Rule 77.Court records
Current through July 1, 2026 · Last verified July 13, 2026
Full Text of Rule 77
Amendment History
This rule’s current text took effect January 1, 2018. For the full history of earlier amendments and adoption orders, see the Indiana Office of Court Services.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 77 is the backbone of Indiana’s court recordkeeping. It tells the clerk of the circuit court, who maintains records for every circuit, superior, and probate court in the county, exactly what to keep and how to organize it. Section (A) lists records required by statute or state agency rule — the lis pendens record, the judgment docket (which must state the judgment amount and use the word “judgment” in the title of any qualifying order), the execution docket, probate records, and fiscal records — alongside the four records this rule itself requires: the Chronological Case Summary, the case file, the record of judgments and orders, and indexes. Any of these can be kept on paper, on approved microfilm, or electronically.
The Chronological Case Summary, often called the CCS, works like the case’s running log. Section (B) requires it to list the case title and number, every attorney’s and every self-represented party’s contact information, the fees assessed, and a dated, promptly made entry for every judicial event, including notes of when an order lands in the record of judgments and orders or the judgment docket. The case file, described in section (C), holds the actual documents — pleadings, motions, proof of service, verdicts, execution returns, transcripts, and a copy of anything entered into the record of judgments and orders — while the record of judgments and orders, or order book, described in section (D), holds the daily, verbatim original of judgments, designated orders, appellate rulings on the case, local rules under Rule 81, and judicial oaths and appointments. A court with an approved scanning system that saves a digital image of each filing as part of the electronic case file does not need to keep a separate order book. Section (E) adds an alphabetical index of parties, though a clerk with a searchable case management system does not need to keep one separately.
The remaining sections cover practical mechanics. Section (F) ties filing location to Rule 5 and describes what happens when a pleading lands with the wrong court — the clerk can transfer it before service or an appearance, or a party can move under Rule 12(B) or Rule 75. Section (G) sorts case files into pending and decided status, with a disposition date assigned once a case is decided and removed if the case is reopened. Section (H) requires the clerk to track statistics for the Indiana Office of Judicial Administration, and section (I) lets a court authorize a copy to stand in for an original document that cannot be located. Section (J) allows any recordkeeping medium the Office of Judicial Administration approves, provided electronic records can still produce a hard copy on demand, and section (K) allows the clerk to post approved records online for public access, subject to the judges’ consent, Office of Judicial Administration approval, and the confidentiality rules that already apply to those records.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Chronological Case Summary, and how is it different from the case file?
The Chronological Case Summary, or CCS, is the running, dated log of every judicial event in a case — a short entry for each order, ruling, or filing. The case file is the collection of the actual documents themselves: pleadings, motions, proof of service, verdicts, and similar records. Rule 77(B) and (C) describe them as separate, complementary records the clerk must keep for every case.
Can Indiana court records be kept electronically instead of on paper?
Yes. Rule 77(A)(3) and (J) allow records to be kept on paper, on approved microfilm, or electronically, as long as any electronic record can still produce a hard copy when needed and the recordkeeping system is approved by the Office of Judicial Administration.
What happens if I file something with the wrong court?
What if the original of a document I filed gets lost?
Rule 77(I) lets the court authorize a copy of the missing pleading or paper to be filed and treated as the original if it cannot be located within the clerk’s recordkeeping system.
Can I look up Indiana court records online?
Sometimes. Rule 77(K) allows the clerk of the circuit court, with the consent of a majority of the county’s judges of record, or the clerk of a city, town, or Marion County small claims court, with that court’s judge’s consent, to post approved records online. The specific records, format, and any pricing must be approved by the Office of Judicial Administration, and posting still has to respect confidentiality rules.
What is the record of judgments and orders, and does every court keep one?
It is the daily, verbatim compilation of judgments, designated orders, appellate rulings, local rules, and judicial oaths and appointments — also called the order book. Rule 77(D) excuses a court from keeping a separate order book if it has an approved scanning system that saves a digital image of each filing as part of the electronic case file.
How does the clerk decide whether a case is “pending” or “decided”?
Rule 77(G) treats a case as pending until a final judgment or other order concludes it, at which point the clerk assigns it a disposition date and moves it out of the pending files. If a decided case is later reopened, the clerk removes the disposition date and returns it to pending status until it is decided again.