The easiest way to conceptualize GIS is to think of it as layers of information that are represented graphically on a computer screen.  More precisely, GIS is the hardware, software, people, information and procedures used to represent, manage, and analyze information about the earth's surface.

Hancock County GIS site

List of available data at the courthouse annex:

• Aerial Photos (2001 (B/W), 2005 (Color and IR), 2007 (Color), 2011 (Color)
• Parcels Report including tax description, township, school district land information, transfers, assessed valuation and tax history
• Road Centerlines
• Taxing Districts
• 2ft Elevation Contours
• Soils
• Watersheds and Regulated Drains
• Voting districts
• Cemeteries
• Corporation Limits
• Sales
• Zoning
• Landuse - Classified Forest
• Flood Zones
• Wetlands
• Development Information including TIF areas, school districts, sanitary, electric and gas territories

Please Note

The parcel lines and corners represented by GIS do not represent legal boundaries. Users should not rely on them for any purpose other than a low-accuracy approximation of their boundaries.  They are of limited precision and are simply graphic representations of parcel lines developed for the county’s limited purposes.  By law, the legal boundaries of a parcel are a function of (1) the law, (2) evidence on the ground, and (3) the written deed description or subdivision plat.  Only a registered land surveyor is trained and licensed to locate boundary lines.

If you need your boundaries located, a listing of local surveyors is available at no charge from the GIS Office or online at http://www.hancockcoingov.org/hancock-county-indiana-surveyor-private-survey-companies.html.