Reviewed and updated October 4, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. Every office link on this page was opened and checked against the office's own website at review time.
Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, with about 68,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). Its public records are split between the city and the county. The city keeps police reports, council records and its own licenses and permits; court cases, jail bookings, deeds and vital records are county or state records. This guide names the Gary offices SearchSystems verified, links to each one's own website and gives the phone number and address where the office publishes them. SearchSystems verified 2 city office pages for Gary, every one opened and checked.
In this guide: City or county, Police records, City Hall, Records requests, Other cities and Questions.
City or county record: where Gary records are kept
- Kept by the City of Gary: police reports, council and board meeting records, ordinances and the city's own licenses and permits.
- Kept by Lake County or the state: court cases, jail bookings, deeds and property values and birth and death certificates. These are not city records; they are in the Lake County public records guide under court records, jail lookups, property records and vital records.
Gary police reports and records
Incident reports, crash reports and the other records of the Gary police are requested from the department's records unit, usually in writing or through an online form. Reports on open investigations and the names of victims and juveniles are usually withheld or redacted, and some states limit crash reports to the people involved and their insurers. The page below is the one SearchSystems verified for Gary police records.
- Website: gary.gov/police (page title: Gary Police Department)
- Phone: (219) 881-7300
- Address: 555 Polk St. Gary, IN 46402
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Jail bookings and inmate lookups are usually handled by the county, not the city police. They are in the Lake County public records guide under jail and inmate lookups.
Gary City Hall: departments, licenses and permits
Business licenses, building permits, code enforcement cases and the city's other records are kept by the department that issued them. The city's own website below lists its departments and how to reach them.
- Website: gary.gov/directory (page title: City of Gary, Indiana | Directory)
- Checked: September 25, 2026, the page answered.
Public records requests to Gary
Indiana public records law applies to the city government of Gary. A record that is not posted online is requested from the office that holds it: the police records unit for police reports and the department that issued a permit or license for its records. A request that names a date, an address, or a report or case number is the easiest to answer.
Other cities and towns in Lake County
SearchSystems has a guide like this one for these other cities and towns in Lake County. The Lake County public records guide covers the records the county keeps for all of them.
Gary Arrest Records
The Gary arrest records guide covers the agency that reports Gary's arrests to the FBI and the 1,477 arrests it reported for 2025. It also says where a person arrested in Gary is held, how to find out about an arrest and how to get a copy of the report.
Gary Records Guides
SearchSystems has nine more guides to Gary, each written from the city's own offices and figures: Gary warrants (who issues and serves them, where a person arrested on one is held, how to check for one), Gary inmate search (the jail page of the Lake County Sheriff's Office, the jail numbers and who books people), Gary criminal records (the court file, the Indiana criminal history and the local arrest records), Gary court records (which court hears what, the case search and who keeps the files), Gary police reports (which agency holds a report and what the Indiana Access to Public Records Act requires), Gary traffic tickets (which court takes the ticket, who writes them and the driving record), Gary DUI (the OWI law, the arrest, the court case and the license case), Gary divorce records (which court holds the file and how a certified copy is had) and Gary property records (deeds, assessed values, permits and evictions).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the official Gary website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records directory, online since 1997. It links to the official Gary offices listed above, and the city's own website is gary.gov; SearchSystems does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.
How do I get a police report in Gary?
Request it from the Gary police records unit at gary.gov/police, phone (219) 881-7300. Reports on open investigations and the names of victims and juveniles are usually withheld or redacted.
Where do I find court records or jail bookings for Gary?
Gary cases are heard by the courts that serve Lake County, and people arrested in Gary are usually booked into the county jail. Both are covered in the Lake County public records guide on SearchSystems.
How do I request a public record from Gary?
From the office that holds it: the police records unit for police reports and the department that issued a permit or license for its records. Indiana public records law applies to city governments.