Helpful Links & Tools

Special phone services are needed to contact your loved one in jail. There are different jail telephone services depending on the county:

Lake and Porter Counties use GettingOut for inmate telephone services.

LaPorte County uses Securus for inmate telephone services.

It can be extremely overwhelming if you or a loved one is under investigation or has been arrested and charged with a crime. There are some very important dos and don’ts you should keep in mind in order to give you and your attorney the best chance of defending the allegations against you. Even if you don’t hire us, make sure you follow these simple steps:

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Dos

1. Consult with an attorney as soon as you think you may have a problem, preferably before you have been charged or arrested.
2. Bond out of jail as soon as possible.
3. An attorney may accept an assignment on the bond money you post(ed) as payment toward your legal fees in order to lighten the heavy financial burden you face when dealing with a criminal case; find an attorney willing to do this.
4. Hire an attorney you trust, listen carefully to what your attorney tells you to do, and DO what your attorney tells you to do.
5. Be honest with your attorney. We can’t help you if we don’t know the truth.
6. Show up to court on time, and well dressed – collared shirt and slacks are preferred by the courts.
7. If you need someone to talk to the lawyer on your behalf (because you are in custody or otherwise unavailable), appoint just one person.

Don’ts

1. Don’t talk to the police without an attorney present. Don’t wait until you’ve been charged to talk to an attorney.
2. Don’t hire a bail bondsman*. Post the bond money directly with the clerk or the jail so that you can apply it toward attorney fees. If you use a bondsman, you won’t get any of the money back.
3. Don’t talk on the jail telephone about your case. Your calls are being recorded and WILL be used against you.
4. Don’t talk to your cell mate or other inmates about your case – they are not your friends and may be looking for information they can share with the prosecutor to receive a lesser sentence.
5. Don’t talk to witnesses or the alleged victim(s) in the case (in person, on the phone, through social media, or in any other manner) without first consulting your attorney.
6. Don’t talk to your co-defendants about the case (in person, on the phone, through social media, or via text).

*In rare circumstances, the County may require a bondsman, but be sure to discuss with your attorney first.

If you need information about someone you believe is in police custody, you can get information about their status by calling the non-emergency phone number for the local police department or county sheriff where they were arrested. Here are phone numbers and websites for Lake, Porter, LaPorte county sheriffs’ offices as well as local police departments in those counties:

Lake County: (219) 648-6300

Cedar Lake: (219) 374-5416

Crown Point: (219) 663-3121

Dyer: (219) 865-1163

East Chicago: (219) 391-8400

Gary: (219) 881-1214

Griffith: (219) 924-7503

Hammond: (219) 852-6393

Highland: (219) 838-3184

Hobart: (219) 942-1125

Lake Station:  (219) 962-1186

Lowell: (219) 696-0411

Merrillville: (219) 769-3722

Munster: (219) 836-6630

New Chicago: (219) 962-1550

St. John: (219) 365-6032

Schererville: (219) 322-5000

Whiting: (219) 473-4440

Winfield: 219-779-9326

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Porter County: (219) 477-3129

Beverly Shores: (219) 879-8800

Burns Harbor: (219) 787-9412

Chesterton: (219) 926-1136

Hebron: (219) 996-2747

Kouts: (219) 766-2332

Ogden Dunes: (219 477-3000

Portage: (219) 762-3122

Porter: (219) 926-7611

Valparaiso: (219) 462-0717

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LaPorte County: (219) 362-6548

LaPorte: (219) 362-9446

Long Beach: (219) 874-4243

Michiana Shores: (219) 874-4243

Michigan City: (219) 874-3221

Trail Creek:  (219) 872-2422

Wanatah: (219) 362-6548

Westville: (219) 785-4177

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For certain categories of offenses and offenders, the guidelines permit the court to impose either imprisonment or some other sanction or combination of sanctions. In determining the type of sentence to impose, the sentencing judge should consider the nature and seriousness of the conduct, the statutory purposes of sentencing, and the pertinent offender characteristics. A sentence is within the guidelines if it complies with each applicable section of this chapter. The court should impose a sentence sufficient, but not greater than necessary, to comply with the statutory purposes of sentencing. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).

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It is a fact that personal injury cases of all kinds can be very expensive to litigate.  A law office needs to make countless calls to insurance adjusters, send dozens of letters to health care providers, take depositions, retain experts, and always be prepared in the unlikely event that a case goes to trial.  Some law offices make you pay for these costs as they go along.  At Stracci Law Group, if you retain us for your personal injury matter, we pay these costs up front on your behalf, and you are only responsible for them if we recover a settlement or judgment for you.  If you don’t get paid, we don’t get paid.

Here’s how it works: first, you will sign a “contingency fee agreement” with our office.  We will begin working on your case at that time.  We’ll make the calls, send the letters, and consult with you along the way to make sure you’re receiving the appropriate care and seeing the right doctors.  If we are able to negotiate a settlement with the insurance company for the liable party, we take a percentage of the total recovery, we are reimbursed for the up-front costs we paid to get the settlement, and the rest goes to you. This same structure applies if we are awarded a judgment at trial, but the attorney fees are slightly higher.

Contingency fee agreements can be very beneficial to injury clients, however, they are not all the same, and we suggest that you carefully review any agreement before signing it. At Stracci Law Group, we often say we will treat you like a friend and make you a part of our family. This is more than just talk, and it starts with offering all of our injury clients a beneficial contingency fee agreement. It is our practice to charge 33% of the recovery you receive for those cases that are settled without the need for a trial. Should a trial be necessary, we take a slightly higher percentage of 40%. Additionally, we only ask you to reimburse us for our expenses if/when you recover. This means that you will never walk away owing us money. Many lawyers make you responsible for their expenses no matter how things turn out and raise the fee they are charging you to 40% once they file a lawsuit, even if the case doesn’t require the additional work of going to trial. Not all contingency fee agreements are created equally. . . neither are law firms.

So, if you’ve been injured in an accident, call Stracci Law Group today to schedule a completely FREE, NO OBLIGATION consultation today at (219) 525-1000, and let us get to work for you.

If you are looking for information on individuals on the sex and violent offender registry in Indiana, Illinois, or the national database, that information can be found here:

‍Indiana Sex and Violent Offender Registry

Illinois Sex Offender Registry

National Sex Offender Registry

If you are trying to locate a prisoner either in the federal bureau of prisons, Indiana Department of Corrections, or LaPorte, Porter, or Starke counties, you can do so online. Not all counties have this option. If this tool is unavailable call the county sheriff and/or clerk's office to attempt to locate your friend or family member.

Federal Bureau of Prisons
Indiana Dept of Corrections
‍LaPorte County‍

Porter County
Starke County

‍Not all IN counties have this tool. If this tool is unavailable, call the county sheriff and/or clerk's office to attempt to locate your friend or family member.

If you are wondering if you have an outstanding warrant, the sheriff’s departments in Lake and Porter county have a searchable database online. It will provide you with active warrant information, including the offense you are being charged with. LaPorte County does not have a searchable database, so for warrant information you will need to call LaPorte County: 219-874-5611 ext 2664.

‍Lake County Sheriff's warrant search

Porter County Sheriff's warrant search‍

LaPorte County: 219-874-5611 ext 2664

Not all IN counties have this tool. If this tool is unavailable, call the county clerk's office.‍

***We strongly recommend you never talk to law-enforcement about your case without first consulting with an attorney.

***For more info about warrants in Indiana, learn our guide.

Most police departments put their crash reports online. So, if you were involved in a car accident in Indiana and need a copy of your police crash report, you can find that here.

BuyCrash.com

If you want to carry a handgun in Indiana, you must have a current Indiana License to Carry a Handgun. On this site you can apply for a new license to carry, renew your license to carry, get a duplicate license if yours has been lost or destroyed, update your name or address on your current license, or check your application status for your license to carry.

Indiana firearms license information‍

Illinois firearms license information

If you are looking for information about your Indiana driving record, license reinstatement fees* or, a replacement license or ID card, you may find it online at the Indiana BMV. Just click the link, create an account, and find the information you need. 

*Before paying any reinstatement fees, always contact us first as we can often get the fee reduced or waived.

DRIVING RECORDS‍

Indiana BMV
Illinois DMV​

LICENSE REINSTATEMENT FEES‍

Pay IN Reinstatement Fees

​REPLACEMENT LICENSE

Request a Replacement License

​INDIANA ADMINISTRATIVE CODE

‍Point System for Indiana Traffic Convictions

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Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton, Starke & most other Indiana counties use a program called MyCase to keep track of cases in their courts. You can search by either your name or your case number to find information about your case, court dates, the charges against you, etc.

‍Indiana Court Information

Not all IN counties have this tool. If this tool is unavailable, call the county clerk's office.