--- name: in-marion description: > Use for Marion Superior Court (Indianapolis) — Indiana's largest civil court. Covers the **36-courtroom configuration** (Civil, Criminal, Probate, Juvenile, Domestic Relations divisions), **random case assignment** to Civil courtrooms, **Marion County Local Rules (LR49)**, **Civil Pretrial Practice & Procedure (CPC)** case management, **township small-claims courts (IC 33-34)**, and **Odyssey e-filing** at the City-County Building. Triggers: "Marion Superior", "Marion Civil Division", "LR49-TR", "Civil Pretrial Practice", "Marion small claims". version: 0.1.1 --- # Marion Superior Court — Indianapolis (Indiana's Highest-Volume Civil Trial Court) Marion Superior Court is Indiana's busiest trial court — the combined Marion Superior Court (a court of general and unified jurisdiction under IC 33-33-49) sits in Indianapolis and handles the largest civil docket in the state. The court's 36 numbered courtrooms are divided across five divisions: - **Civil Division** (Courtrooms 1-14): general civil, contract, tort, replevin, declaratory, debt-collection actions - **Criminal Division** (Courtrooms 15-23): felony and high-level misdemeanor cases - **Probate Division** (Courtrooms 24-29): estates, trusts, guardianships, adoptions - **Juvenile Division** (Courtrooms 30-33): delinquency and CHINS cases - **Domestic Relations Division** (Courtrooms D01-D08): divorce, custody, paternity, support (separate sub-numbering) The Civil Division operates from the **City-County Building** at 200 East Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204. The Marion Circuit Court (separately constituted under IC 33-33-49-9) also sits in the City-County Building. > **NOT LEGAL ADVICE.** Generated content is a drafting aid; > verify against current Marion County Local Rules and the > assigned courtroom's chambers practice before filing. ## Case assignment — random rotation When a civil complaint is filed through Odyssey, the system randomly assigns the case to one of the 14 Civil Division courtrooms by the next available rotation slot. The cause number encodes the assigned courtroom: `49D01-2503-PL-001234` Parsing: - `49` — Marion County - `D01` — Superior Court, Division 1 (Civil Courtroom 1) - `2503` — March 2025 filing - `PL` — Plaintiff (case type: civil plenary) - `001234` — sequence number Common Marion case-type codes: | Code | Case type | Use | |------|-----------|-----| | `PL` | Plenary (civil) | General civil action over $10,000 | | `CC` | Civil Collection | Debt-collection action | | `CT` | Civil Tort | Personal injury, property damage | | `MF` | Mortgage Foreclosure | Real-estate foreclosure | | `DN` | Domestic Without Children | Dissolution without minor children | | `DR` | Domestic Relations | Dissolution with children, custody | | `MI` | Miscellaneous | Special-statute proceedings (e.g., name change) | | `SC` | Small Claims | Filed in a township small-claims court | | `EU` | Estate Unsupervised | Unsupervised probate estate | The case-type code drives the Odyssey filing form, the document codes available, and the assigned division. ## Marion County Local Rules (LR49) Marion adopts local rules with the prefix `LR49` (49 is the Marion County code in the Indiana judicial numbering scheme). The local rules supplement, but do not supplant, the Indiana Trial Rules. | Rule | Subject | |------|---------| | LR49-TR3.1 | Appearance form (Indiana Trial Rule 3.1 appearance) | | LR49-TR5-203 | Format of documents — paper copy / chambers copy | | LR49-TR5(F) | Confidentiality designations under Indiana Administrative Rule 9 | | LR49-TR16 | Pretrial conferences (Civil Division case management) | | LR49-TR45 | Subpoenas — chambers copy requirements | | LR49-TR53.5 | Continuances | | LR49-TR79 | Special judges | | LR49-AR15 | Drug Court (criminal only) | | LR49-FL00 | Domestic Relations Division standing orders | The full LR49 set is available at the Marion Superior Court website (`indy.gov/agency/marion-superior-court`) and via the Indiana Supreme Court's local-rules portal. ## Civil Pretrial Practice and Procedure (CPC) Marion Superior Civil Division publishes a court-wide **Civil Pretrial Practice and Procedure** (CPC) manual that sets out case-management standards across all 14 Civil Division courtrooms. Key points: - **Initial CMS (Case Management Statement)**: due within 60 days of issue being joined; uses the Marion CMS form (a 2-page form available on the court website and through Odyssey templates). - **Discovery limits**: T.R. 33(A) caps interrogatories at 25 (counting subparts as separate interrogatories); Marion CPC Section IV.B encourages parties to agree to a higher cap via written stipulation rather than seeking leave. - **Motion practice**: every motion must be accompanied by a proposed order. The court will not rule without a proposed order in the filing. - **Status conferences**: every Civil Division courtroom holds routine status conferences at 90-day intervals; attendance is by telephone unless the courtroom has set the conference in person. - **Trial-setting**: trials are set by court order following the CMS conference; parties may not unilaterally set a trial date. Always check the assigned courtroom's chambers practice page (typically posted on `indy.gov` under "Marion Superior Court → Courtrooms → [Number]") before filing — courtroom-specific preferences vary (e.g., page limits on memoranda, chambers copy requirements, courtesy copy delivery method). ## Chambers copies — when and how Marion Civil Division requires a paper chambers copy for any filing exceeding **15 pages** (LR49-TR5-203(d)). The chambers copy must be: - Stapled in the upper-left corner (no binding clips, no spiral binding) - Three-hole punched on the left margin - Delivered to the assigned courtroom's chambers within 24 hours of e-filing - Marked "CHAMBERS COPY" on the first page in red ink or red highlighter Some Civil Division courtrooms (notably Courtrooms 5 and 11 as of recent practice) accept a courtesy PDF emailed directly to the court reporter or judicial assistant in lieu of the paper chambers copy. Confirm the courtroom-specific preference before relying on the email option. ## E-filing — Odyssey Marion mandated Odyssey e-filing for civil cases in December 2016 — the first county statewide. All civil filings (except sealed and confidential petitions falling under Indiana Administrative Rule 9) must be submitted via the Indiana E-Filing System at https://efile.courts.in.gov. Practical tips: - Self-represented filers may register a free Odyssey account and e-file; see `in-pro-se` for the step-by-step. - Filing fees: Marion's civil filing fee for a PL case is the statewide schedule under IC 33-37-4-4 plus the Marion county cost ($177 base + county costs as of 2024; verify on the Marion Clerk's fee schedule). - Document codes: match the document title closely. "Motion to Dismiss" maps to document code 11020; "Memorandum in Support" maps to 11250; "Proposed Order" maps to 12000. The Odyssey UI is the canonical source; codes are updated quarterly. - Filing deadline: Odyssey accepts filings until 11:59 PM local time on the deadline day; the file-stamp is automatic. ## Marion County Small Claims Courts (IC 33-34) The **Marion County Small Claims Courts** are constitutionally distinct from Marion Superior Court. They are nine **township** small-claims courts (one per township in Marion County), each with a single elected judge: - Center Township Small Claims Court - Decatur Township Small Claims Court - Franklin Township Small Claims Court - Lawrence Township Small Claims Court - Perry Township Small Claims Court - Pike Township Small Claims Court - Warren Township Small Claims Court - Washington Township Small Claims Court - Wayne Township Small Claims Court Jurisdiction is governed by IC 33-34-3 — civil claims **up to $8,000** (compared to the $10,000 cap in Superior Court small- claims dockets in other counties under IC 33-29-2-4). Venue rests in the township where the claim arose, where the defendant resides, or where the act giving rise to the claim occurred. The Marion township small-claims courts adopted **Marion Small Claims Manual** rules in addition to the Indiana Small Claims Rules. Procedure highlights: - No pleadings filing requirement beyond the Notice of Claim (small-claims complaint) - Trial is bench-only; jury is not available - Discovery is limited; parties must seek leave for written discovery - A losing party may move for trial de novo in Marion Superior Court Civil Division within 60 days of judgment under IC 33-34-9-1 For claims over $8,000, file in Marion Superior Court Civil Division using a PL or CC case-type code rather than SC. ## Pretrial timeline — Marion Civil Division (typical case) ``` Day 0 Complaint filed; cause number assigned; courtroom rotated Day 20 Answer due (T.R. 6(C)); appearance filed (LR49-TR3.1) Day 30 Defendant's affirmative defenses fully pleaded Day 60 Joint CMS or unilateral CMS filed Day 90 First status / CMS conference Day 180 Initial discovery completed (typical) Day 300 Dispositive motions filed Day 360 Pretrial conference Day 420 Trial setting ``` The timeline varies courtroom-to-courtroom; the table reflects the Marion CPC default for an ordinary civil case. ## Composition — which skills layer here - `in-statewide-format` for T.R. 5(E) / T.R. 10 baseline - `in-pro-se` for self-represented filing in Marion (a significant share of Marion small-claims filers are pro se) - `in-discovery` for T.R. 26-37 + Marion CMS interactions - `in-deadlines` for T.R. 6 deadline math with Marion / Indiana legal holidays - `in-schedule-hearing` for Marion-specific hearing setting - `in-consumer-debt` if the case is a debt-collection action ## References - `references/lr49-summary.md` — concise summary of every LR49 rule - `references/civil-pretrial-practice.md` — Marion CPC manual summary - `references/township-small-claims.md` — the nine township courts with addresses and chambers contacts - `references/marion-cause-numbers.md` — the cause-number parsing table **NOT LEGAL ADVICE.** Generated content is a drafting aid; verify against current local rules and case law before filing.