By Amanda Wishin, Research Attorney • Office of Court Services
The following are the top changes of interest for judicial officers:
Protective orders
(H.E.A. 1137, P.L. 159)
If a defendant is convicted of an offense which requires them to register as a sex or violent offender, the victim of that offense can petition the court for a lifetime protection order against the defendant.
For an ex parte protective order, if a party requests a hearing within 30 days of service of the order or a modification, then the hearing must be held not more than 30 days after the request is made. A party may only request one hearing on a petition under this subsection.
Evictions
(H.E.A. 1214, P.L.164)
Dismissal
Effective March 18, 2022, the plaintiff has the burden to dismiss the case if no action is taken on the eviction case, and the court shall send a reminder of no action taken if the case is dormant for 180 days. If no action is taken within 10 business days after the notice from the court, the defendant can petition to have the case dismissed or the court can dismiss it. After July 1, if the court dismisses an action under this section, it shall also prohibit disclosure of the case in the dismissal order.
Disclosure of case
Upon motion of the tenant, the court in which an eviction action is filed can order the clerk of the court not to disclose or permit disclosure of any records in the case if the eviction is dismissed, judgment in favor of the tenant was entered, or the judgment against the tenant was later overturned or vacated on appeal.
Reporting
Statistics on the number of cases subject to non-disclosure are required to be provided to OJA and published.
Criminal procedure
Charitable bail organizations
(H.E.A. 1300, P.L. 147)
Charitable bail organizations (e.g. The Bail Project) are limited in how bail can be provided.
Cash bail
(H.E.A. 1300, P.L. 147)
A person paying cash bail, including a charitable bail organization, must execute an agreement allowing the court to retain all or part of the bail to pay certain court costs. Cash bail is returned to the person who posted it.
Evidence preservation requirements
(S.E.A. 263, P.L. 89)
Creates requirements for the disposition of property held as evidence that may contain biological evidence related to an offense, including matters involving post-conviction DNA testing and analysis.
Definitions of crimes
Obstruction of justice
(S.E.A. 70, P.L. 5)
A person commits obstruction of justice, as a Level 5 felony, if the person induces a witness to give a false or materially misleading statement during the investigation or pendency of a domestic violence or child abuse case.
Human trafficking
(SE.A. 155, P.L. 153)
A person who knowingly or intentionally pays, or offers to pay money or another benefit, to induce or obtain the product or act for which the human trafficking victim was trafficked commits a Level 4 felony. Consent by the human trafficking victim is not a defense to a prosecution.
Firearms matters
(H.E.A. 1296, P.L. 175)
A person is no longer required to obtain a license to carry a handgun in Indiana, but certain people are prohibited from knowingly or intentionally carrying a handgun. Theft of a firearm is a Level 5 felony.
Child exploitation and pornography
(H.E.A. 1363, P.L. 172)
A person who knowingly or intentionally produces, disseminates, or possesses with intent to disseminate an image that depicts or describes sexual conduct by a child who the person knows is less than 18 years of age, by a child or a person who appears to be a child, if the image is obscene; or that is simulated sexual conduct involving a representation that appears to be a child, if the representation of the image is obscene; commits the offense of child exploitation, a Level 5 felony.
A person who, with intent to view the image, knowingly or intentionally possesses or accesses an image that depicts or describes sexual conduct by a child who the person knows is less than 18 years of age, by a child or a person who appears to be a child, if the image is obscene, or that is simulated sexual conduct involving a representation that appears to be a child, if the representation of the image is obscene commits the offense of possession of child pornography, a Level 6 felony.
For either child pornography or child exploitation the child depicted does not have to actually exist.
Elements of rape
(H.E.A. 1079, P.L. 92)
The elements of rape were amended to add, “the person disregarded the other person’s attempts to physically, verbally, or by other visible conduct refuse the person’s acts.”
Coerced abortion
(H.E.A. 1217, P.L.93)
A new Level 6 felony was created, coerced abortion, when a person to knowingly or intentionally coerces a pregnant woman into having an abortion.
Pregnancy from certain sex offenses
(H.E.A. 1294, P.L. 78)
Sexual misconduct with a service provider, was added to the definition of “violent offense.”
Escape from home detention
(S.E.A. 9, P.L. 84)
A defendant commits escape when the defendant violates only certain conditions of home detention or disables or interferes with the operation of an electronic monitoring device.
Sentencing
Electronic monitoring standards
(S.E.A. 9, P.L. 84)
Standards, including notification time frames, for persons and entities responsible for monitoring individuals required to wear a monitoring device as a condition of probation, parole, pretrial release, or community corrections are established.
Counting days
(H.E.A. 1004, P.L. 45)
For purposes of calculating accrued time and good time credit, a calendar day includes a partial calendar day.
Community Corrections
(H.E.A. 1004, P.L. 45)
A court may suspend any portion of a sentence and order a person to be placed in a community corrections program for the part of the sentence which must be executed under Ind. Code § 35-50-2-2.1 (suspension; persons with juvenile record) or Ind. Code § 35-50-2-2.2 (suspension of sentence for a felony).
A person placed on a level of supervision as part of a community corrections program is entitled to earned good time credit, but not educational credit. That person may also be deprived of earned good time credit.
When a person completes a placement program, the court may place the person on probation.
Department of Correction
(H.E.A. 1004, P.L. 45)
A court may commit a person convicted of a Level 6 felony for an offense committed after June 30, 2022, to the Department of Correction. A court may also commit a person convicted of a Level 6 felony for an offense committed before July 1, 2022, to DOC if certain circumstances exist.
Parole
(H.E.A. 1004, P.L. 45)
Certain conditions of parole are established for a person on lifetime parole. Violation of parole conditions and commission of specified other acts by a person on lifetime parole is a Level 6 felony, and a Level 5 felony for a subsequent offense.
Expungement
(S.E.A. 182, P.L. 14)
An arrest, criminal charge, or juvenile delinquency allegation that results in an infraction is not a conviction for purposes of expungement.
A pretrial diversion program participant can file a petition for expungement with the authorization of the prosecuting attorney.
A court is required to automatically issue an expungement order, subject to certain exceptions, if all pending charges or allegations against a person are dismissed, the person is acquitted or the conviction is vacated, one year has passed since allegations were filed against a juvenile and the state is not pursuing the case, or the person is arrested for a crime and no charges were filed within 180 days.
Juvenile delinquency
Escape
(S.E.A. 9, P.L. 84)
Escape committed by a juvenile status offender is a status offense under certain circumstances.
Child less than 12 years old
(H.E.A. 1359, P.L. 101)
Detention does not apply to a child less than 12 years of age unless the child poses an imminent risk of harm to the community, or the court makes a written finding that detention is essential to protect the community and no reasonable alternatives exist.
Transitional services
(H.E.A. 1359, P.L. 101)
A child who is a ward of the Department of Correction may receive at least three months of transitional services to support reintegration of the child back into the community and to reduce recidivism.
Competency to stand trial
(S.E.A. 368, P.L. 80 – 2021)
Effective December 31, 2022, adds new procedures for the determination of juvenile competency to stand trial.
Risk assessment
(H.E.A. 1359, P.L. 101)
Effective July 1, 2023, the juvenile court must use a risk assessment tool that will be created for that task.
CHINS & TPR
Parental participation petition
(H.E.A. 1363, P.L. 172)
A parental participation petition in a CHINS proceeding is no longer required, but a court must advise the parent that failure to participate can lead to termination of parental rights if a parent is required to participate.
Unlicensed caregiver
(S.E.A. 410, P.L. 68)
An unlicensed caregiver of a child is allowed to file a petition to intervene as a party in a CHINS or TPR action.
Child as victim
(H.E.A. 1363, P.L. 172)
Effective March 18, 2022, a child is a CHINS if the child is a victim of certain offenses committed by a parent, guardian, or custodian of the child.
Child placement
(H.E.A. 1363, P.L. 172)
A party who receives notice of a motion filed by the Department of Child Services to change the out-of-home placement of a child has 10 days (previously 15 days) to file a written objection and initiate a hearing regarding the motion. DCS must file a motion with a juvenile court in order to change the out-of-home placement of a child who has been in the same out-of-home placement for one year or more and is in a foster family home or in the care of a relative. The current placement to waive the person’s right to contest a motion filed by DCS so the court can make an expedited ruling.
Estates
Distribution of estate assets
(S.E.A. 66, P.L. 150)
A procedure for the distribution of assets in a solvent supervised estate after a final distribution is created.
A distributee can distribute assets described in the decree of final distribution by filing an affidavit with the court.
Undistributed real property may be distributed after the estate is closed by recording certain information with the county recorder of the county in which the real property is situated.
A personal representative to complete distribution and delivery of all undistributed estate assets to continue for a period of 90 days after a court enters an order of discharge.
Small estates
(S.E.A. 67, P.L. 151)
The value of estates that may be distributed via affidavit is increased from $50,000 to $100,000. The threshold for summary procedures for unsupervised estates is also increased from $50,000 to $100,000.
Traffic
(H.E.A. 1167, P.L. 118)
Specialized driving privileges
Provides that an individual subject to both an administrative license suspension and a court ordered license suspension must file a petition for specialized driving privileges in the court that ordered the suspension.
Turn signal
Effective January 1, 2023, the statute requiring the use of a turn signal 200 feet before making a turn is repealed.