The Indiana State Police describe the Limited Criminal History as a report containing only felony and misdemeanor arrests within Indiana, searched on a subject's name, date of birth, race and gender, with Social Security number and place of birth added if needed. It holds nothing from other states, its completeness depends on county participation, and the police steer anyone who needs more to the fingerprint based national check. A recent rebuild of the system added data fields, and a search now returns one of three answers: On File, meaning a criminal record was found; Inconclusive Results, where the police recommend a fingerprint based check; or No Records Found. The search application adds that every online search is a completed request billed whether or not a record turns up, that No Records Found is an official result, that the record displays as a PDF which expires 14 days after the search, and that nothing is mailed, so the user must print or save it at the time.
The questions page explains what a found record contains and how far back it reaches. The search returns misdemeanor and felony arrests less than one year old, and arrests over a year old that have a disposition from the courts; the result identifies the person and summarizes names, aliases, arrest dates, charges and dispositions. Records have been kept since the mid 1930s, and a person's history stays in the database until they die or reach age 99 having had no new criminal act for the previous 15 years. The state treats the printout as an official document, which is why the system refuses to save or send it anywhere else. The county sheriffs whose participation decides how complete the file is are listed on the Indiana county pages.
- $15.70, $15, $7: the online fee by credit card, for IN.gov subscribers, and for government agencies; the mailed request is $7 by money order.
- Paid either way: No Records Found is an official search result and is billed like any other.
- 14 days: the life of the PDF after a search; the report is never mailed or faxed, so it must be printed or saved on the spot.
- Age 99: a record is kept until the person dies or turns 99 with 15 crime free years, crime free since 84.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Indiana's own systems: the Indiana State Police page on getting a Limited Criminal History, the Indiana State Police Limited Criminal History search, the Limited Criminal History search frequently asked questions, the Limited Criminal History request and fee exemption form, the Indiana State Police page on challenging your record, the Indiana State Police page on getting a national criminal history, the Indiana State Police page on expunging criminal history, the Indiana Courts case search, MyCase, the Indiana Department of Correction incarcerated database search, each read on October 15, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
Fees online and by mail
Online, a non subscriber pays $15.70 per search by credit card, an IN.gov subscriber $15, and a government agency $7; schools and other qualifying not for profit entities with an ISP waiver from fee exemption pay nothing when they use their ISP customer number, and the questions page notes that a not for profit whose federal employer number does not validate is sent to the Department of Revenue, since that is where the state checks it.
The credit card name, address and ZIP code must match the card issuer's records exactly, with a hyphen in a ZIP plus four. By mail the request form states the cost as $7, payable by certified check or money order when mailed, money order or certified check in person, to the Indiana State Police, Criminal History Limited Check, PO Box 6188, Indianapolis, IN 46206-6188; the main page says money orders are the only acceptable payment by mail.
In person requests go to the Central Records Division at the Indiana Government Center, 100 North Senate Avenue, Room N302, Indianapolis.
Seventeen reasons and a penalty for using the report for an eighteenth
The mailed form requires the requester to mark one of 17 statutory reasons before a search runs: an application for employment with a non criminal justice organization, a license application or renewal, employment with a state or local government, candidacy for public office, apprehension or arrest, a claim of repeated abuse of rights by criminal justice agencies, a judicial determination on bond, plea, sentence or probation, volunteer service involving children placed by a social services agency, contractors and volunteers with ongoing contact with school children, welfare fraud and child support investigations, sex and violent offender registration, conviction of listed sex offenses against children, identification as a possible perpetrator of child abuse, and a role in a child services reunification plan.
Fee exemptions are listed separately for mentoring organizations ten years old, home health agencies, group homes, area agencies on aging, community action agencies, hospices, community mental health centers, the Department of Child Services, schools and churches screening volunteers.
The penalty for an eighteenth purpose
The warning on the form carries the statute. A non criminal justice organization or individual receiving a limited criminal history may not use it for purposes other than those stated in the request or to deny the subject any civil right, and under IC 10-13-3-27 anyone who uses it for an unstated purpose commits a Class C infraction, which becomes a Class A misdemeanor for someone with a prior adjudication or conviction under the section within five years.
The requester affirms under penalty of perjury that the report will be used as specified. Employers reading the categories will find the Indiana background check guide useful for the fee exemption and subscriber steps.
Challenging a record by fingerprint
A person who disagrees with an entry does not argue with the limited report. The challenge page explains that a fingerprint based Indiana Full Criminal History, containing all reported arrests, charges and dispositions within the state but no federal or out of state arrests, exists principally for a Criminal Record Review Challenge. The state police have contracted with IDEMIA to take the prints electronically at service centers around Indiana, with all processing done by state police staff; the person schedules online at IdentoGO, chooses Criminal Record Review Challenge from the menu, picks a site by ZIP code, and pays by card at scheduling or by cashier's check or money order at the center, or books by phone at 1-877-472-6917.
The result is a transcript or a no record letter, and challenges go to the Criminal Justice Information Services Section at CriminalHistory at isp.IN.gov or 317-232-8262, ideally with court documents from the county where the case was tried. The same network, which the state calls INkless, produces the national full criminal history, the most complete report available, with results in hours rather than days or weeks.
Expungement: the court orders, the State Police comply
The expungement page describes the division of labor. Records in a person's criminal history file may be expunged or sealed under Indiana law, and the petition is filed with the local court of jurisdiction, by the person or through private counsel; the state police, which cannot give legal advice on the filing, is the central repository that carries out the order. Once a court grants an expungement or seal, the verified petition and the order are forwarded by the court to the State Police Expungement Section, which processes, reviews and complies with it, and processing is delayed if any required paperwork is missing.
The section answers questions at Expungement at isp.IN.gov and 317-234-4427. Because the limited report shows an arrest over a year old only with its disposition, a dismissed case stays on the public search with the dismissal noted once the court reports it, and only the expungement order removes it from the limited and full records.
MyCase and the county jails
The Indiana courts' MyCase search is the statewide index of cases filed in courts on the Odyssey system, including the criminal charge that follows an arrest and its disposition, and the Indiana court records guide explains which counties are on it and what the clerk holds beyond the docket. The Department of Correction database finds people in state custody by last name, both names or DOC number, prints its last update date on the search page, and states that anyone who republishes its data is solely liable for a claim of improper or inaccurate disclosure; complaints about accuracy go in writing to the department at 302 West Washington Street, Room E334, Indianapolis.
Pretrial custody is in the county jail, which the Indiana inmate search guide covers sheriff by sheriff.
What the sheriff keeps, and the offender directory
The state police file is a summary whose completeness, the agency says twice, depends on county participation. The arrest report, booking photograph and jail record stay with the arresting agency and are requested under the Access to Public Records Act described in the Indiana public records law guide. A requester who finds an Inconclusive result on the limited search and needs certainty is sent to the fingerprint based check, not to the sheriff.
Registered sex and violent offenders, who appear among the statutory reasons on the request form, are listed publicly through the directory covered in the Indiana sex offender registry guide.
Questions about Indiana arrest records
Related Indiana records
Indiana readers can move on to the Indiana court records guide for MyCase and the clerks, the Indiana background check guide for employers and fee exemptions, the Indiana inmate search guide for state and county custody, the Indiana sex offender registry guide, the Indiana public records law guide for police reports, and the Indiana county pages.