IN
Indiana House Bill HB1221

Indiana 2024 Regular Session

Indiana House Bill HB1221 Compare Versions

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22 Introduced Version
33 HOUSE BILL No. 1221
44 _____
55 DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
66 Citations Affected: IC 20-26-5.5; IC 35-49; IC 35-52-20-0.7.
77 Synopsis: Material that is obscene or harmful to minors. Defines terms
88 and amends the education and criminal laws related to material that is
99 obscene or harmful to minors.
1010 Effective: July 1, 2024.
1111 Abbott, Carbaugh
1212 January 9, 2024, read first time and referred to Committee on Education.
1313 2024 IN 1221—LS 6567/DI 152 Introduced
1414 Second Regular Session of the 123rd General Assembly (2024)
1515 PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
1616 Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
1717 additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
1818 Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
1919 provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the
2020 word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds
2121 a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
2222 Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
2323 between statutes enacted by the 2023 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
2424 HOUSE BILL No. 1221
2525 A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
2626 education.
2727 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
2828 1 SECTION 1. IC 20-26-5.5-0.5 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA
2929 2 CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS
3030 3 [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2024]: Sec. 0.5. (a) As used in this chapter,
3131 4 "classroom library" means any collection of reading material
3232 5 other than approved curricular materials available for a student
3333 6 within each classroom.
3434 7 (b) As used in this chapter, "material" includes matter or a
3535 8 performance.
3636 9 (c) As used in this chapter, "matter" has the meaning set forth
3737 10 in IC 35-49-1-3.
3838 11 (d) As used in this chapter, "obscene or harmful to minors"
3939 12 means matter or a performance that:
4040 13 (1) has not been approved for instruction on human sexuality
4141 14 by the:
4242 15 (A) governing body of a school corporation under
4343 16 IC 20-26-12-24; or
4444 17 (B) equivalent authority of a charter school or state
4545 2024 IN 1221—LS 6567/DI 152 2
4646 1 accredited nonpublic school; and
4747 2 (2) includes a patently offensive pictorial depiction or patently
4848 3 offensive written depiction of:
4949 4 (A) nudity involving lewd exhibition of the genitals;
5050 5 (B) nudity involving genitals in an aroused state; or
5151 6 (C) sexual conduct, including:
5252 7 (i) masturbation;
5353 8 (ii) vaginal sex;
5454 9 (iii) oral sex;
5555 10 (iv) anal sex;
5656 11 (v) oral-anal sex;
5757 12 (vi) the use of sex toys or other objects for sexual
5858 13 gratification;
5959 14 (vii) ejaculation; or
6060 15 (viii) sado-masochistic abuse.
6161 16 (e) As used in this chapter, "performance" has the meaning set
6262 17 forth in IC 35-49-1-7.
6363 18 (f) As used in this chapter, "school library" means a room, cart,
6464 19 or location:
6565 20 (1) outside of a classroom; and
6666 21 (2) in which a collection of reading materials other than
6767 22 approved curricular materials is available for student use.
6868 23 SECTION 2. IC 20-26-5.5-1, AS ADDED BY P.L.234-2023,
6969 24 SECTION 2, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
7070 25 JULY 1, 2024]: Sec. 1. (a) The governing body of a school corporation
7171 26 or the equivalent authority of a charter school or state accredited
7272 27 nonpublic school shall establish a:
7373 28 (1) procedure for each school to prepare a catalogue of materials
7474 29 available in the school library or a classroom library;
7575 30 (2) procedure for each school to allow a:
7676 31 (A) parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the school; or
7777 32 (B) community member:
7878 33 (i) within the school district; or
7979 34 (ii) within the school district in which the charter school is
8080 35 located;
8181 36 to submit a request to remove material from the school library or
8282 37 a classroom library that is obscene (as described in
8383 38 IC 35-49-2-1) or harmful to minors; (as described in
8484 39 IC 35-49-2-2); and
8585 40 (3) response and appeal procedure for each school to respond to
8686 41 a removal request submitted by a parent, guardian, or community
8787 42 member described in subdivision (2).
8888 2024 IN 1221—LS 6567/DI 152 3
8989 1 (b) The response and appeal procedure established under subsection
9090 2 (a)(3) must require the governing body to review the request at the next
9191 3 public meeting.
9292 4 (c) If the governing body of a school corporation or the
9393 5 equivalent authority of a charter school or state accredited
9494 6 nonpublic school determines material is obscene or harmful to
9595 7 minors under subsection (a), the material must be removed from
9696 8 the school.
9797 9 SECTION 3. IC 20-26-5.5-2, AS ADDED BY P.L.234-2023,
9898 10 SECTION 2, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
9999 11 JULY 1, 2024]: Sec. 2. The governing body of a school corporation or
100100 12 the equivalent authority of a charter school or state accredited
101101 13 nonpublic school shall:
102102 14 (1) publish on the website of each school; and
103103 15 (2) make available in hard copy for an individual upon request;
104104 16 the catalogue of material available in the school library and each
105105 17 classroom library and each policy established under this chapter.
106106 18 SECTION 4. IC 20-26-5.5-3, AS ADDED BY P.L.234-2023,
107107 19 SECTION 2, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
108108 20 JULY 1, 2024]: Sec. 3. (a) A school corporation or charter school The
109109 21 following may not knowingly make available materials or provide to
110110 22 a student material that contain:
111111 23 (1) obscene matter (as described in IC 35-49-2-1); or
112112 24 (2) matter harmful to minors (as described in IC 35-49-2-2);
113113 25 within the school library. is obscene or harmful to minors:
114114 26 (1) A school corporation.
115115 27 (2) A public school, including a charter school.
116116 28 (3) A state accredited nonpublic school.
117117 29 (4) An employee, a contractor, or a third party vendor of an
118118 30 entity described in subdivisions (1) through (3).
119119 31 (b) A violation of subsection (a) is a Level 6 felony under
120120 32 IC 35-49-3-3.
121121 33 SECTION 5. IC 35-49-1-3 IS AMENDED TO READ AS
122122 34 FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2024]: Sec. 3. "Matter" means:
123123 35 (1) any book, magazine, newspaper, or other printed, digitized, or
124124 36 written material;
125125 37 (2) any picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture, digitized
126126 38 image, or other pictorial representation;
127127 39 (3) any statue or other figure;
128128 40 (4) any recording, transcription, or digital, mechanical, chemical,
129129 41 or electrical reproduction; or
130130 42 (5) any other articles, equipment, machines, or materials.
131131 2024 IN 1221—LS 6567/DI 152 4
132132 1 SECTION 6. IC 35-49-1-7 IS AMENDED TO READ AS
133133 2 FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2024]: Sec. 7. "Performance"
134134 3 means any play, motion picture, dance, or other exhibition or
135135 4 presentation, whether pictured, animated, recorded, or live, performed
136136 5 before an audience of one (1) or more persons.
137137 6 SECTION 7. IC 35-49-2-1 IS AMENDED TO READ AS
138138 7 FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2024]: Sec. 1. A matter or
139139 8 performance is obscene for purposes of this article if:
140140 9 (1) the matter or performance is obscene or harmful to
141141 10 minors (as defined in IC 20-26-5.5-0.5(d)); or
142142 11 (1) (2) the:
143143 12 (A) average person, applying contemporary community
144144 13 standards, finds that the dominant theme of the matter or
145145 14 performance, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest
146146 15 in sex;
147147 16 (2) (B) the matter or performance depicts or describes, in a
148148 17 patently offensive way, sexual conduct; and
149149 18 (3) (C) the matter or performance, taken as a whole, lacks
150150 19 serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
151151 20 SECTION 8. IC 35-49-2-2 IS AMENDED TO READ AS
152152 21 FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2024]: Sec. 2. A matter or
153153 22 performance is harmful to minors for purposes of this article if:
154154 23 (1) the matter or performance is obscene or harmful to
155155 24 minors (as defined in IC 20-26-5.5-0.5(d)); or
156156 25 (1) (2) it the matter or performance:
157157 26 (A) describes or represents, in any form, nudity, sexual
158158 27 conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse;
159159 28 (2) (B) considered as a whole, it appeals to the prurient interest
160160 29 in sex of minors;
161161 30 (3) (C) it is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the
162162 31 adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable
163163 32 matter for or performance before minors; and
164164 33 (4) (D) considered as a whole, it lacks serious literary, artistic,
165165 34 political, or scientific value for minors.
166166 35 SECTION 9. IC 35-49-3-4, AS AMENDED BY P.L.234-2023,
167167 36 SECTION 6, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
168168 37 JULY 1, 2024]: Sec. 4. (a) It is a defense to a prosecution under section
169169 38 3 of this chapter for the defendant to show:
170170 39 (1) that the matter was disseminated or that the performance was
171171 40 performed for legitimate scientific purposes;
172172 41 (2) that the matter was disseminated or displayed to or that the
173173 42 performance was performed before the recipient by a bona fide
174174 2024 IN 1221—LS 6567/DI 152 5
175175 1 college, university, museum, college library, or public library that
176176 2 qualifies for certain property tax exemptions under IC 6-1.1-10,
177177 3 or university library, or by an employee of such a school, college,
178178 4 university, museum, college library, or public library, or
179179 5 university library acting within the scope of the employee's
180180 6 employment;
181181 7 (3) that the defendant had reasonable cause to believe that the
182182 8 minor involved was eighteen (18) years of age or older and that
183183 9 the minor exhibited to the defendant a draft card, driver's license,
184184 10 birth certificate, or other official or apparently official document
185185 11 purporting to establish that the minor was eighteen (18) years of
186186 12 age or older; or
187187 13 (4) that the defendant was a salesclerk, motion picture
188188 14 projectionist, usher, or ticket taker, acting within the scope of the
189189 15 defendant's employment and that the defendant had no financial
190190 16 interest in the place where the defendant was so employed; or
191191 17 (5) that:
192192 18 (A) the defendant was:
193193 19 (i) an employee of a school corporation, charter school,
194194 20 or state accredited nonpublic school; and
195195 21 (ii) acting within the scope of the defendant's
196196 22 employment; and
197197 23 (B) the matter or performance was approved for
198198 24 instruction on human sexuality by the:
199199 25 (i) governing body of the school corporation under
200200 26 IC 20-26-12-24; or
201201 27 (ii) equivalent authority of the charter school or state
202202 28 accredited nonpublic school.
203203 29 (b) Except as provided in subsection (c), it is a defense to a
204204 30 prosecution under section 3 of this chapter if all the following apply:
205205 31 (1) A cellular telephone, another wireless or cellular
206206 32 communications device, or a social networking web site was used
207207 33 to disseminate matter to a minor that is harmful to minors.
208208 34 (2) The defendant is not more than four (4) years older or younger
209209 35 than the person who received the matter that is harmful to minors.
210210 36 (3) The relationship between the defendant and the person who
211211 37 received the matter that is harmful to minors was a dating
212212 38 relationship or an ongoing personal relationship. For purposes of
213213 39 this subdivision, the term "ongoing personal relationship" does
214214 40 not include a family relationship.
215215 41 (4) The crime was committed by a person less than twenty-two
216216 42 (22) years of age.
217217 2024 IN 1221—LS 6567/DI 152 6
218218 1 (5) The person receiving the matter expressly or implicitly
219219 2 acquiesced in the defendant's conduct.
220220 3 (c) The defense to a prosecution described in subsection (b) does
221221 4 not apply if:
222222 5 (1) the image is disseminated to a person other than the person:
223223 6 (A) who sent the image; or
224224 7 (B) who is depicted in the image; or
225225 8 (2) the dissemination of the image violates:
226226 9 (A) a protective order to prevent domestic or family violence
227227 10 or harassment issued under IC 34-26-5 (or, if the order
228228 11 involved a family or household member, under IC 34-26-2 or
229229 12 IC 34-4-5.1-5 before their repeal);
230230 13 (B) an ex parte protective order issued under IC 34-26-5 (or,
231231 14 if the order involved a family or household member, an
232232 15 emergency order issued under IC 34-26-2 or IC 34-4-5.1
233233 16 before their repeal);
234234 17 (C) a workplace violence restraining order issued under
235235 18 IC 34-26-6;
236236 19 (D) a no contact order in a dispositional decree issued under
237237 20 IC 31-34-20-1, IC 31-37-19-1, or IC 31-37-5-6 (or
238238 21 IC 31-6-4-15.4 or IC 31-6-4-15.9 before their repeal) or an
239239 22 order issued under IC 31-32-13 (or IC 31-6-7-14 before its
240240 23 repeal) that orders the person to refrain from direct or indirect
241241 24 contact with a child in need of services or a delinquent child;
242242 25 (E) a no contact order issued as a condition of pretrial release,
243243 26 including release on bail or personal recognizance, or pretrial
244244 27 diversion, and including a no contact order issued under
245245 28 IC 35-33-8-3.6;
246246 29 (F) a no contact order issued as a condition of probation;
247247 30 (G) a protective order to prevent domestic or family violence
248248 31 issued under IC 31-15-5 (or IC 31-16-5 or IC 31-1-11.5-8.2
249249 32 before their repeal);
250250 33 (H) a protective order to prevent domestic or family violence
251251 34 issued under IC 31-14-16-1 in a paternity action;
252252 35 (I) a no contact order issued under IC 31-34-25 in a child in
253253 36 need of services proceeding or under IC 31-37-25 in a juvenile
254254 37 delinquency proceeding;
255255 38 (J) an order issued in another state that is substantially similar
256256 39 to an order described in clauses (A) through (I);
257257 40 (K) an order that is substantially similar to an order described
258258 41 in clauses (A) through (I) and is issued by an Indian:
259259 42 (i) tribe;
260260 2024 IN 1221—LS 6567/DI 152 7
261261 1 (ii) band;
262262 2 (iii) pueblo;
263263 3 (iv) nation; or
264264 4 (v) organized group or community, including an Alaska
265265 5 Native village or regional or village corporation as defined
266266 6 in or established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement
267267 7 Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.);
268268 8 that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and
269269 9 services provided by the United States to Indians because of
270270 10 their special status as Indians;
271271 11 (L) an order issued under IC 35-33-8-3.2; or
272272 12 (M) an order issued under IC 35-38-1-30.
273273 13 SECTION 10. IC 35-52-20-0.7 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA
274274 14 CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS
275275 15 [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2024]: Sec. 0.7. IC 20-26-5.5-3 defines a
276276 16 crime concerning materials that are obscene or harmful to minors.
277277 2024 IN 1221—LS 6567/DI 152