Welcome!

Clerk of the Circuit Court, Porter County Courthouse Valparaiso, Indiana

The Porter County Clerk’s Office is a local unit of Porter County government located in Valparaiso, Indiana at the county’s courthouse. The Clerk Archives department is under the authority of the Clerk of the Circuit Court and contains nearly 1 million historical records starting from the founding of the county since January 28, 1836.

The majority of the Clerk Archives record collections are located at the North County Government Annex building located in Portage, Indiana. The Clerk Archives Department is an integral part of the County Clerk’s office. The duty of preserving court decisions is one of the responsibilities of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, whose role began at the inception of the county. Although the records are not open for public access, the Clerk Archives team and a host of community volunteers are actively digitizing court records of historical significance to preserve the court decisions. Court records such as Estates and Wills can help trace family history and provide a bird’s eye view to many of the early homesteaders that settled in Porter County. Legacy namesakes on our roadways, subdivisions and buildings throughout the county are gentle reminders of those pioneers that planted their roots in our region. For example, in Porter County’s southern area, names such as Isaac Morgan, who was one of the first settlers, to which Morgan Prairie was named after, is highly recognized now that the name has been immortalized over time with the establishment of Morgan Township in August, 1843.

Thanks to the partnerships and cooperation of our volunteers, the archive collections will be available for the general public, courts, federal, state and local government agencies, students, scholars, professionals, independent researchers, including genealogists for years to come.

Court records in our archive collections include but are not limited to the following:

Marriage Records
Adoptions, & Guardianships
Estates & Wills
Dissolutions
Civil & Criminal Records
Early Elections (1836 and subsequent)
Early Homesteads & Property Developments
Early Railroad Transportation & Utility Disputes
And so much more!

Access and Location

Under Indiana’s Access to Public Records Law, I.C. 5-14-3, the public has the right to review and copy public records.

“A fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of representative government is that government is the servant of the people and not their master. Accordingly, it is the public policy of the state that all persons are entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and employees. Providing persons with the information is an essential function of a representative government and an integral part of the routine duties of public officials and employees, whose duty it is to provide the information…”As added by P.L.19-1983, SEC.6. Amended by P.L.77-1995, SEC.1. –

However, some court records may be confidential per state statute and not available to the public. Most public records may be accessible with a proper request. The Clerk is the “keeper” of court records overseeing hundreds of records a day for several courts within our court system. Due to our huge inventory, some records may be stored off-site in a controlled facility; therefore it may take time to locate the right document to produce it. Historical records may take longer to locate, if available, since many have been destroyed per state record retention schedules or lost over time due to fire and calamity.

Security

The Clerk Archives Department has taken measures to safeguard the integrity of its online presence, including but not limited to its telecommunications and computing infrastructure. Security of its design and management of its internet environment are taken into consideration for our commitment to the daily operations of risk management.

This information shall not be considered in any way as providing legal, business or other form of advice nor as warranting the guarantee of the security of information provided by the Clerk Archives Department through its online platforms.

Disclaimer

The Clerk Archives Department may on occasion have links to third-party websites, which may be operated by government agencies, nonprofit organizations or other types of businesses. By clicking on a link, you will no longer be on the Clerk Archives web site and its policies will not apply. Any online activity shall then be subject to the third-party’s privacy policies, rules and any other regulations of that site. Neither the Clerk Archives Department, its officials, employees, representatives, subsidiaries, partners, parent department or county agencies, shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of such information.

Although the Clerk Archives Department strives to provide the most reliable content possible, portions of information may not be current or may be outdated. Any person that relies on any information obtained from an online source does so at his or her own risk. The Clerk Archives Department, whose oversight is by the Clerk of the Circuit Court, reserves the right to make changes and improvements at any time and without notice and assumes no liability for damages incurred directly or indirectly as a result of errors, omissions, or discrepancies.

Copyright Notice