Johnson County’s first court was held at Smiley’s Mill, five miles southeast of Franklin, on October 16, 1823. The second met at the George King home in Franklin, Indiana, in March 1824. The third courthouse stood on North Main Street at Lot 35, a two-story log building erected in October 1824. The fourth was a two-story brick courthouse completed on May 5, 1832, and it burned on May 18, 1849. The fifth, also a two-story brick courthouse, was built in 1849 and burned on December 12, 1874. The sixth was a frame courthouse located at the southeast corner of Monroe and Main Streets from 1875 to 1881. The present courthouse was built from 1879 to 1881, accepted by the County Commissioners in December 1881, at a cost of $100,000.00.