Marion County Circuit and Superior Courts

Marion County Trial Courts Overview

Indiana vests judicial power in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Tax Court, and the trial courts. The trial courts are circuit courts, superior courts, and local city or town courts. The names often reflect local history more than a clean split in power. In Marion County, the trial system is the Marion Circuit Court plus Marion Superior Courts numbered 1 through 36.

The Indiana Judicial Branch walks through this structure for the public. A view of the Indiana Judicial Branch court-structure page sets out the appellate and trial layers that any Marion County case can pass through.

Most Marion appeals then move to the Court of Appeals of Indiana before any Supreme Court review.

Marion County sits in Judicial District 13. Its courts run on the statewide Odyssey case system, so case events post to the public portal. Court operations are concentrated at the Community Justice Campus at 675 Justice Way, which opened for these courts in April 2022. The large number of Superior Court rooms reflects the county's population and caseload, since Marion County is the most populous county in Indiana.

Directory of Marion County Circuit and Superior Courts

The 2026 court slate lists each courtroom, its judge, and a phone line. All listed courts sit at the Community Justice Campus, 675 Justice Way, Indianapolis, IN 46203, unless a party gets a different notice. The directory below comes from that official slate.

The full slate, with judge emails and daily dockets, is published in the official 2026 Marion court slate and contact list.

Circuit and Superior Court vs. Small Claims and City Courts

Marion County's main trial courts handle the broad caseload, while lower courts handle limited matters. Small claims courts take limited civil money claims, and any city or town courts handle local matters where established. The comparison below shows the scope of each.

A small-claims finder is among the tools on the county GIS hub, which helps locate the right small-claims court.

How a Case Moves Through the Marion County System

A case follows a fairly set path from filing to any appeal. Criminal and civil cases differ in their early steps but both can end at the appellate level.

Criminal flow: Arrest › Initial Hearing › Charging by Information or Indictment › Pretrial › Trial › Sentencing › Court of Appeals of Indiana

Civil flow: Petition Filed › Answer › Discovery › Hearings › Trial › Judgment › Court of Appeals of Indiana

Civil, Family, and Criminal Divisions

The Superior Court rooms split work by subject. The local rules even divide criminal cases by level. Major felony filings are distributed to courts D07, D20, D21, D27, D28, D29, D30, D31, and D32. Misdemeanor and Level 6 felony filings go to courts D17, D18, D19, D23, D25, D26, D34, D35, and D36.

Other rooms handle civil, family, juvenile, and child-support work. Supervising dockets cover criminal, juvenile, and IV-D child support, and magistrate dockets handle ordinance-violation and traffic matters. A read of the Marion County local court rules sets out how cases are assigned across these divisions.

Specialty Dockets in Marion County

The local rules also run problem-solving dockets for eligible defendants. They name a major felony drug court and a Level 6 felony drug court, where treatment and review hearings can replace the usual path. The Mental Health Alternative Court can take a misdemeanor or felony case involving a defendant who may have mental illness, and a linked PAIR program can move a co-defendant to that court. Accepted cases transfer to the court overseeing the docket.

Judicial District and Court Campus

Marion County is in Judicial District 13. The Indiana Judicial Branch Marion County page links the local rules, MyCase, e-filing, and trial-court statistics. Court operations are centered at the Community Justice Campus, which grouped court, detention, and justice services into one site when the courts moved there in April 2022. A visit to the Marion County courts page gathers these local links in one place.

Magistrate and Lower Courts

Magistrates assist the Superior Court judges and run several dockets, including ordinance-violation and traffic-violation calendars. Marion County also has small claims courts under Superior Court small-claims rules, and city or town courts handle local matters where established. These lower courts take narrower cases than the Circuit and Superior Courts, but their records still flow into the public case system when applicable. Knowing which level holds a case helps you pick the right court when you start a search.

Marion County Court Questions

A few questions come up often about the Marion County trial courts. Short answers help set expectations before you search.

Does Marion County have a district court? No. Indiana's trial courts are circuit and superior courts, not district courts. In Marion County, that means the Marion Circuit Court and Superior Courts 1 through 36. Federal district court is a separate system that does not appear in the state case portal.

Which court will hear my case? It depends on the case type and the local assignment rules. Criminal cases route by level, with major felonies and lesser felonies or misdemeanors going to different rooms. Civil, family, probate, and juvenile work is spread across the other rooms. The case record will name the court room once a case opens.

Where are the courts located? Almost all proceedings sit at the Community Justice Campus at 675 Justice Way in Indianapolis, unless the court gives a different notice. The campus opened for these courts in April 2022.

Related Marion County Resources

For dockets and case lookup, see court records and court dockets. For Clerk contact info, see Clerk of Court. For traffic matters, see traffic court records.