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ICPR > State Archives > Collections > Posey County Circuit Court Historical Records at the Indiana State Archives > An introduction to Posey County, its history and its court records > The Judicial Structure in Indiana: After Statehood 1816 - 1851 The Judicial Structure in Indiana: After Statehood 1816 - 1851

Indiana Court District, 1822Indiana Court Districts, 1822

Indiana became a state on December 11, 1816, with Thomas Posey the first governor. He had been appointed to the territory's highest position in 1813, and remained in place until the election of Jonathan Jennings. Isaac Blackford was the Presiding Judge of the First Circuit Court, with Thomas E. Casselberry, Daniel Lynn, and John Graddy as Associate Judges.

Soon after statehood, a law of January 28, 1818, re-circuited the State, adding the Fourth Circuit. As a result of this restructuring the Fourth Circuit was composed of Gibson, Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Spencer, Perry, and Pike counties.

Re-circuiting continued until 1851 when there were thirteen circuits covering eighty-one counties. The Fifth Circuit was added in 1824; the Sixth and Seventh in 1830; the Eighth in 1833; the Ninth in 1836; the Tenth and Eleventh in 1839; the Twelfth in 1841; and the Thirteenth in 1847. Posey County remained in the Fourth Circuit during this time.

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