes in its handbook.

Who may ask: any person may inspect and copy public records during business hours. The request must identify the record with reasonable particularity, and an agency may require it in writing or on its form, but it cannot refuse because you will not say why you want it (IC 5-14-3-3). Since July 1, 2026, agencies may put Indiana residents and civic, journalistic, academic or personal requests first, and may delay out of state and automated requests (IC 5-14-3-8.1; HEA 1360 overview).

Deadlines: records are due within a reasonable time (IC 5-14-3-3(b)). A request in person or by phone counts as denied if there is no answer within 24 hours, and a request by mail or fax if there is no answer within 7 days (IC 5-14-3-9).

Fees: no fee to inspect or to search. Local agencies may charge up to the greater of 10 cents a page (25 cents for color) or actual cost, and up to $5 to certify a document (IC 5-14-3-8). Out of state and automated requests may carry a supplemental fee of up to $0.25 a page or $25 an hour (IC 5-14-3-8(n)).

Appeals: file a formal complaint with the Public Access Counselor within 30 days of the denial (IC 5-14-5-7), or sue in court to compel disclosure, where the agency must prove its denial (IC 5-14-3-9).

What you cannot get in Indiana

• Investigatory records of law enforcement may be withheld at the agency's discretion (IC 5-14-3-4(b)(1)). The name, age and address of a person arrested, the charges, and the time and place of the arrest must still be released, along with jail intake details and the agency's daily log (IC 5-14-3-5).
• Confidential records: records declared confidential by state statute cannot be disclosed (IC 5-14-3-4(a)).
• Sealed records: arrests without conviction, misdemeanors and Level 6 or Class D felonies expunged under IC 35-38-9-1 to 35-38-9-3 are sealed, and only a limited group of people can see them (Indiana Office of Court Services).
• Other states: the State Police Limited Criminal History covers Indiana records only and does not include other states.

Expungement in Indiana

Indiana clears records by expungement under IC 35-38-9 (Indiana Code Title 35; explained in the Office of Court Services guide, updated July 1, 2026). Waiting periods can be shortened if the prosecutor agrees in writing.

• Arrests without conviction: one year after the arrest or charge. When all charges are dismissed or the person is acquitted, the court orders the records expunged automatically. No filing fee.
• Misdemeanors: five years after the date of conviction (IC 35-38-9-2).
• Class D or Level 6 felonies without bodily injury: eight years after conviction (IC 35-38-9-3).
• Other felonies without serious bodily injury: the later of eight years after conviction or three years after the sentence ends (IC 35-38-9-4).
• Remaining eligible felonies: the later of ten years after conviction or five years after the sentence ends (IC 35-38-9-5).

Felonies expunged under IC 35-38-9-4 and 35-38-9-5 stay public but are marked expunged (IC 35-38-9-7(b)).

Where to file: a circuit or superior court in the county of conviction. Conviction petitions pay the civil filing fee, which the court may reduce or waive for an indigent person. A person may file one expungement petition in a lifetime, with petitions filed within one 365 day period counted together. Sex or violent offenders and people convicted of a felony that caused a death cannot expunge felonies.

How to get your own Indiana criminal record

The Indiana State Police (ISP) is the central repository for criminal history in Indiana.

1. For a name based Indiana check, use the Limited Criminal History online, or mail the request form with a money order made out to the State of Indiana to Indiana State Police, Criminal History Limited Check, P.O. Box 6188, Indianapolis, IN 46206-6188.
2. Fees from the ISP fee schedule: $7.00 by mail, or $16.32 online including the $9.32 processing fee.
3. For your full Indiana record, schedule fingerprinting with IdentoGO and choose "Criminal Record Review Challenge" (ISP challenge page), or call 1-877-472-6917. The total is $22.95. Bring a valid government photo ID.
4. ISP mails a copy of your transcript, or a No Record Letter, to your home address.
5. To challenge an entry, email the ISP Criminal Justice Information Services Section as the challenge page directs, with court documents from the court that heard the case.

Indiana record laws to know

• IC 5-14-3, the Access to Public Records Act: who may ask, fees, exemptions and denials (Title 5).
• IC 5-14-5: formal complaints to the Public Access Counselor, filed within 30 days of a denial.
• IC 35-38-9: sealing and expunging arrest and conviction records (Title 35).
• IC 16-37-1-11: the fee for a birth or death certificate pays for the records search, with one certified copy if the record is found.