Martin County Circuit Court
The official Martin County judicial office page lists one local trial court: Martin County Circuit Court. The court phone is (812) 247-3652, fax is (812) 247-3901, and posted hours are Monday through Friday from 8am to 4pm. The court is tied to the courthouse area at 129 Main Street, Shoals, Indiana 47581.
Judge Isha Wright-Ryan is listed as Judge. Tony Dant is listed as Bailiff. Beth Bruner, Nikki Carrico, and Jennifer Phillips are listed as Court Reporters. The Clerk, Prosecutor, Probation, and Community Corrections offices support different parts of the local justice system, but the Circuit Court is the trial court named in the county's official structure.
Martin County Circuit Court
129 Main Street
Shoals, IN 47581
(812) 247-3652
Fax: (812) 247-3901
Monday-Friday 8am-4pm
Indiana Court Structure
Indiana's court hierarchy places the Indiana Supreme Court at the top, followed by the Court of Appeals of Indiana as the intermediate appellate court. The Indiana Tax Court handles specialized tax matters. Trial courts operate at the county level, including Circuit Courts and Superior Courts. City or town courts may exist where a municipality creates them.
Martin County's official map does not list a separate Superior Court, county court, justice court, or dedicated probate courthouse. Probate filings are handled through the Clerk and heard in the Circuit Court. Appeals from local trial-court judgments go through Indiana appellate courts. Federal cases are separate and do not become Martin County Circuit Court records.
| Court or Office | Role | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Martin County Circuit Court | County trial court for local civil, criminal, family, probate, small claims, traffic, and other filings. | (812) 247-3652 |
| Martin County Clerk | Official court-record custodian, filing office, and copy/certification office. | (812) 247-3651 |
| Martin County Prosecutor | State criminal charging office for the 90th Judicial Circuit and child-support enforcement office. | (812) 247-3500 |
| Martin County Probation | Adult and juvenile probation supervision and court-ordered services. | (812) 247-8657 |
| Community Corrections | Alternative sentencing, home detention, pretrial release, day reporting, and community service materials. | 812-295-4911 |
Cases Heard Locally
Martin County Circuit Court can produce records for civil disputes, small claims, evictions, proceedings supplemental, name changes, hardship-license matters, criminal cases, traffic and infraction cases where filed, divorce and family cases, paternity, protection orders, estates, guardianships, and other probate matters. The Clerk fee list confirms many of these categories through local filing fees and form names.
Criminal charges are brought by the Martin County Prosecutor. The Prosecutor's page identifies the office as the Office of Prosecuting Attorney, 90th Judicial Circuit Martin County, Indiana. The Clerk keeps the official case file once the matter is filed, and MyCase may show public entries such as charges, hearings, pleas, judgments, dispositions, and sentencing events.
Typical local flow: Filing or charge › Clerk case creation › Circuit Court hearing › order, judgment, plea, or disposition › Clerk record and copy request › appeal if filed.
Search Circuit Court Cases
Use Indiana Courts Case Search to look for public Martin County Circuit Court case information. Search by case number when known, or by party name, attorney, citation, and filters if the portal exposes them. For certified records, call the Clerk because MyCase is not the official record.
The Clerk's Office is the copy and certification office for Martin County Circuit Court records. Copies are $1 per page and certification is $3 each. Requests may be made in person or by mail. The Clerk mailing address is PO Box 120, Shoals, IN 47581.
When a case cannot be found online, the next step is not to assume that the record is unavailable. The case may be confidential, sealed, too new to display, indexed under a different name, or outside the local court system. The Clerk can confirm local copy procedures, while federal, jail, driver-record, and state-prison searches use separate systems.
| Need | Best Local Channel | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Public case lookup | MyCase | Use Martin County or Circuit Court filters where available. |
| Certified case copy | Martin County Clerk | Call for page count and fee total. |
| Hearing question | Circuit Court or Clerk | Use case number and party name. |
| Ticket deferral | Martin County Prosecutor | The Clerk page directs pre-trial deferral questions to the Prosecutor. |
| Jail or custody status | Sheriff / INjail | Separate from the Circuit Court case file. |
Lower Courts and Limits
The state court structure map notes city courts or town courts where created by municipality. No official Martin County city or town court page was located in the sources reviewed. If a citation or notice lists a municipal court, follow the court name printed on that document rather than assuming every local matter is in the Circuit Court.
Federal records are also outside the Martin County Circuit Court system. Federal civil, criminal, bankruptcy, and appellate records are searched through federal court systems such as PACER, CM/ECF, the Southern District of Indiana, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana, and the Seventh Circuit.
Federal district court records for Martin County residents are not local Circuit Court files.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana is the federal trial court source for federal cases in this region.
Use the federal district court for federal matters and the Martin County Clerk for local Circuit Court records.
Federal Access Is Separate
Federal cases are not searched in Martin County MyCase or requested from the Martin County Clerk. PACER is the federal registration and records access portal. CM/ECF is the federal electronic filing and docket system for federal courts. Federal access may require an account and may involve fees under federal rules.
Bankruptcy cases are handled by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Federal appeals go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. These courts can involve Martin County people or events, but their records are not Martin County Circuit Court records.
Federal electronic docket access uses a different system from Indiana MyCase.
CM/ECF for the Southern District of Indiana is part of the federal court record workflow.
CM/ECF is useful only for federal court files, not local Martin County Circuit Court filings.
PACER is the federal registration and search portal for federal records.
PACER does not replace Indiana MyCase or Clerk copy requests for Martin County Circuit Court cases.
Court Visit Planning
The main courthouse address is 129 Main Street, Shoals, Indiana 47581. Official sources did not publish detailed parking rates, public transit directions, courthouse security screening rules, cell-phone rules, or ADA entrance specifics. Visitors should call the court or Clerk before a filing deadline or hearing if they need accommodation details, entry rules, or a current closure check.
Martin County posts a yearly courthouse holiday schedule. The 2026 list includes federal holidays as well as Primary Election Day and General Election Day. The Clerk also administers elections, so checking county closures before driving to Shoals is useful near election dates.