|
2010 Indiana General Assembly Update
Final
legislative report: March 19, 2010
After a very contentious final 2 weeks, the Indiana General Assembly
adjourned sine die in the early morning of March 13, 2010. At the end, 115
pieces of legislation passed the legislature. This extremely low number can be
ascribed partly to budgetary woes, which killed any bill with a listed fiscal
impact. Also, the parties in control of the Indiana House and Senate next year
will draw election district maps, establishing the state political landscape
for the next 10 years. Consequently, there was an intensified level of
political rancor as legislators vied for issue sound bites going into
November's critical elections.
This session was extremely
active relating to issues affecting those who experience domestic violence. We
were able to obtain passage of two pieces of legislation, and to also secure
amendments in many other bills. First was enactment of a change to HIV testing
law so that Indiana is in compliance with federal law and will no longer be
penalized by withholding of federal funds for programs addressing domestic
violence and sexual assault. Thanks for this change is owed primarily to Rep.
Linda Lawson, but with gratitude also to Sen. Brent Steele, Sen. Vaneta Becker,
and Rep. Scott Reske for helping see this language through to passage.
Initially the change in HIV testing law was amended by Rep. Lawson into HB
1276, and passed both the House and Senate. However, during conference
committee, HB 1276 was stripped to provide a home for French Lick
gambling language, and Rep. Lawson and Rep. Reske helped amend the HIV testing
language into Rep. Reske's bill relating to no contact orders: HB 1234,
which the Governor signed yesterday. HB 1234 also provides that if a
person charged with a violent crime is released on bail without a hearing that
bail conditions must include a no contact order for ten days following release
or the initial hearing, whichever is earlier; that a person charged with
domestic violence may be required to wear a GPS as a condition of bail,
enhancing last year's law allowing courts to order wearing of a GPS upon a
finding that an order of protection has been violated; and that a court may
require a person convicted of domestic battery to complete a certified
batterer's intervention program.
Advocates
also succeeded in securing passage of "Heather's Law": SB 316, with
prodigious assistance from authors Sen. Earline Rogers and Sen. Dennis Kruse
(also the Senate Education Committee Chair), and from sponsors Rep. Greg Porter
(also the House Education Committee Chair) and Rep. Bob Behning. SB 316
requires the Department of Education to develop a model dating violence
curriculum for grades 6-12, and a model dating violence response policy by July
1, 2011, in consultation with organizations having expertise in domestic
violence and sexual assault. The tireless heart and soul advocate for SB
316 bill was Debbie Norris, whose daughter Heather was brutally murdered by
a boyfriend she starting dating in high school.
Additionally, we were able to obtain and keep an exemption for
domestic violence shelters in HB 1065, which prohibits most employers
from having policies prohibiting employees from keeping guns in their cars at
the workplace, a bill continually opposed by all employer groups and many human
service providers (including domestic violence service providers). Further,
SB 163 (a child support enforcement bill) was amended to include
continued address confidentiality for participants in the Attorney General's
program, SB 178 (a paternity affidavit/joint legal custody bill) was
amended significantly (see summary below), and even though SB 213
(immigration) ultimately died in the House, Sen. Boots and Sen. Delph agreed to
amend SB 213's penalties relating to harboring and concealing to exempt
providers who receive federal or state funding to provide services to a victim
of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, or stalking.
Other new
laws of interest are: SB 222, technically correcting differing versions
of the protection order statutes created after last session, and HB
1271, allowing courts to create problem solving courts, including those for
domestic violence. Summaries of these and other pieces of legislation in
discussion through the end of session are listed below. Legislation that
ultimately passed is followed by actions in bolded green print. Bills that died
are followed by bolded italicized notations.
I. Priority Legislation
HB1234 No contact orders. (Reske, Becker, Lanane)
Requires a court to include as a condition of bail the requirement that a
defendant charged with a violent crime that results in bodily injury to a
person refrain from any direct or indirect contact with the victim for 10 days
after release or until the initial hearing, whichever occurs first, if the
defendant is released to bail without the court having held a bail hearing in
open court. Prohibits certain persons from making certain determinations
concerning the remains of a decedent if the decedent had filed a protection
order against the person and the protection order currently is in effect.
Provides that a pharmacist, pharmacy technician, or person authorized by a
pharmacist to dispense a controlled substance may not dispense a controlled
substance in a retail pharmacy to a person who is not personally known to the
pharmacist, pharmacy technician, or person authorized by a pharmacist to
dispense a controlled substance unless the person taking possession of the
controlled substance provides documented proof of the person's identification
to the pharmacist, pharmacy technician, or person authorized by a pharmacist to
dispense a controlled substance. Provides that a court may require a person
convicted of domestic battery to complete a certified batterer's intervention
program. Provides that a court may require a person charged with domestic
violence to wear a GPS tracking device as a condition of bail. Provides that
211 telephone services shall include assistance with parental stress issues.
Specifies that:
(1) records concerning communicable diseases may be
disclosed; and
(2) patient records that have been classified as
confidential are not required to be made available for inspection after 75
years (as required for other confidential records).
Sets parameters that a
public agency must follow when creating exceptions for the disclosure of
records. Provides an exception to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
testing consent statute. Provides that if a victim of certain crimes requests
that a defendant be tested for HIV, the defendant must be tested.
03/04/2010 H: Conf Report
Adopted(94-0) H
03/05/2010 S:
Conf Report Adopted(48-2) S
03/18/2010 Signed
by the Governor
SB0316
Dating violence education and policies. (Rogers, Kruse, Porter, Behning,
Simpson) Requires the department of education, in collaboration with
organizations that have expertise in dating violence, domestic violence, and
sexual abuse, to develop or identify model dating violence educational
materials and a model for dating violence response policies and reporting.
Requires the department to make the model dating violence educational materials
and model for dating violence response policies developed or identified
available to assist schools with the implementation of dating violence
education programs for grades 6 through 12 and dating violence response polices
by July 1, 2011.
02/02/2010 S:
3rd Reading Pass (41-8)
02/25/2010 H:
3rd Reading Pass (66-31)
03/04/2010 H:
Conf Report Adopted(82-14) H
03/04/2010
S: Conf Report Adopted(45-5) S
03/18/2010
Signed by the Governor
II.
Other legislation affecting domestic violence
HB1065 Various provisions concerning firearms. (Bischoff, Nugent)
Prohibits a person, including an individual, a corporation, and a governmental
entity, from adopting or enforcing a policy or rule that prohibits or has the
effect of prohibiting an employee of the person, including a contract employee,
from legally possessing a firearm or ammunition that is locked in the trunk of
the employee's vehicle, kept in the glove compartment of the employee's locked
vehicle, or stored out of sight in the employee's locked vehicle while the
vehicle is in or on the person's property, unless the firearm or ammunition
requires a certain federal license to possess. Exempts possession of a firearm
or ammunition: (1) on school property, on property used by a school for a
school function, or on a school bus; (2) on certain child care and shelter
facility property; (3) on penal facility property; (4) in violation of federal
law; (5) on property belonging to an approved postsecondary educational
institution; (6) on the property of a domestic violence shelter; (7) at a
person's residence; (8) on the property of a person that is subject to the
United States Department of Homeland Security's Chemical Facility
Anti-Terrorism Standards and licensed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory
Commission; (9) on property owned by a public utility that generates and
transmits electric power or a department of public utilities; and (10) in an
employee's personal vehicle if the employee is a direct support professional
who uses the employee's personal vehicle while transporting an individual with
developmental disabilities. Provides that a court does not have jurisdiction
over an action that: (1) is brought against an employer who is in compliance
with the prohibition against adoption or enforcement of a policy or rule that
prohibits the possession of a firearm in a locked vehicle; and (2) is brought
to recover for any injury or damage resulting from the employer's compliance.
Authorizes a person harmed by a violation to bring a civil action for damages,
costs, attorney's fees, and injunctive relief to remedy a violation. Prohibits
the state, a political subdivision, or any other person from prohibiting or
restricting the lawful possession, transfer, sale, transportation, storage,
display, or use of firearms or ammunition during a declared disaster emergency,
energy emergency, or local disaster emergency, subject to exceptions that apply
to the prohibition against adoption or enforcement of a policy or rule that
prohibits the possession of a firearm in a locked vehicle. Repeals provisions
that allow certain political subdivisions to adopt emergency ordinances to
regulate firearms if a local disaster emergency has been declared. Deletes an
outdated reference.
01/26/2010
H: 3rd Reading Pass (76-21)
02/22/2010 S: 3rd Reading Pass (41-9)
03/04/2010 H: Conf Report
Adopted(75-20) H
03/04/2010 S: Conf
Report Adopted(41-9) S
03/18/2010
Signed by the Governor
SB0178
Paternity affidavits. (Steele, VanDenburgh) Requires a paternity affidavit
to contain: (1) a provision that allows the mother and the man identified as
the father to agree to share joint legal custody of the child; (2) a statement
explaining joint legal custody; (3) a provision stating that if the parties do
not agree to share joint legal custody, the mother has sole legal custody; (4)
a provision stating that even if the parties agree to share joint legal
custody, the mother has primary physical custody; (5) a provision stating that
an agreement to share joint legal custody is void unless the result of a
genetic test performed by an accredited laboratory: (A) indicates that the man
identified as the child's biological father is the child's biological father;
and (B) is submitted to a local health officer not later than 60 days after the
child's birth; and (6) a statement with signature lines that affirms that the
child's mother or the person identified as the child's father, if less than 18
years of age, has had an opportunity to consult with an adult chosen by that
individual. Provides that the man who is identified as the father has parenting
time in accordance with the parenting time guidelines. Provides that, if a
paternity affidavit is executed, the mother has primary physical custody of the
child. Requires that an action to establish custody or parenting time brought
by a party who has agreed in a paternity affidavit to share joint legal custody
be tried de novo. Requires that a paternity affidavit be presented separately
to the child's mother and the man who reasonably appears to be the child's
biological father before it is signed. Provides that an agreement in the
paternity affidavit to share joint legal custody is void if: (1) a genetic test
performed by an accredited laboratory indicates that the man identified as the
child's biological father is not the biological father of the child; or (2) the
man fails to submit the genetic test results to a local health officer not
later than 60 days after the date of the child's birth. Provides that an
individual who: (1) is the child's mother or a man identified as the child's
biological father; and (2) is less than 18 years of age; must be given the
opportunity to consult with an adult chosen by the individual regarding the
contents of the paternity affidavit before signing the affidavit.
03/04/2010 S: Conf
Report Adopted(48-0) S
03/04/2010 H:
Conf Report Adopted(90-0) H
03/12/2010
Signed by the Governor
HB1271
Courts. (Koch, Bray, Lanane, Head) Provides that certain courts may
establish a problem solving court for alternative treatment and rehabilitation.
Requires the board of directors of the judicial center to adopt rules for the
certification and operation of problem solving courts. Repeals certain
provisions regarding drug courts and reentry courts.
03/12/2010 S: Conf Report
Adopted(37-13) S
03/12/2010 H: Conf
Report Adopted(94-0) H
03/16/2010 H:
Signed By the Speaker
SB0163
Various child support matters. (Bray, Zakas, L. Lawson)Requires persons who
own or operate a river boat licensed as a gambling operation or a horse
racetrack licensed for gambling games to withhold cash winnings of obligors for
amounts the obligors are delinquent in child support. Allows persons who own or
operate a river boat licensed as a gambling operation or a horse racetrack
licensed for gambling games to deduct and retain an administrative fee in
relation to withholding the obligor's delinquent child support. Requires the:
(1) gaming commission to place on probationary status, suspend, and deny
licenses for gambling games at horse racetracks; and (2) the alcohol and
tobacco commission to place on probationary status, suspend, and deny
employee's permits; of certain obligors who are delinquent in child support.
Provides that a person whose driving license is suspended because of delinquent
child support is not required to pay a reinstatement fee to have the person's
driving license reinstated. Provides that the child support bureau (bureau) and
certain contractors of the bureau may be granted access to information in
certain state systems and in certain records of state agencies and other
entities, subject to policies adopted to prevent disclosure of certain law
enforcement information. Requires a court to immediately withhold income under
a child support order established in any proceeding. Provides that a parent,
custodian or guardian of child who refuses to cooperate in: (1) a paternity
action; or (2) the establishment or enforcement of a child support order; is
subject to sanctions or revocation or suspension of Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families. Requires a guardian or custodian of a child to make a good
faith effort to cooperate with the bureau and certain other agencies regarding
certain paternity and child support matters. Requires a custodial parent and
noncustodial parent to provide certain information to the clerk of the court.
Provides that a court may consider a child emancipated if the child is on
active duty in the United States armed forces. (Current law provides that a
court may consider a child emancipated if the child has joined the United
States armed forces). Provides that the income withholding provisions apply to
any proceeding in which child support is established. Requires an employer to
transfer the National Medical Support Notice to the employer's health insurance
plan within 20 days after the date of the National Medical Support Notice.
Requires an income withholding order form to contain certain information.
Provides that an income payor may not distribute income in a manner that would
result in one of the current child support obligations not being honored.
Provides that an income payor is not required to vary the income payor's normal
pay and distribution cycles in order to comply with the income withholding
provisions. Requires that a court or administrative agency deem due process met
if certain requirements have been met. Provides that various persons are immune
from civil and criminal liability for certain acts or for failures to act.
Prohibits a person from disclaiming an interest in property up to the extent of
the person's child support arrearage. Prohibits a court from considering a
parent's absence or relocation due to active military duty as a factor in
determining custody or permanently modifying a child custody order. Provides
that if a court temporarily modifies a custody order due to a parent's active
duty service, the order temporarily modifying the custody order terminates
automatically not later that 10 days after the date the parent notifies the
temporary custodian in writing that the parent has returned from active duty
service. Makes a technical correction.
01/28/2010 S: 3rd Reading
Pass (48-0)
02/25/2010 H: 3rd Reading
Pass (98-0)
03/04/2010 S: Ret 1st
House Concur(49-0)
03/11/2010 Received
Received by the Governor
SB0222
Technical corrections. (Holdman, Bartlett) Resolves: (1) conflicts between
differing 2009 amendments to Indiana Code sections; and (2) other technical
problems in the Indiana Code, including incorrect statutory references, the
presence in the Code of provisions that have expired by their own terms,
nonstandard tabulation, the presence in the Code of references to sections that
have been or are being repealed, grammatical problems, the absence of words
needed for sense, and misspellings. Repeals certain sections of the Indiana
Code that: (1) have expired by their own terms; (2) define certain terms for
the purposes of other statutes that were previously repealed; (3) have no
purpose apart from their relation to other statutes that have been repealed;
(4) are repealed to resolve a conflict involving the enactment of different
text at the same location in the Indiana Code; or (5) are repealed to correct
errors concerning the alphabetical order of definitional provisions. (The
introduced version of this bill was prepared by the code revision commission.)
01/28/2010 S: 3rd
Reading Pass (48-0)
02/15/2010 H: 3rd
Reading Pass (91-2)
03/12/2010 Signed
by the Governor
HB1068
Access to handgun license information. (Welch, Steele, Deig, Walker)
Provides that, for purposes of the law concerning access to public records: (1)
information submitted by a person to obtain or renew a license to carry a
handgun; (2) information obtained by a federal, state, or local government
entity in the course of an investigation concerning a person who applies to
obtain or renew a license to carry a handgun; and (3) the name, address, and
any other information that may be used to identify a person who holds a license
to carry a handgun; is confidential, may not be published, and is not open to
public inspection. Specifies that: (1) any information concerning an applicant
for or a person who holds a license to carry a handgun may be released to a
federal, state, or local government entity for law enforcement purposes or to
determine the validity of a license to carry a handgun; or (2) general
information concerning the issuance of licenses to carry handguns in Indiana
may be released to a person conducting journalistic or academic research but
only if all personal information that could disclose the identity of any person
who holds a license to carry a handgun has been removed from the general
information. Provides that the period during which an application for the
renewal of an existing handgun license may be filed begins 365 days (instead of
180 days) before the date the license expires.
01/26/2010 H: 3rd Reading
Pass (85-11)
02/18/2010 S: 3rd Reading
Pass (48-0)
03/12/2010 Signed by the
Governor
Not
passed:
SB0213 Unauthorized aliens. (Kruse, Delph, Boots)
Requires the department of correction to: (1) evaluate the citizenship and
immigration status of a committed offender; and (2) notify and assist the
United States Department of Homeland Security under certain conditions.
Provides that the fact that a defendant is a foreign national not lawfully
admitted to the United States is a fact relevant to the risk of nonappearance a
judicial officer must consider in setting bail. Requires a sheriff to make a
reasonable effort to determine the citizenship or immigration status of certain
persons confined in a county jail. Prohibits a governmental body from enacting
an ordinance, resolution, rule, or policy that prohibits or limits another
governmental body from sending, receiving, maintaining, or exchanging
information on the citizenship or immigration status of an individual. Allows a
person to bring an action to compel a governmental body to comply with the
prohibition. Requires the department of workforce development to verify through
the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program the lawful
presence of certain individuals who apply for unemployment benefits. Requires a
state agency or political subdivision to verify employees through the E-Verify
program unless the E-Verify program no longer exists. Prohibits a state agency
or political subdivision from entering into or renewing a public contract for
services with a contractor unless the contract requires the contractor to
verify employees through the E-Verify program if the E-Verify program exists.
Provides that: (1) a state agency or political subdivision may terminate a
public contract for services under certain conditions regarding the knowing
employment or retention of unauthorized aliens; and (2) if a public contract
for services is terminated, a contractor is liable for actual damages. Allows a
contractor of a public contract for services to terminate a contract with a
subcontractor if the subcontractor employs or contracts with unauthorized
aliens. Makes it, except in certain circumstances, a: (1) Class C infraction
for a person to knowingly or intentionally offer in writing, accept, or record
a consular identification for any public purpose; or (2) Class C infraction for
a person to knowingly or intentionally offer in writing, accept, or record an
individual taxpayer identification number as a valid form of identification for
any public or private purpose. Increases penalties for certain crimes.
Establishes additional penalties for certain crimes. Makes making a false
identity statement a Class A misdemeanor. Makes it a: (1) Class A misdemeanor
to knowingly or intentionally transport or move; and (2) Class A misdemeanor to
knowingly or intentionally conceal, harbor, or shield from detection; an alien,
for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain, knowing or in
reckless disregard of the fact that the alien has come to, entered, or remained
in the United States in violation of law. (Exempts a provider that receives
federal or state funding to provide services to victims of domestic violence,
sexual assault, human trafficking, or stalking; and is providing the services.)
Requires the office of management and budget to, not later than July 1, 2011,
calculate an estimate of the costs of illegal aliens to the state and make a
written request to the Congress of the United States to reimburse the state for
those costs.
02/02/2010 S: 3rd
Reading Pass (46-4)
02/09/2010 H: 1st
Reading Assigned Interstate and International Cooperation.
Not heard in the House and language was not passed in conference committee.
Bill died.
Sexual
Assault
SB0224 Electronic dissemination of indecent material.
(Merritt, Lanane, Kruse, Wyss, L. Lawson) Requires the sentencing study policy
committee to study and make recommendations regarding the sending of sexually
suggestive or sexually explicit material over the Internet or by use of a
cellular telephone or similar device. Provides that a school corporation may
offer classes or instruction regarding the risks and consequences of creating
and sharing sexually suggestive or sexually explicit materials electronically.
Provides filing and notice requirements for a petition to remove a person's
designation as a sex offender or to require the person to register under less
restrictive conditions.
03/05/2010 S: Conf Report
Adopted(50-0) S
03/10/2010 H: Conf
Report Adopted(95-0) H
03/16/2010 H:
Signed By the Speaker
SB0342
Bodily substance samples. (Lanane, Pierce) Specifies that certain
procedures for taking a bodily substance sample do not apply if the sample is
taken in a hospital.
03/12/2010
Signed by the Governor
III.
Other Family Law
HB1047 Change of name requirements. (Cheatham,
Bray, Lewis) Requires that a petition for a change of name must: (1) include
certain information for persons at least 17 years of age; (2) if filed by a
person at least 17 years of age, be subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) under
the penalties of perjury and before a notary public or other person authorized
to administer oaths; and (3) be filed with the circuit court of the county in
which the person resides. Specifies that a petition for a change of name for a
person at least 17 years of age must include: (1) the person's date of birth;
(2) the person's current residence address and, if different, mailing address;
(3) the person's valid Indiana driver's license or identification card number;
(4) a list of all previous names used by the person; (5) proof that the person
is a United States citizen; (6) a statement concerning whether the person holds
a valid United States passport; and (7) a description of all judgments of
criminal conviction of a felony under the laws of any state or the United
States that have been entered against the person. Removes a provision that
requires a parent or guardian of a minor child who wishes to change the name of
the minor child to publish the first notice of the petition for the name change
not more than seven days after the date the petition is filed.
03/17/2010 Signed by the Governor
Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence
1915 W. 18th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Phone (317) 917-3685 or (800) 538-3393
Fax (317)
917-3695
Crisis Line 1-800-332-7385 |
|
