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Lake County Indiana DUI courts and procedures
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I. Overview

          DUI DWI OWI courts in Lake County include four Superior Courts, seven City Courts, and three Town Courts.
          Lake Superior Court, County Division, comprises three courtrooms in the Lake County Government Center in Crown Point and one in the Superior Courthouse in Hammond. These four courts have jurisdiction over both misdemeanor and Class D felony charges.
         City Courts are located in Crown Point, East Chicago, Gary, Hammond, Hobart, Lake Station, and Whiting. They have jurisdiction over misdemeanors, as well as infractions and ordinance violations, but not felonies.
          Town Courts are located in Merrillville, Schererville, and Lowell. Their jurisdiction is similar to that of City Courts.

II. Understanding Your Cause Number
The Cause Number of your case tells you the county and court in which it was filed, the month and year of filing, and the class of misdemeanor or felony of the most serious charge filed.

In the fictitious Cause Number "45D08-0705-CM-12345":

In this system, "C" indicates Circuit Court, "D" indicates Superior Court (other than the Criminal Division), "G" indicates Superior Court (Criminal Division), "H" indicates a City Court, and "I" indicates a Town Court. In Lake County, the Circuit Court does not hear criminal cases, nor does the Superior Court, Civil Division. The Superior Court, Criminal Division hears "heavy" or "major" felonies of Class C or greater, which may include the most serious drunk driving cases, where serious bodily injury or death resulted.
Nearly all DUI cases are handled by the fourteen courts mentioned in Part I.
III. Court-specific information. For your convenience, specific information concerning Lake County's DUI courts is presented below (All Area Codes are 219):

    SUPERIOR COURTS:

         Lake Superior Court, County Division, Room 1 - Crown Point

           Lake County Government Center
           2293 North Main Street
           Crown Point, IN 46307

           Presiding Judge Nicholas J. Schiralli
           Magistrate Catheron Paras

           Telephone: 755-3570 Fax: 755-3006

         Lake Superior Court, County Division, Room 2 - Crown Point

           Lake County Government Center
           2293 North Main Street
           Crown Point, IN 46307

           Presiding Judge Sheila Moss
           Magistrate Kathleen Belzeski
           Telephone: 755-3580 Fax: 755-3588

         Lake Superior Court, County Division, Room 3 - Crown Point

           Lake County Government Center
           2293 North Main Street
           Crown Point, IN 46307

           Presiding Judge Julie Cantrell
           Magistrate Michael Pagano
           Telephone: 755-3600 Fax: 755-3606

         Lake Superior Court, County Division, Room 4 - Hammond

           232 Russell Street
           Hammond, IN 46320

           Presiding Judge Jesse M. Villalpando
           Telephone: 933-2841 Fax: 933-2833

    CITY COURTS:

         Crown Point City Court

           Courthouse Square
           P.O. Box 594
           Crown Point, IN 46307

           Judge Kent A. Jeffirs
           Telephone: 662-3243 Fax: 662-3261

         East Chicago City Court

           2301 East Columbus Drive
           East Chicago, IN 46312

           Judge Sonya A. Morris
           Telephone: 391-8489 Fax: 397-6076

         Gary City Court

           555 Polk Street
           Gary, IN 46407

           Judge Deidre L. Monroe
           Telephone: 881-1271 Fax: 881-1278

         Hammond City Court

           5925 Calumet Avenue, Room 232
           Hammond, IN 46320

           Judge Jeffrey A. Harkin
           Telephone: 853-6388 Fax: 853-6495

         Hobart City Court

           414 Main Street
           Hobart, IN 46342

           Judge William J. Longer
           Telephone: 942-8218 Fax: 942-2697

         Lake Station City Court

           3701 Fairview Avenue
           Lake Station, IN 46405

           Judge Chris Andersen

           Telephone: 962-2145 Fax: 963-9275

         Whiting City Court

           1443 - 119th Street
           Whiting, IN 46394

           Judge Ann P. Likens
           Telephone: 659-4688 Fax: 473-4644

    TOWN COURTS:

         Lowell Town Court

           501 East Main Street
           PO Box 157
           Lowell, IN 46356

           Judge Thomas W. Vanes
           Telephone: 696-7794, Ext. 17 Fax: 696-5047

         Merrillville Town Court

           7820 Broadway
           Merrillville, IN 46410

           Judge George C. Paras
           Telephone: 756-6185 Fax: 756-1775

         Schererville Town Court

           25 East Joliet Street
           Schererville, IN 46375

           Judge Kenneth L. Anderson
           Telephone: 865-5579 Fax: 865-5525

IV. Case Management, Procedures and Scheduling

           Lake County's DUI courts are all separately administered by their respective judges and staffs. Thus, except when Indiana statutes or Criminal Rules provide for specific procedures, the individual courts have considerable latitude in how they manage their dockets.

           Nevertheless, there are some general procedures that generally apply. These can be modified at any time, so it is your responsibility (or your attorney's) to verify what needs to be done and when. An experienced Lake County DUI attorney familiar with Lake County's unique legal culture will know what is required in each court. Lake County's court system can be confusing, not only to the accused drunk driver, but also to attorneys from other counties.

         A. Administrative license suspension. Even though a statute specifically provides that your administrative license suspension for either failing or refusing your blood, urine or breath test is to begin at the Initial Hearing, Lake County's court clerks have always sent the paperwork down-state shortly after the case is filed. It is likely that your license suspension will begin before your initial hearing. This is why obtaining a DUI lawyer immediately is so important.

           B. Initial Hearing. The initial hearing is when the Judge officially informs you of your constitutional rights and the charges against you, enters your not guilty plea (unless you choose to plead guilty at that point, which you should never do), orders discovery, and sets future court dates.
           In Lake County, initial hearings may be waived on misdemeanors, if an attorney has entered his Appearance and filed a waiver with the court. There is obviously a substantial benefit to the client in avoiding the loss of a day's work (and pay) and the inconvenience of attending court for what is basically a formality.
           In felony cases, there is no statute specifically prohibiting the waiver of an initial hearing, yet courts do not permit this.
           Regardless whether your case is a misdemeanor or felony, it is wise to obtain DUI counsel before the initial hearing date.

           C. Other Court Dates. After the Initial Hearing, there is no uniform designation for future court appearances. Some courts set "omnibus hearings" while others set "mandatory disposition conferences". Normally a "pretrial conference" will be set before any trial date.

Lake County Government Center Crown Point

Schererville Town Court Schererville