By Amanda Wishin, Research Attorney • Office of Court Services
The following are the top changes of interest for judicial officers. Unless otherwise noted, the effective date for these bills is July 1, 2025. For summaries of all new relevant laws, please see the Legislative Update, legislativeupdate.courts.in.gov. Subscribe using the “Subscribe” button at the bottom of the page.
All bills that have been signed into law are available at: in.gov/gov/newsroom/2025-bill-watch.
Evictions
A landlord may file a petition for an emergency possessory order if: (1) the tenant or the tenant’s guest has committed a crime that affects the health and safety of another tenant, the landlord, or an agent of the landlord, or (2) a tenant provided materially false information to induce the landlord into leasing or giving possession of the rental unit to the tenant. If the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that either is true, the court must order the tenant to return possession of the dwelling no later than 7 days from the hearing date. H.E.A. 1115, P.L. 157-2025.
A court must order, upon its own motion, that eviction records may not be disclosed if the eviction was dismissed or judgment was entered in favor of the tenant. S.E.A. 142, P.L. 128-2025.
A tenant can file a motion requesting that records related to an eviction action not be disclosed, if (1) a money judgment related to the eviction action was entered and the tenant has satisfied the money judgment; or (2) the final judgment against the tenant does not include a money judgment and at least 7 years have elapsed since judgment. Under these circumstances, the court may issue an order to seal the eviction case without a hearing. S.E.A. 142, P.L. 128-2025.
If a tenant does not claim their property within 45 days after receiving notice, a warehouseman or storage facility may sell the tenant’s property. The prior statute allowed for 90 days. H.E.A. 1079, P.L. 154-2025.
Squatters
Law enforcement is required to remove a squatter from a property when the property owner executes an affidavit that the person is a squatter. The definition of squatter does not include a person whose rental agreement has expired, a person who has violated the rental agreement, or an invitee on the property. S.E.A. 157, P.L. 191-2025.
A person who, not having a contractual interest in the property, knowingly or intentionally enters the real property of another person after having been denied entry, or refuses to leave after being asked, commits criminal trespass, a Class A misdemeanor. S.E.A. 219, P.L. 23-2025.
Removal of elected officials
Certain county officers may be charged and deprived of office for failing, refusing, or being unable to participate in four consecutive regular meetings of the county executive. A court may proceed to hear and determine the accusation in the accused party’s absence. H.E.A. 1197, P.L. 159-2025.
In an election recount, the recount petition may not be filed earlier than 10 days after the election. If the recount commission determines that the candidate filing the petition did not receive the greatest number of votes, and the candidate who received the greatest number of votes receives at least 10% more of the total votes than the petitioner, the petitioner is liable for expenses. H.E.A. 1679, P.L. 240-2025.
Instead of impeachment for any misdemeanor, state officers are liable to impeachment for crime, incapacity, or negligence in office. H.E.A. 1679, P.L. 240-2025.
Law enforcement procedures
A request for a warrant made orally by telephone or other electronic means must be recorded and typed or transcribed, but it is no longer required that the judge must be the one recording. The prosecuting attorney and law enforcement agency is required to maintain all requests for warrants, and to provide them to a defendant in discovery. S.E.A. 159, P.L. 113-2025.
An affidavit for probable cause, or a person testifying at a probable cause hearing, must disclose a possible conflict of interest. S.E.A. 259, P.L. 131-2025.
A sheriff is required to take a DNA sample from a person taken into custody for a felony and it is a Class C misdemeanor if a person refuses to provide the sample. S.E.A. 120, P.L. 44-2025.
When a law enforcement officer arrests an individual for a felony or a misdemeanor and there is probable cause to believe that the individual is not lawfully present in the United States, the jail or detention facility shall notify the county sheriff of the probable cause during the individual’s intake process, and the county sheriff shall notify the proper authority. H.E.A. 1393, P.L. 121-2025.
A new procedure is established for a law enforcement agency to conduct a lineup or in person witness identification. S.E.A. 141, P.L. 127-2025.
A new procedure is established for the transfer of an inmate from a county jail to another county jail or to the Department of Correction if the inmate poses a serious risk of escape, demonstrates violent or aggressive behavior, or needs to be protected from other inmates. S.E.A. 420, P.L. 110-2025.
Bail
A violent arrestee or a repeat violent arrestee may only be released on bail set individually by the court following a hearing held in open court. Before releasing a violent arrestee or a repeat violent arrestee on bail the court must review the probable cause affidavit or arrest warrant and impose money bail payable by surety bond or cash deposit. A charitable bail organization may not pay this bail. S.E.A. 324, P.L. 197-2025.
A court must consider requiring persons charged with a crime of domestic violence, with a prior unrelated conviction for a violent offense, and at least one prior conviction for invasion of privacy to wear a monitoring device as a condition of bail. S.E.A. 324, P.L. 197-2025.
A facility having custody of a person arrested for certain crimes may not release the person on bail for at least 24 hours. A court may not release a person for those certain crimes until after a bail hearing in open court. H.E.A. 1014, P.L. 218-2025.
Any bail hearing required or permitted to be conducted, including a hearing required to be conducted in open court, may be conducted virtually. H.E.A. 1014, P.L. 218-2025.
New crimes
Swatting: false reporting of a crime to cause the dispatch of law enforcement officers is a Class A misdemeanor or a Level 6 felony if it would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, or threatened. S.E.A. 198, P.L. 129-2025.
Signal jamming: a person who knowingly or intentionally manufactures, offers for sale, imports, markets, sells, possesses, uses, or operates a signal jammer commits unlawful use of a signal jammer, a Level 6 felony. Provides that the offense is a Level 5 felony if a signal jammer is used to disrupt a component of a critical infrastructure facility or the communications of a public safety agency. S.E.A. 26, P.L. 183-2025.
Unlawful encroachment: a person who knowingly or intentionally approaches within 25 feet of a law enforcement officer after being ordered to stop approaching commits unlawful encroachment on a law enforcement officer, a Class C misdemeanor. H.E.A. 1122, P.L. 4-2025.
Sentencing
The penalty levels of fentanyl-related crimes increased. S.E.A. 324, P.L. 197-2025.
The penalty for criminal recklessness increased from a Class B to a Class A misdemeanor. A passenger in a vehicle whose driver is committing criminal recklessness also commits Level 6 felony criminal recklessness if the passenger points a firearm at another person, vehicle, dwelling, or place where people are likely to be present. H.E.A. 1637, P.L. 238-2025.
Adds sentencing aggravator that: (1) the person is in the United States unlawfully; or (2) a person distributed a controlled substance to at least three different individuals in a 180-day period. H.E.A. 1014, P.L. 218-2025.
Adds a sentencing mitigator for certain controlled substance offenses that the person sought and successfully completed treatment for a substance use disorder in the year before the commission of the offense or after committing the offense and before sentencing. H.E.A. 1014, P.L. 218-2025.
The penalty for resisting law enforcement is increased to a Level 5 felony if the person also draws or uses a deadly weapon, inflicts or causes moderate bodily injury, or operates a vehicle in a matter that creates a substantial risk of bodily injury to another. It is additionally increased to a Level 4 felony if the person operates a vehicle in a matter that causes serious bodily injury to another or uses a vehicle to commit the offense and the person has a prior unrelated conviction under this section involving the use of a vehicle in the commission of the offense. H.E.A. 1014, P.L. 218-2025.
Limits the total consecutive terms of imprisonment for misdemeanor convictions arising out of an episode of criminal conduct. If the most serious crime for which the defendant is sentenced is a Class C misdemeanor, the total of the consecutive terms of imprisonment may not exceed one year; if Class B misdemeanor, two years; if Class A misdemeanor, three years. H.E.A. 1014, P.L. 218-2025.
The transfer of a sex or violent offender’s probation jurisdiction to another county in Indiana while the offender is required to register as an offender is prohibited unless both the supervising court in the receiving county issues an order approving the transfer and the supervising court in the sending county issues an order authorizing the transfer. H.E.A. 1687, P.L. 98-2025.
Expungement
A court is required to expunge records related to the red flag law if the court finds that an individual is not dangerous, and a court is permitted to expunge certain records related to the red flag law if the court finds that an individual previously found dangerous is no longer dangerous. H.E.A. 1137, P.L. 32-2025.
A court may not order the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to seal, restrict access to, or expunge a conviction of a state or local traffic control law for a person holding a commercial driver’s license or permit. S.E.A. 281, P.L. 77-2025.
Expungement provisions that apply to elected officials also apply to elected or appointed judicial officers. S.E.A. 281, P.L. 77-2025.
A petition that relates to a finding that a child committed an offense that would be a serious violent felony may not be expunged, only sealed. S.E.A. 281, P.L. 77-2025.
Family law issues
A court must include in a custody order the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law on which the custody order is based. The appellate decision must include the facts upon which the appellate court relied to affirm or reverse an order. H.E.A. 1626, P.L. 38-2025.
A governmental entity may not substantially burden a parent’s fundamental right to direct the upbringing, religious instruction, education, or health care of the parent’s child, unless the burden is required to advance a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of advancing the governmental interest. A governmental entity may not withhold information from the parent, but this does not apply if the parent’s access to the requested information is prohibited by state or federal law or a court order. This law does not authorize a parent to commit child abuse/neglect or sue a judicial officer unless the judicial officer acts in clear absence of jurisdiction. It also does not prohibit a court from issuing an order that is otherwise permitted by law, prevent a person from asserting a defense or claim of immunity available by statute or at common law (including judicial immunity), apply to an act or omission by a parent to end the life of a child, or waive attorney-client privilege. S.E.A. 143, P.L. 101-2025.
CHINS & TPR
A procedural deadline in a CHINS or TPR proceeding is not subject to waiver, whether affirmative or implied, by a party to the proceeding. However, extensions to the deadlines necessitated by unanticipated, emergent circumstances, the circumstances of the case, or the Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure are permissible. H.E.A. 1605, P.L. 179-2025.
A caregiver with whom the child is placed is entitled to attend, in its entirety, any hearing conducted as a part of a CHINS or TPR proceeding. H.E.A. 1605, P.L. 179-2025.
A court in a CHINS proceeding is required to grant a motion to intervene by the caregiver the child is placed with if the petitioner has provided care for 12 months following removal (can be non-consecutive); a TPR petition has been filed with regard to the child; or a child has been removed from the home for at least 12 months and the petitioner has filed a petition to adopt or guardianship petition. H.E.A. 1605, P.L. 179-2025.
The parties of a CHINS case have all rights afforded to parties under the Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure including rights of discovery, subpoena, examination of witnesses, and presentation of evidence at any hearing, including a fact-finding hearing. H.E.A. 1605, P.L. 179-2025.
New CHINS rebuttable presumptions are created. H.E.A. 1605, P.L. 179-2025.
The timeframes for reunification services to be provided to a parent, guardian, or custodian are limited. H.E.A. 1605, P.L. 179-2025.
An initial hearing on a petition to terminate the parent child relationship is required to be held within 30 days of filing of the petition. H.E.A. 1605, P.L. 179-2025.
The child’s caregiver who has intervened in the CHINS proceeding is allowed to file TPR under certain conditions. H.E.A. 1605, P.L. 179-2025.
A child is not a child in need of services due to a parent, guardian, or custodian referring to and raising a child consistent with the child’s biological sex. H.E.A. 1412, P.L. 168-2025.
DCS must coordinate a regional pilot program in two regions where the county prosecutor’s office shall have the exclusive right to act as DCS’s legal counsel for CHINS cases. H.E.A. 1001, P.L. 213-2025.
Juvenile delinquency
Certain records relating to juvenile offenses are accessible to a law enforcement officer acting within the scope of the officer’s duties and requires persons having custody of these records to take steps to ensure that these records are available in a timely manner. The juvenile court shall cooperate to ensure that certain records are available to the prosecuting attorney or a deputy. S.E.A. 281, P.L. 77-2025.
A court having adult criminal jurisdiction has jurisdiction over a person who is at least 21 years of age for an alleged offense committed while the person was a child and that could have been waived under Ind. Code 31-30-3. This applies to a criminal proceeding for an alleged offense regardless of whether the offense was committed before, on, or after July 1, 2023, or the juvenile becomes twenty-one (21) years of age before, on, or after July 1, 2023. H.E.A. 1014, P.L. 218-2025.
Traffic offenses
A person who knowingly or intentionally operates a motor vehicle on a highway and has never received a valid driver’s license commits a:
- Class A misdemeanor if the operation of the motor vehicle results in bodily injury.
- Level 6 felony if the operation of the motor vehicle results in serious bodily injury.
- Level 5 felony if the operation of the motor vehicle results in the death or catastrophic injury of another person.
H.E.A. 1114, P.L. 117-2025.
A person who applies for a driver’s license or permit with the intent to transfer the license or permit to an individual not entitled to the license or permit, or registers or applies for a certificate of title to a motor vehicle with the intent to permit an individual not entitled to a driver’s license or permit to operate the vehicle commits a Class A misdemeanor. The penalty increases to a Level 6 felony if the offense involves at least two individuals or motor vehicles, or if the person uses a business organization or nonprofit organization to commit the offense. H.E.A. 1114, P.L. 117-2025.
The penalty for operating a motor vehicle while under a lifetime forfeiture of driving privileges is: (1) a Level 6 felony, if the forfeiture occurred before July 1, 2015; and (2) a Level 5 felony, if the forfeiture occurred after June 30, 2015. H.E.A. 1554, P.L. 36-2025.
Court fees
Marion County Township Small Claims Courts have a new $26 small claims service fee collected by the clerk at the time of filing the case. H.E.A. 1001, P.L. 213-2025.
The pro bono legal services fee no longer has a sunset provision. H.E.A. 1478, P.L. 106-2025.
New and removed judicial officers
The following positions were eliminated:
- Six juvenile magistrate positions in Marion County effective July 1, 2025.
- Jennings County’s magistrate effective December 31, 2025.
- Monroe Circuit Court, division 2 seat 6 effective December 31, 2026.
- Blackford Superior Court effective December 31, 2028.
The following positions were created:
- Elkhart Circuit and Superior Courts to jointly appoint two new full-time magistrates effective July 1, 2025.
- Hamilton Circuit and Superior Courts to jointly appoint two new full-time magistrates effective July 1, 2025.
- Vigo Circuit and Superior Courts to jointly appoint one new full-time magistrate effective July 1, 2025.
- Lawrence Juvenile Court to appoint a new full-time magistrate effective July 1, 2025.
- Hamilton County Superior Courts No. 8 and No. 9 to be elected at the November 2026 general election and take office January 1, 2027.
H.E.A. 1144, P.L. 224-2025.