Hamilton County, IN Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Section 36-2-2-24 of the Hamilton County Code, titled "County courthouse," sets out several rules for the courthouse and the county government and judicial center, including that the county auditor may close the courthouse in an emergency and that anyone bringing a child to the courthouse must supervise that child at all times. The operative pedestrian rule is narrower and more specific than a general jaywalking law: subsection (c) states that a person shall not enter upon or exit from the property of the county government and judicial center at any place other than properly marked crosswalks.

That means cutting across the courthouse square lawn, parking areas, or roadway rather than using a marked crosswalk violates the section. Subsection (d) sets the penalty: a person who violates the crosswalk requirement commits an infraction and may be fined up to $1,000, the same maximum civil penalty the county attaches to its most serious property-access rules, such as unauthorized deadly-weapon possession at the same complex. The rule traces to Code 1992, § 36-2-2-24, and derives its underlying authority from IC 36-2-2-24, the state statute empowering counties to establish and maintain their courthouses.

Because the rule is tied specifically to the government and judicial center property, it does not create a general jaywalking offense on ordinary county roads; Indiana's statewide pedestrian statutes, not this county ordinance, govern crossing behavior elsewhere in the unincorporated county.