Indiana
Buying Land in Putnam County, Indiana
Seat Greencastle, home to DePauw University, in west-central Indiana directly bordering Indianapolis-fringe Hendricks County. Putnam County adopted a new countywide Unified Development Ordinance -- but it applies differently in each of the county's four small towns, so a parcel's actual zoning authority takes some checking.
Zoning: a new Area Plan Commission, but four towns handled four different ways
Putnam County has adopted zoning, and it recently strengthened that authority: the county's plan commission was upgraded from an "advisory" plan commission to a full Area Plan Commission under Indiana's IC 36-7-4 as part of a broader effort to replace the county's older separate zoning and subdivision-control ordinances with one combined Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). That process started in early 2022, a public UDO draft was posted for review in September 2023, and county planners anticipated formal adoption in 2024 -- so a buyer should confirm directly with the Putnam County Building and Planning Department whether the UDO has since been finally adopted, and if so, under what final terms, since a working draft can change before a vote.
What makes Putnam County's arrangement genuinely distinctive is how unevenly the UDO's jurisdiction is structured across the county's four small incorporated towns. The towns of Bainbridge and Cloverdale keep their own separate town plan commissions and boards of zoning appeals -- the county only takes over administrative work like application intake and permit issuance for them. Roachdale and Russellville took a different path: both adopted the county's own zoning ordinance for the county to enforce directly within town limits, though Roachdale kept its own board of zoning appeals rather than routing appeals through the county's. Practically, that means the phrase "Putnam County's Unified Development Ordinance" doesn't describe one uniform set of rules and one single decision-making body -- it describes at least three distinct jurisdictional arrangements layered across the county and its towns, and a buyer evaluating a parcel inside any of Bainbridge, Cloverdale, Roachdale, or Russellville should confirm which arrangement actually governs that specific parcel rather than assuming the county's general framework applies uniformly.
DePauw, Ivy Tech, and a border with Indianapolis-fringe Hendricks County
Greencastle, the county seat, is home to DePauw University, a private liberal-arts college, and a newer Ivy Tech Community College campus -- both cited in the county's own economic-development materials as drivers of Putnam County's growth in recent years. Putnam also shares its eastern border directly with Hendricks County, which itself sits on the outer edge of the Indianapolis metropolitan area and has seen substantial rooftop growth of its own; county planning materials describe residential development pressure spilling toward that shared border as a recurring consideration, consistent with the broader pattern of Indianapolis-metro growth pushing progressively further out into neighboring counties.
This research pass did not find a quantified, current-year subdivision-permit count for Putnam County comparable to the kind of hard growth data available for some other Indianapolis-exurb counties on this site (Hancock and Shelby Counties, for instance, both have documented, specific annual permit figures). Treat Putnam's exurban growth pressure as real and directionally confirmed by the county's own materials, but not yet backed by the kind of quantified permit trend that would justify a dedicated subdivision-development page here -- if you're evaluating land specifically for its subdivision potential, ask the Area Plan Commission directly for the county's current permit and platting activity rather than relying on a single-year estimate.
Septic and other departments to know
For a standard septic system on unincorporated Putnam County land, the Putnam County Health Department requires a soil evaluation performed by a professional soil scientist registered with the Indiana Registry of Soil Scientists, followed by a permit application with a posted $225 fee alongside house floor plans and a recorded deed with legal description and plat copy. The health department's septic permit must be secured before the county's separate Planning and Building Office will issue a construction permit -- so on a new build, septic approval genuinely comes first in the sequence rather than running in parallel with the building permit.
The Putnam County Assessor's office ((765) 653-4312) handles property valuation and parcel records, the Plat/GIS Office ((765) 301-9108, option 3) provides parcel mapping, and the County Recorder ((765) 653-5613) holds deeds, easements, and plats. Given the county's new UDO and its town-by-town jurisdictional differences described above, confirming a parcel's specific zoning authority with the Building and Planning Department is worth doing early, before you assume a listing's stated zoning classification is current.
Who to Call Before Buying Land in Putnam County
Direct WebFetch access to co.putnam.in.us and in.gov/localhealth/putnamcounty was not attempted in this research pass, so several department details reflect search-indexed content rather than a full verbatim read -- confirm current staff, hours, fees, and the UDO's final adopted status directly before relying on this page for a specific parcel.
Planning & Zoning
Putnam County Area Plan Commission / Building and Planning Department
Zoning verification for unincorporated Putnam County and its four towns; confirming which of the county's several jurisdictional arrangements applies to a specific parcel.
Building & Permitting
Putnam County Planning and Building Office
Building permits in unincorporated Putnam County; issued only after health-department septic approval on a new build.
Environmental Health
Putnam County Health Department
General environmental health questions for Putnam County.
Septic / Onsite Wastewater
Putnam County Health Department
On-site sewage permits under 410 IAC 6-8.3 ($225 application fee; requires a registered-soil-scientist evaluation).
GIS / Parcel Records
Putnam County Plat/GIS Office
Parcel maps and GIS data requests.
Assessor / Property Tax
Putnam County Assessor
Property valuation and assessment records.
Recorder / Clerk / Land Records
Putnam County Recorder
Recorded deeds, easements, and plats for a specific parcel.
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Get local guidanceSources
- Building and Planning — Putnam County, Indiana Government (accessed 2026-09)
- Putnam County Unified Development Ordinance (Public Draft) — Putnam County, Indiana Government (accessed 2026-09)
- New zoning laws to provide flexibility for development in rural Putnam County, local planners believe — Indiana Economic Digest (accessed 2026-09)
- Putnam County — Accelerate West Central Indiana Economic Development (accessed 2026-09)
- Complete Septic Packet — Putnam County Health Department (accessed 2026-09)
- Sewage — Putnam County Health Department (accessed 2026-09)
Last reviewed 2026-09