Though the Division of State Court Administration, the Indiana Judicial Center, and the Indiana Association of Circuit Court Clerks all provide resources, training, and guidance for newly elected judges and clerks, the sheer amount of information a new judge or clerk needs to do his or her job effectively is significant. There are countless rules, statutes, and standards that a judge or clerk must become familiar with and employ on a regular basis.
The Judicial Administration Manual outlines the information that judges and clerks use most often into 34 chapters of summary information on each topic. The manual includes chapters on initiating cases and assigning case numbers, handling protection orders, dealing with confidentiality issues, reporting on court statistics, special judges and judges pro tem, mandate of funds, and many other topics. Every chapter contains links to the full text of code and rule citations, to forms, and to other publications and resources.
In addition to the manual, the Division’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee staff has created an online searchable database of records retentions schedules as outlined in Administrative Rule 7. This online search makes it easier to find retention schedules for a particualr type of record with simple search and filter tools. You’ll definitely want to bookmark both of these web pages!
The Judicial Administration Manual can be found on the Division website at courts.IN.gov/admin/pubs.html and the Retention Schedules database can be found at mycourts.IN.gov/ar7.