Welcome to the . . . . 
Shelby County
Circuit Court Case Files Index, 1828–1871

• Search the Shelby County Circuit Court Case Files Index now.
• About the Shelby County Circuit Court Case Files Index.
• Content of Shelby County Circuit Court Case Files.
• How to obtain copies of Shelby County Circuit Court Case Files.

The Shelby County Circuit Court Case Files Index was compiled by Barbara Heflin, Assistant Supervisor for the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) System. Interns who helped with this index include: Eric Robinson, David DuBois and William Darrell. The 6,415 records in the database were extracted from the Shelby County Circuit Court Case Files (IRAD Accession 5/0011/01).

Each entry found in the index contains the following categories of information: the names of the plaintiff and defendant; the year the case was heard; the box and case numbers; and the type of case. Names of plaintiffs and defendants were transcribed directly from the case files. Every attempt was made to obtain accurate spellings of names. If the spelling of a name could not be determined from the case jacket, a search of the various case documents was conducted. However, names were often spelled a variety of ways throughout the case documents. It was also sometimes difficult to decipher handwriting in some case files. Therefore, when searching this index, we suggest that researchers check alternative spellings of names if they do not find an entry for the name for which they are searching.
 

The Shelby County Circuit Court Case Files include chancery, criminal and common law proceedings. These case files generally show the names of the plaintiff, defendant, judge and clerk of the court; the court dates; and usually the charge or cause of action. Documents contained in these case files include: summonses, affidavits of witnesses, subpoenas, bonds, receipts, depositions, declarations, decrees and orders of the court, jury and witness lists, indictments, warrants, writs of habeas corpus, verdicts, dismissals and transcripts of coroner's inquests.
 

Copies of the case files found in this index may be obtained by mail or telephone. Inquiries should be made directly to the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. IRAD cannot accept requests by e-mail at this time. Call or write:

Illinois Regional Archives Depository Booth Library Eastern Illinois University 600 Lincoln Avenue Charleston, IL 61920

Telephone: (217) 581-6093