By Amanda R. Wishin, Research Attorney | Indiana Office of Court Services
All bills are effective on July 1, 2019, unless otherwise noted.
For summaries of all new relevant laws, see the Legislative Update, indianacourts.us/legislative. You can also subscribe by entering your email address in the top right corner.
All bills that have been signed into law are available at: in.gov/gov/2019billwatch.htm.
Administrative changes
- Magistrates may enter final appealable orders. H.E.A. 1607, P.L. 266
- Assets of the judges’ retirement system are exempt from levy, sale, garnishment, attachment, or other legal process. H.E.A. 1192, P.L. 203
- A court may reduce some or all of the court costs owed by a person who performs community service by determining the number of hours of community service or volunteer work performed by the person, multiplying the number of hours worked by the Indiana minimum wage, and deducting that figure from the amount owed. Hours required to be performed under a plea agreement are excluded. H.E.A. 1087, P.L. 77
New causes of action
- A qualified recipient for an organ transplant may bring suit for injunctive or equitable relief if discriminated against because of a handicap. S.E.A. 112, P.L. 2
- A person depicted in an intimate image may sue a person who discloses the intimate image without consent. S.E.A. 192, P.L. 29
- Civil fertility fraud. S.E.A. 174, P.L. 215
- Protection order for harassment. H.E.A. 1607, P.L. 266
- Critical infrastructure facility trespass and critical infrastructure facility mischief. This carries both civil and criminal penalties. S.E.A. 471, P.L. 276
New immunities
- Justified use of force against a person attempting to commit a forcible felony or cause unlawful serious bodily injury. H.E.A. 1284, P.L. 107, Effective April 26, 2019
- Psychiatric crisis center, psychiatric inpatient unit, or psychiatric residential treatment provider that discloses an individualized mental health safety plan to certain licensed providers in good faith. S.E.A. 359, P.L. 225
- Education providers that disclose education records of a student to protect the health or safety of students. H.E.A. 1398, P.L. 255
- Licensed medical personnel obtaining a body fluid sample or retrieving contraband from the body cavity of an individual as part of a criminal investigation. S.E.A. 333, P.L. 224
- Changes to criminal offenses
- Numerous misdemeanors have been reduced to civil infractions for the first offense. S.E.A. 336, P.L. 32
- Creates a Class A misdemeanor to distribute an intimate image of a person on the internet without that person’s permission. S.E.A. 243, P.L. 185
- Vending machine vandalism and refusing to yield a party line are repealed. S.E.A. 336, P.L. 32
- Creates a Level 5 felony for a person to sell, give, or in any other manner transfer ownership or possession of a machine gun to any person under 18 years of age; Level 4 felony if the person has a prior conviction for the offense; Level 3 felony if a person under 18 years of age uses the machine gun to commit murder. S.E.A. 119, P.L. 183
- New terrorism related offenses. S.E.A. 240, P.L. 66
- Expands the list of offenses that may be prosecuted before a victim reaches 31 years of age to include all offenses of child molesting, vicarious sexual gratification, child solicitation, child seduction, sexual misconduct with a minor, and incest. S.E.A. 551, P.L. 40
- Domestic battery is a Level 6 felony if the person has a prior unrelated conviction for strangulation. S.E.A. 551, P.L. 40
- Strangulation is a Level 5 felony if the person has a prior unrelated conviction for strangulation. S.E.A. 551, P.L. 40
- Criminal confinement is a Level 4 felony if it results in moderate bodily injury to a person other than the confining person. S.E.A. 551, P.L. 40
- Kidnapping is a Level 4 felony if it results in moderate bodily injury to a person other than the removing person. S.E.A. 551, P.L. 40
- Amends certain age requirements and adds enhanced offenses to the offense of child seduction. S.E.A. 551, P.L. 40
- A person at least 18 years of age who knowingly or intentionally performs or submits to sexual intercourse or other sexual conduct with a child less than 16 years of age or performs or submits to any fondling or touching with a child less than 16 years of age with the intent to arouse or to satisfy the sexual desires of either the child or the older person commits sexual misconduct with a minor. S.E.A. 551, P.L. 40
- Domestic battery may be converted to a Class A misdemeanor if defendant has not been convicted of the same crime within the previous 15 years. S.E.A. 551, P.L. 40
- Possessing or dealing in a substance that is a controlled substance analog is an offense of the same level as possession of or dealing in the controlled substance of which the substance is an analog. H.E.A. 1186, P.L. 80
- A person commits interfering with law enforcement, a Class B misdemeanor, if, after being denied entry by a law enforcement officer, the person enters an area that is marked off with barrier tape or other physical barriers. It is enhanced to a Level 6 felony if the person uses a vehicle to commit the offense. H.E.A. 1114, P.L. 201
- An employer may be reimbursed from a public servant’s public pension fund contributions and benefits if the public servant criminally exerts unauthorized control over public funds of the public servant’s employer. H.E.A. 1192, P.L. 203
Changes to criminal procedure
- New procedure to file a supplemental expungement and expungement of protection orders that were dismissed or denied. S.E.A. 235, P.L. 219
- New procedure for a court to issue an emergency ex parte order for a blood or body fluid specimen. S.E.A. 333, P.L. 224
- Counties can agree to create a multicounty public defender’s office. S.E.A. 488, P.L. 69
- Political subdivisions can enter into an agreement to create a regional holding facility. H.E.A. 1065, P.L. 239
- Records held by the Department of Child Services cannot be disclosed to any person who requests the record if it is related to an ongoing police investigation or criminal prosecution. S.E.A. 551, P.L. 40, Effective April 15, 2019
- Adult victims of sex crimes and child victims of violent crimes shall be identified by means other than names or initials (such as “Victim 1”) in public court documents. S.E.A. 551, P.L. 40
- If a child less than 16 years of age is summoned to testify as a witness to any hearing in any criminal matter, the child shall be allowed to have a comfort item or comfort animal while testifying. S.E.A. 551, P.L. 40
- A lifetime sex or violent offender is banned from changing the offender’s name. H.E.A. 1208, P.L. 244
- A law enforcement officer must obtain a warrant to use an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over private property or to conduct a search of private property, unless the owner of the property consents or a warrant would not be required for a search not using a UAV. H.E.A. 1358, P.L.136
- Updates the Red Flag law process for seizure of firearms from dangerous individuals and allows the judicial finding of dangerous to be used to initiative temporary commitment proceedings. H.E.A. 1651, P.L. 289, Effective May 6, 2019
Sentencing
- It is aggravating circumstance that a crime was committed because of certain perceived or actual characteristics of the victim. S.E.A. 198, P.L. 5
- For controlled substance offenses, it is an enhancing circumstance that the person knowingly committed the offense in, on, or within 100 feet of a drug treatment facility. S.E.A. 110, P.L. 182
- For controlled substance offenses, it is an enhancing circumstance if it occurs on the property of a penal facility or juvenile facility. S.E.A. 198, P.L. 5
- Allows a court to prohibit sexually violent predators from having contact with children, including their own, as a condition of probation. S.E.A. 258, P.L. 220
- Allows a court to prohibit sexually violent predators from working as a childcare provider and residing in a residence where a person provides childcare services, or within 1,000 feet of a licensed day care center, as a condition of probation. S.E.A. 258, P.L. 220
- A new registration period may be imposed if a sex or violent offender fails to register or improperly registers as a sex or violent offender. S.E.A. 551, P.L. 40
- A mandatory condition of probation and parole that a person convicted of an animal abuse offense may not own, harbor, or train a companion animal. S.E.A. 474, P.L. 37
- Allows certain individuals who commit an offense in a penal facility to be sentenced to the Department of Correction. S.E.A. 519, P.L. 191
- Department of Correction may adopt emergency rules concerning the deprivation of earned good time credit for a person who is placed in a community corrections program. H.E.A. 1080, P.L. 26,
Effective April 10, 2019 - A court may commit a person convicted of a Level 6 felony to the Department of Correction if the person is a violent offender or the person has two prior unrelated felony convictions. These categories are added to the existing portion of the statute requiring the person’s earliest possible release date is more than 365 days after the date of sentencing. H.E.A. 1078, P.L. 240
Department of Child Services
- A court shall determine that consent to adoption is not required from a parent if the parent is convicted of crimes in another state that are substantially similar to specified crimes in Indiana that waive consent. S.E.A. 1, P.L. 210
- A foster parent, long term foster parent, or person who has been a foster parent of the child has a right to intervene in a CHINS proceeding or termination of parent-child relationship proceeding.
S.E.A. 1, P.L. 210 - A court may find that a child is not a CHINS based on credible evidence presented by the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian that the parent, guardian, or custodian is financially unable to supply the child with necessary food, clothing, or shelter, and has not failed, refused, or demonstrated an inability to seek financial or other reasonable means to do so. S.E.A. 1, P.L. 210; H.E.A. 1006, P.L. 198
- A foster parent, relative of the child, or de facto custodian with whom the child has been placed for at least six months may file a notice with the court if a child has been removed from a parent and has been under the supervision of DCS for 15 months of the most recent 22 months and a petition to terminate the child’s parent-child relationship has not been filed. S.E.A. 1, P.L. 210
- DCS shall provide notice to the juvenile court of any voluntary service referral agreement entered into after an investigation by the DCS that a child is a child in need of services, but before petitioning the juvenile court for a dispositional decree or implementing a program of informal adjustment. H.E.A. 1001, P.L. 108
- Amends the list of offenses that disqualify an individual from acting as an adoptive parent or accepting placement of a child to add additional nonwaivable offenses and provide for additional offenses that are nonwaivable only if the conviction for the offense occurred within the past five years. H.E.A. 1198, P.L. 243
- A CHINS case plan must include a description and discussion of the services and treatment available to an incarcerated parent at the facility at which the parent is incarcerated and how the parent and child may be afforded visitation opportunities, unless visitation with the parent is not in the best interest of the child. H.E.A. 1432, P.L. 258
- A motion to dismiss a petition to terminate a parent-child relationship may be filed if the parent is incarcerated or the parent’s prior incarceration is a significant factor in the child having been under the supervision of DCS or a county probation department for at least 15 of the most recent 22 months, the parent maintains a meaningful role in the child’s life, DCS has not documented a reason to conclude that it would otherwise be in the child’s best interest to terminate the parent-child relationship, and the parent is not incarcerated due to conviction for certain crimes. The court may consider the length of time remaining in the incarcerated parent’s sentence. H.E.A. 1432, P.L. 258
Family Law
- Changes certain procedures governing the relocation of a child in cases in which custody orders are issued following a determination of paternity and in cases heard under statutes governing custody and visitation. S.E.A. 292, P.L. 186
- Authorizes a court to require a parent to submit to drug testing as a condition of exercising parenting time rights if the court finds that the parent has a history of unlawful drug use within the previous five years or there is a reasonable likelihood that the parent is currently using unlawful drugs. S.E.A. 323, P.L. 223
- If a court grants parenting time to a person who has been convicted of child molesting or child exploitation within the previous five years, the court shall order that the parenting time must be supervised. S.E.A. 323, P.L. 223
- Duty to support a child ceases when the child becomes 19 years of age unless the child is a full-time student in a secondary school and the parent or guardian files a required notice of the child’s enrollment. H.E.A. 1520, P.L. 263
Probate
- Legacy trusts and quiet trusts are authorized, as well as various other changes to trust law. S.E.A. 265, P.L. 221
- A person who files a petition for the appointment of a guardian for an incapacitated person or minor must inform the court what less restrictive alternatives were considered or implemented and, if less restrictive alternatives were not considered or implemented, the reason for the failure to consider or implement less restrictive alternatives. It also provides for the use of supported decision-making agreements for adults who need support and accommodations in making, communicating, and effectuating decisions. S.E.A. 380, P.L. 68
- The issuance of a court order on any matter related to an unsupervised estate does not revoke the personal representative’s authority to continue the administration of the estate as an unsupervised estate. S.E.A. 518, P.L. 231
Traffic
- Increases the penalties for school bus stop arm infractions, including license suspension. S.E.A. 2, P.L. 144
- Increases penalties for traffic crimes and in many instances, makes it a separate offense for each person injured or killed. S.E.A. 186, P.L. 184
- A temporary traffic amnesty program for unpaid traffic fines is established. H.E.A. 1141, P.L. 202
- A court may waive part or all of a reinstatement fee for driving privileges. H.B. 1506, P.L. 178
- A court may grant driving privileges to an individual whose driving privileges have been suspended for life for a specified period and subject to certain conditions. H.B. 1506, P.L. 178