Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 4, 2026.
Winfield, Indiana, in Lake County, has about 8,600 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). In Indiana the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of the Circuit Court; the statewide criminal history kept by the Indiana State Police is open to anyone who asks. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Winfield is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests, directory links and common questions.
Related guides: Winfield public records, Lake County criminal records, Winfield arrest records, Winfield warrants, Winfield inmate search, Winfield court records, Indiana arrest records and Indiana inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Lake Circuit and Superior Courts
In Indiana the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Winfield are heard by the Lake Circuit and Superior Courts, which hear every civil, criminal, family, probate and juvenile case, and the file of each case is kept by the Clerk of the Circuit Court.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at in.gov/courts/help/mycase (page title: Indiana Judicial Branch: Searching MyCase), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 23, 2026.
Statewide, mycase.IN.gov is the Indiana courts' free statewide case search.
The Indiana Criminal History and Your Own Copy
Indiana is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Limited Criminal History search is open to anyone online, through the Indiana State Police. The result is the repository record, what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Winfield
The Lake County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Hammond, Gary, Merrillville, Crown Point, Schererville, Hobart and 11 more cities keep the arrest records in and around Winfield: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Lake County: Indiana University at Northwest (campus police); Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad (other agency); each keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the 17 agencies in Lake County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 12,363 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Winfield arrest records.
The Prosecuting Attorney for Lake County
Charges in Lake County are filed by the Prosecuting Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Lake Circuit and Superior Courts.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at lakecountyin.gov/departments/prosecutor (page title: Prosecutor), phone 219-755-3720, 2293 N. Main Street Crown Point, IN 46307, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Winfield
Registered sex offenders living in Winfield are listed on the Indiana Sex and Violent Offender Registry, run by the Indiana Department of Correction with the county sheriffs at in.gov. The registry is public and can be searched online; the county sheriff maintains the local entries.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Lake County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act a county office must answer a request within 24 hours for a request made in person and 7 days for one sent by mail or email, and it may charge a copy fee set by the agency, within statutory limits. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lakecountyin.gov/departments/lc911/public-records-request (page title: Public Records Request).
More Official Criminal Records Pages for Lake County
The SearchSystems directory, online since 1997, lists the official pages for Lake County and Indiana. These criminal records pages from its Lake County listing were opened again on October 2, 2026 and each one still answers:
- Get Limited Criminal History (in.gov)
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Winfield?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Indiana State Police: the Limited Criminal History search is open to anyone online. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act.
Can I search Winfield criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at in.gov/courts/help/mycase (page title: Indiana Judicial Branch: Searching MyCase). Statewide, mycase.IN.gov is the Indiana courts' free statewide case search.
How do I get my own Indiana criminal history?
Through the same limited criminal history search, run on yourself.
Who prosecutes crimes in Winfield?
The Prosecuting Attorney, reached at 219-755-3720, which files its cases in the Lake Circuit and Superior Courts.
Is this the official Winfield website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.