(A) Preliminary Instructions. When the jury has been sworn the court shall instruct the jury in accordance with Jury Rule 20. Each party shall have reasonable opportunity to examine these preliminary instructions and state his specific objections thereto out of the presence of the jury and before any party has stated his case. (The court may of its own motion and, if requested by either party, shall reread to the jury all or any part of such preliminary instructions along with the other instruc- tions given to the jury at the close of the case. A request to reread any preliminary instruction does not count against the ten [10] instructions provided in subsection (D) below.) The parties shall be given reasonable opportunity to submit requested instructions prior to the swearing of the jury, and object to instructions requested or proposed to be given.
Rule 51.Instructions to jury: Objections, requests: Submission in stages
Current through July 1, 2026 · Last verified July 13, 2026
In one sentenceRule 51 governs how Indiana civil juries are instructed on the law — preliminary instructions given after the jury is sworn and final instructions given before deliberations — and sets the process for requesting, objecting to, and preserving instruction error, capping each side at ten requests absent court approval.
Full Text of Rule 51
(C) Objections and requested instructions before submission. At the close of the evidence and before argument each party may file written requests that the court instruct the jury on the law as set forth in the requests. The court shall inform coun- sel of its proposed action upon the requests prior to their arguments to the jury. No party may claim as error the giving of an instruction unless he objects thereto before the jury retires to consider its verdict, stating distinctly the matter to which he objects and the grounds of his objection. Opportunity shall be given to make the objection out of the hearing of the jury. The court shall note all instructions given, refused or tendered, and all written objections submitted thereto, shall be filed in open court and become a part of the record. Objections made orally shall be taken by the reporter and thereby shall become a part of the record.
(D) Limit upon requested instructions. Each party shall be entitled to tender no more than ten [10] requested instructions, including pattern instructions, to be given to the jury; however, the court in its discretion for good cause shown may fix a greater number. Each tendered instruction shall be confined to one [1] relevant legal principle. No party shall be entitled to predicate error upon the refusal of a trial court to give any tendered instruction in excess of the number fixed by this rule or the number fixed by the court order, whichever is greater.
(E) Indiana Pattern Jury Instructions (Criminal)/Indiana Model Jury Instructions (Civil). Any party requesting a trial court to give any instruction from the Indiana Pattern Jury Instruc- tions (Criminal)/Indiana Model Jury Instructions (Civil), prepared under the sponsorship of the Indiana Judges Association, may make such request in writing without copying the instruction verbatim, by merely designating the number thereof in the publication.
Amendment History
This rule’s current text took effect January 1, 2011. For the full history of earlier amendments and adoption orders, see the Indiana Office of Court Services.
Plain-English Summary
Once the jury is sworn in — before either side has said a word about the case in opening statements — the court gives preliminary instructions under Jury Rule 20. Rule 51(A) gives each party a real chance to look those instructions over and raise specific objections outside the jury’s hearing before anyone opens. The court can, and if a party asks must, read some or all of those preliminary instructions again at the close of the case alongside the final instructions — and doing so does not count against the ten-instruction limit described below. Parties also get a reasonable opportunity, before the jury is sworn, to submit their own requested instructions and to object to whatever the other side or the court has proposed.
Final instructions, covered in subsection (B), come from the judge and cover the law that applies to the issues the evidence raised, following Jury Rule 26. Subsection (C) lays out the mechanics: at the close of evidence, before closing arguments, each side can file written requests asking the court to instruct on specific points of law, and the court tells the lawyers what it plans to do with those requests before arguments begin. The rule’s central rule of preservation sits here too — a party cannot claim on appeal that giving an instruction was error unless that party objected before the jury retired to deliberate, spelling out exactly what is wrong and why. The court has to give a chance to object outside the jury’s hearing, and every instruction — given, refused, or tendered — along with every objection to it, written or oral, becomes part of the record.
Subsection (D) caps how many instructions each side can request: ten, including any pattern instructions, though the court can raise that number for good cause. Each instruction has to stick to one legal principle, and a party cannot complain on appeal that the court refused an instruction submitted beyond the cap. Subsection (E) offers a shortcut for the standard instructions published for Indiana courts — a party does not have to retype a pattern or model instruction word for word; citing its number in the official set is enough.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are preliminary jury instructions, and when do they happen?
They are the instructions the judge gives right after the jury is sworn in, before any party makes an opening statement. Each side gets a chance to review them and raise specific objections outside the jury’s presence before the trial gets underway.
By when do I have to object to a final jury instruction to preserve the issue for appeal?
Before the jury retires to deliberate. Rule 51(C) requires the objection to state distinctly what you are objecting to and your grounds — a general or vague objection is not enough to preserve the issue.
How many jury instructions can each side request?
Ten, including pattern instructions, unless the court sets a higher number for good cause. Each requested instruction has to be limited to a single legal principle.
Do I have to write out the full text of a pattern jury instruction?
No. Rule 51(E) lets a party request an Indiana Pattern or Model Jury Instruction just by citing its number, without copying the instruction word for word.
What happens if I don’t object to a jury instruction before the jury retires?
You generally cannot raise it as error later. Rule 51(C) makes a timely, specific, on-the-record objection a requirement for preserving a challenge to a given jury instruction.
If the court rereads a preliminary instruction at the end of the case, does that count against my ten-instruction limit?
No. A request to reread a preliminary instruction does not count against the ten instructions allowed under subsection (D).
Do oral objections to jury instructions get preserved the same way as written ones?
Yes. Oral objections are taken down by the court reporter and become part of the record, the same as written instructions, objections, and requests filed in open court.
Source & verification. The rule text is reproduced verbatim from the
official Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure (T.R. 51). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Indiana, under its inherent constitutional rulemaking power (reaffirmed by Ind. Code 34-8-1-1 and 34-8-2-1); originally enacted by the Indiana General Assembly in 1969. The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 13, 2026. ·
Official source
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