Clay County Clerk Office
The Clay County Clerk is Nichole Keller, with a listed term of 2025 through 2028. The office is in the Clay County Courthouse, Room 209, in Brazil. The Clerk's public services include marriage licenses, marriage dissolution support, jury duty, small claims court, child support enforcement, domestic violence assistance, and links to Indiana child support resources.
For record users, the most important fact is that Clay County has a unified County Clerk structure. The same Clerk supports records for both local trial courts. Public case lookup may start online, but the Clerk handles courthouse records, certified copies, filing questions, and records that MyCase does not link.
This unified structure keeps Clay County record access fairly direct. A person searching a felony, misdemeanor, traffic, divorce, estate, guardianship, small-claims, or judgment record may start with the court name, but the copy request often ends with the same Clerk's Office. That does not mean every record is public. It means the Clerk is the local office that can confirm whether the record exists, whether it is available, and how a copy can be issued.
Clay County Clerk
Clerk: Nichole Keller
609 East National Avenue, Room 209
Brazil, IN 47834
812-448-9024
Traffic and jury questionnaire line: 812-448-9032
The official Clerk page is the main Clay County source for Clerk services, payment links, marriage license access, and local office contact details.
The office profile confirms the Clerk name, courthouse location, and record services that support Clay County court records.
Clay County Clerk Duties
The Clerk's responsibilities page explains that the Clerk administers official court records for all cases with jurisdiction in Clay County. That includes criminal cases, traffic infractions, local ordinance violations, civil cases, protective orders, domestic relations, mental health, adoption, estates, guardianships, trusts, CHINS, juvenile delinquency, juvenile status, juvenile miscellaneous, and juvenile paternity matters.
- Maintain the Chronological Case Summary, the sequential event list for each case.
- Prepare permanent historical court records and indexes.
- Maintain judgment records, including the Record of Judgments and Orders and Judgment Docket.
- Issue civil process such as summonses, subpoenas, garnishments, writs, orders to appear, and protective orders.
- Process criminal documents such as arrest warrants, jailer's releases, commitments, bond forms, and transport orders.
- Handle probate documents such as notices, wills, inventories, inheritance tax orders, and final reports.
The Clerk also prepares or approves records of proceedings for appeals to the Court of Appeals of Indiana and Indiana Supreme Court.
The duties page is valuable because it names the exact Clay County court records and documents the Clerk processes.
Request Clay County Certified Copies
Certified copies are official copies from the Clay County Clerk that may be needed for legal proof, appeals, benefits, title work, name changes, or agency review. MyCase may show a public case summary and some documents, but many Clay County court documents are not linked online. Indiana Judicial Branch guidance says to contact the clerk in the county where the case was heard when a document is not available online.
- Search MyCase first and write down the Clay County case number if it appears.
- Identify the document needed, such as a final order, decree, judgment, will, inventory, or CCS entry.
- Call the County Clerk at 812-448-9024 to confirm availability, fee, and accepted payment.
- Submit the request in person or by mail with the case number, party names, document type, copy type, and return address.
- Ask for certification if the copy must be used for court, title, agency, or legal proof.
- Use the traffic and jury line, 812-448-9032, only for those specific Clerk services.
Clay County Request Fields
The research did not locate a general Clay County court-record request form with extracted fields. The certified marriage copy form inventory and Clerk copy-channel notes identify the practical information a requester should provide. For non-marriage court records, the same facts help the Clerk locate the case and return the right type of copy.
Requests with vague facts are slower. A case number is best, but party names, case type, filing year, document name, and court name can still help. For Clay County marriage copies, include both spouses' names and the date or approximate date of marriage. For court files, identify whether the request is for the CCS, final order, judgment, decree, warrant record, probate filing, or another document.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Case number | Helpful | Search MyCase first if unknown. |
| Party names | Yes | Use full names and any prior names if known. |
| Document type | Yes | Name the decree, order, judgment, will, inventory, or CCS copy. |
| Copy type | Yes | State plain or certified copy. |
| Number of copies | Yes | Required for certified marriage copy requests and useful for all copies. |
| Mailing address | Yes | Needed when requesting copies by mail. |
| Payment | Yes | Confirm fee and accepted payment with the Clerk before mailing. |
Note: For certified marriage copies, the county says to mail the printed form with a money order and allow seven days.
Clay County Clerk Fees
Clay County research located several official fee items, but not a full plain-copy or certified-copy schedule. The table keeps known amounts separate from fees that must be confirmed. That distinction matters because PHASE-B rules require fee tables without invented amounts.
| Item | Amount | Source or action |
|---|---|---|
| Marriage license, Clay County | $29.00 | Dedicated marriage page. |
| Out-of-state residents marrying in Clay County | $69.00 | Dedicated marriage page. |
| Small claims, first defendant | $97.00 | Clerk responsibilities page. |
| Small claims, each additional defendant | $10.00 | Clerk responsibilities page. |
| Landlord eviction, first defendant | $125.00 | Clerk responsibilities page. |
| Landlord eviction, each additional defendant | $10.00 | Clerk responsibilities page. |
| Certified court copy | Call Clerk | Fee not located in official Clay sources. |
| Plain court copy | Call Clerk | Confirm before mailing payment. |
Clay County Clerk Payments
Some Clay County payments go through channels that are separate from records requests. Traffic and other court payments may use PayGov or the phone number listed by the Clerk. Child support cash payment options include PayNearMe after online setup and MoneyGram at participating retail locations. Pretrial diversion payments, according to the prosecutor research, must be made in the Clerk's Office by cashier's check, money order, cash, or credit card with processing fee.
The PayGov source is tied to Clay County court payments, not a blanket copy-order portal. Certified copies and mailed records requests should still be confirmed with the Clerk before payment is sent.
PayGov supports certain Clay County court payments, while copy handling remains a Clerk-office records task.
Clay County Clerk Access Channels
Clay County Clerk record access has several practical channels. MyCase is the online case-search starting point. The Clerk's Office in Room 209 is the in-person copy and filing contact. Phone support is used for record questions, child support, jury-duty questionnaires, and traffic matters. Mail is used when the county provides a form or when the Clerk confirms what to send.
The county contact page provides courthouse contact context for local offices, and state court resources add statewide support for public defense and court-appointed attorney standards. Those resources are not substitutes for the Clay County Clerk, but they help explain related court services.
For records not linked in MyCase, the access path should stay simple: identify the case, call the Clay County Clerk, confirm the copy type and fee, then submit the request through the channel the Clerk approves. For traffic matters, use the traffic and jury line. For child support payment questions, use the Clerk phone listed for that service. For court-appointed counsel questions, the judge or court process controls the appointment, while the Clerk record shows filings and orders after they occur.
Clay County's compact courthouse layout helps, but it does not make all offices interchangeable. The Clerk maintains the case record and certified copies. The court sets hearings and enters orders. The Prosecutor handles charging, diversion, infraction deferral, and victim services. Keeping those roles separate helps a requester avoid delays and ask the correct office for the correct record.
The Clay County contact page lists official county contact routing.
The contact page supports courthouse routing when a Clay County Clerk records user is trying to reach the correct office.
The Indiana court-appointed attorney standards resource concerns public defense systems connected to court proceedings.
That statewide material is related to case processing but does not replace Clay County Clerk copy and record channels.
The Indiana public defender office information page adds context for defendants seeking appointed-counsel direction.
Public defender resources help with court participation, while the Clerk maintains the court records that show filings and orders.