DeKalb County Clerk Overview
The DeKalb County Clerk of Courts is the local office that keeps court information for the county trial courts and handles several public service divisions. The official county clerk page names Dana Hedrick as Clerk. It also states that the Office of Clerk of Circuit Court is created by the Indiana State Constitution to serve as record keeper for the constitutionally created Circuit Court. In DeKalb County practice, the clerk page describes three courts served by the office: Circuit Court, Superior I, and Superior II.
The clerk is more than a front counter. The office is an officer of the court, manager of court information, and chief financial officer for revenues collected on behalf of the court. It also serves as secretary to the County Election Board and administers federal, state, county, municipal, and special elections. For court-record users, that means the same elected office may have court-copy staff, traffic staff, small-claims staff, child-support staff, and voter-registration staff, but the court-copy request still has to be directed to the right clerk channel.
The county's clerk page is the source for the local office image used here: DeKalb County Clerk of Courts services and divisions.
The image reflects the county's own clerk office listing, which is the starting point for division phone numbers, copy services, and court-related forms.
DeKalb County Clerk of Courts
Clerk: Dana Hedrick
100 S Main Street
Auburn, IN 46706
Mail: P.O. Box 230, Auburn, IN 46706
260-925-0912
Fax: 260-925-5126
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
DeKalb County Clerk Duties
The Clerk of Courts is the practical access point when a public case search is not enough. Indiana MyCase can show public case information, but the Indiana judiciary warns that official records must come from the court that keeps the record. In DeKalb County, that usually means using the clerk copy process for court pleadings, orders, judgments, decrees, traffic files, small-claims papers, and certified copies. The clerk's office also collects court revenue, so payments and copy fees are part of its court-record function.
Division numbers matter because DeKalb County publishes separate clerk phone lines for different case groups. Main and civil matters use 260-925-0912. Criminal matters use 260-925-4575. Small claims use 260-925-1315. Traffic matters use 260-925-4576. Child support uses 260-925-6595, while voter registration uses 260-925-9787. Main civil fax is 260-925-5126, criminal fax is 260-927-4724, and small-claims fax is 260-927-1331.
- Maintains case records for the DeKalb Circuit and Superior Courts.
- Receives court copy requests by mail, fax, and in-person service channels.
- Collects court revenues, copy fees, certification fees, and related payments.
- Supports traffic, criminal, civil, small-claims, child-support, and election-related functions.
- Provides certified copies when a plain online record is not enough for legal use.
Note: Faxed copy requests are different from faxed court filings, which local rules say are not accepted as filings.
Certified DeKalb County Copies
A certified copy is a clerk-issued copy that carries the clerk's certification for official use. The DeKalb County request form says certified copies are recommended when the copy will be used for court proceedings, employment, Social Security, or other legal purposes. A MyCase printout may help identify the case number, party names, and filing date, but it is not the same as a certified copy from the Clerk of Courts.
The local request process is built around the official copy form. A requester can print and complete the form, then mail or fax it to the Clerk's Office. The form states that missing information may delay copies, so the best request gives the court case number, the party names, the exact document type, and the date of the filing, order, or decree when known. Confidential records have an added rule: the requester must satisfy Indiana Administrative Rule 9(B) and present photo identification when picking up documents.
- Search MyCase or existing papers for the DeKalb County case number, court, party names, and document date.
- Complete the Clerk's request for copies of court record form, marking whether each document should be certified.
- Send the form by mail to DeKalb County Clerk, P.O. Box 230, Auburn, IN 46706, or use the published clerk fax channel.
- Include payment as the form instructs. By mail, use a money order payable to DeKalb County Clerk and include a self-addressed stamped envelope.
- For confidential records, be ready to show Rule 9(B) eligibility and photo identification at pickup.
DeKalb County Request Form
The court-record copy form is specific enough to prevent many failed requests. It asks for contact details first, then asks for case and document details. The office uses those fields to match the request to the court file and to calculate copy charges. A person who only gives a name may still need to answer follow-up questions if more than one case matches, if the document date is unclear, or if the requested file is confidential.
| Field Label | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your Name / Person to Contact | Text | Implied | Identifies the requester or contact person. |
| Phone Number | Text | Implied | No format is stated on the form. |
| Mailing Address | Multiline text | Implied | Street or P.O. box, city, state, and ZIP. |
| E-mail Address | Text | Unspecified | Used as a contact option. |
| Court Case Number | Text | Useful | Missing case data may delay copies. |
| Names of Parties Involved | Text | Useful | The form supplies two party-name lines. |
| Type of Document | Text/table | Yes | Paired with date and number of copies. |
| Date of Filing/Order/Decree | Text/table | Unspecified | Helps locate a specific pleading or order. |
| Number of Copies | Number/text | Yes | Four request lines are provided. |
| Certified Copy | Choice | If needed | Mark YES or NO for certification. |
DeKalb County Clerk Fees
The DeKalb County Clerk copy form gives the local fee rules for court-record copies. It cites Indiana fee statutes on the form and separates plain copies from certification. The request should not assume that MyCase access removes copy fees. Public viewing and official copies are different tasks. If a document must be used in another court, for employment, for Social Security, or for another formal purpose, the certified-copy fee can matter as much as the per-page copy cost.
| Item | Fee or Rule |
|---|---|
| Plain copies of court records | $1.00 per page. |
| Certification | $3.00 per document. |
| Credit/debit card convenience fee | 3% or $1.50 minimum. |
| Payment by mail | Money order payable to DeKalb County Clerk plus self-addressed stamped envelope. |
| Confidential records | Rule 9(B) eligibility and photo ID are required for pickup. |
Note: The research did not locate a separate clerk search fee, so copy pricing is limited to the fees stated on the official form.
DeKalb Clerk Access Channels
DeKalb County Clerk access is split across online search, clerk copy requests, and division contact. Public case lookup starts with Indiana MyCase, where users can search by case, name, attorney, and citation fields. If a case document is not available online, the Indiana public-records help material directs users to the clerk in the county where the case is being heard. For DeKalb County, the copy form supplies the mail and fax path.
Online payments are linked from the clerk page, and the county also links state tools for marriage-license application and marriage-license lookup. Those services should not be confused with certified court copies. A marriage-license copy request, traffic payment, and criminal-case certified copy can all involve the same Clerk of Courts office, but each request uses the division and form that fits the record.
Certified copy rule: Use the Clerk of Courts for official DeKalb County court copies, even when MyCase shows public case details.
Restricted DeKalb County Records
Not every clerk-held record is open in the same way. Indiana Administrative Rule 9 and Access to Court Records Rule 5 limit public access to specific records and data. DeKalb local rules place juvenile categories in Circuit Court, but juvenile files are not searched like ordinary adult records. Adoption, mental-health, sealed, expunged, financial-account, Social Security, and minor-identifying data may be withheld or redacted. If a request is for a confidential record, the clerk form warns that Rule 9(B) eligibility and photo identification are part of the process.
For criminal expungements, DeKalb local rules add a local filing detail. XP expungement cases are filed in the court with the underlying criminal case. If more than one case is involved, the highest offense level controls, and if more than one case shares that level, the most recent highest-level case controls. That rule affects where the petition is filed, but it does not mean the Clerk of Courts can promise eligibility or outcome. Eligibility depends on Indiana law and the court order entered in the case.