Justices of the peace are judges who handle both civil and criminal cases, including small claims court, justice court, and administrative hearings. In practical terms, these are lawsuits over debts, evictions, car accidents, unlawful towing, and property.

Their criminal workload involves disposing of all class C criminal misdemeanor complaints, such as traffic citations, issuance of bad check, and others. These cases involve payment, setting contested cases for trial, and pretrial hearings with the county prosecutor.

Other duties include presiding over peace bond hearings, reviewing applications for mental health or chemically dependent commitments, conducting compulsory school attendance trials, and giving warnings to juveniles required by law. They issue warrants for and conduct hearings concerning seizure and disposition of cruelly treated animals. Most justices of the peace perform marriage ceremonies as well.

In Indiana, justices of the peace are not a part of the modern judicial system. The state has instead established small claims courts within the superior court system to handle civil cases involving limited monetary amounts, typically up to $6,000. These courts deal with matters such as debts, evictions, and property disputes. For criminal matters, Indiana has a system of courts that includes circuit courts, superior courts, and city or town courts that handle various levels of criminal offenses, including misdemeanors. Traffic citations and other minor offenses are often handled in these courts. Additionally, Indiana has probate courts that may deal with mental health or chemically dependent commitments. School attendance issues are typically handled by the juvenile court system. While justices of the peace traditionally performed marriages, in Indiana, marriages can be solemnized by judges, clerks of the circuit court, and certain authorized individuals. The duties described for justices of the peace are largely distributed among different specialized courts and officials in Indiana's judicial system.