LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY
OFFICE OF FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS
200 W. Washington St., Suite 301
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 233-0696
iga.in.gov
FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
LS 6775 NOTE PREPARED: Jan 1, 2023
BILL NUMBER: HB 1240 BILL AMENDED:
SUBJECT: Criminal Law Issues.
FIRST AUTHOR: Rep. Steuerwald BILL STATUS: As Introduced
FIRST SPONSOR:
FUNDS AFFECTED:XGENERAL IMPACT: State & Local
XDEDICATED
FEDERAL
Summary of Legislation: This bill makes numerous changes to the criminal law, including: (1) changing
references from "county prosecuting attorney" to "prosecuting attorney"; (2) specifying the membership of
county school safety commissions; (3) removing and replacing the organized theft statute; (4) increasing the
penalty for fraud and battery under certain circumstances; and (5) defining "abusive head trauma" and
permitting it to be used as an aggravating circumstance. The bill makes certain other changes for consistency.
Effective Date: July 1, 2024.
Explanation of State Expenditures: Summary - The changes proposed in this bill will cause a minor
increase in the offender population of the Department of Correction (DOC). There will be minimal increases
in workload.
Enhances Fraud Exceeding $100,000t from Level 5 to Level 4 felony – Any increase to the DOC offender
population should be minor.
State expenditures will increase if an offender is subject to a longer sentence, as shown in the following table.
[While the maximum pecuniary loss is $100,000 under current law, the common practice is for the
prosecuting attorneys to charge a Level 5 felony if the pecuniary loss exceeds $100,000.]
HB 1240 1 Sentences of Incarceration for Level 4 and 5 Felonies
Minimum Advisory Maximum
Current Law Level 5 Felony 1 year 3 years 6 years
Proposed Level 4 Felony 2 years 6 years 12 years
The entire sentence for Level 4 and Level 5 felonies may be suspended and the person placed on either
probation or community corrections. If no time is suspended, the offender can receive good-time credit of
25% and educational credit time and, after adjusting for credit time, released from prison and placed on
parole.
While longer sentences will increase the DOC population which will increase costs to DOC, this provision
should have a minor increase in DOC’s offender population. The following table shows the number of
convictions for Level 5 fraud for FY 2019 through 2023.
Convictions for Fraud as a Level 5 Felony
FY 2019FY 2020FY 2021FY 2022FY 2023
Convictions 4 1 5 10 55
Commitments to DOC 1 1 0 2 20
% Committed to DOC 25% 100% 0% 20% 36%
Even if 15% of these cases had a pecuniary loss greater than $100,000, the added DOC population would
likely be less than 20 offenders resulting in an additional cost of $85,000 based on the FY 2023 marginal cost
of $4,456 per year.
Abusive Head Trauma – This added language defines “abusive head trauma” that is associated with injuries
to infants and young children caused by either blunt force or shaking. Abusive head trauma would be
included as an aggravating circumstance when determining the duration of a person’s sentence. This matches
the definition of “shaken baby syndrome” (IC 16-41-40-2 ) which can only be caused by “vigorous shaking”.
Excluding Class A Felons from Community Corrections Programs as Direct Commitment – This would have
a minor increase in DOC’s offender population. OFMA found six persons who were sentenced for a Class
A felony between FY 2020 and 2023 and placed in community corrections programs instead of being
committed to a DOC facility.
Battery Enhancement If Prior Conviction Was for Strangulation of the Same Victim – Any increase in DOC’s
population would be minor. Under current law, a person who touches or places bodily fluid on another
person in a rude, insolent or angry manner commits a Class B misdemeanor. As proposed, if the perpetrator
had been previously convicted of strangulation of this same person, the offense would be a Level 5 felony
instead of a Class B misdemeanor.
Any increase in DOC’s population should be minor because OFMA assumes strangulation would be a less
HB 1240 2 common prior conviction than battery against the same person. This is because the number of battery
convictions were four and one half times greater than the number of strangulation convictions between FY
2013 and 2023. OFMA found two people who were convicted of battery against the same person between
FY 2013 and FY 2023.
Dangerous Possession and Unlawful Transfer of a Firearm – This provision would enhance recklessly
possessing a firearm by a juvenile from a Class A misdemeanor to a Level 5 felony if the juvenile has a prior
conviction for unlawfully carrying a handgun. Juvenile courts do not have jurisdiction over individuals who
are older than 16 and charged with either of these firearms related crimes. (IC 31-30-1-4). Depending on the
sentencing outcomes, this bill could cause a minor increase in DOC’s adult offender population. OFMA
found 16 juveniles from seven counties who were adjudicated as delinquents for unlawfully carrying a
handgun and 259 juveniles who were adjudicated for recklessly possessing a firearm for an unauthorized
purpose as a Class A misdemeanor.
Incarceration Costs – The average expenditure to house an adult offender was $28,110 annually, or $76.96
daily, in FY 2023. (This does not include the cost of new construction.) If offenders can be housed in
existing facilities with no additional staff, the marginal cost for medical care, food, and clothing is
approximately $4,456 annually, or $12.21 daily, per prisoner. The marginal cost estimates are based on
contractual agreements with food and medical vendors and projections based on prior years for clothing and
hygiene.
The estimated average cost of housing a juvenile in a state juvenile facility was $112,655 annually, or
$308.43 daily, in FY 2023. The marginal cost for juvenile facilities was $6,325 annually or $17.33 daily.
Explanation of State Revenues:
Explanation of Local Expenditures: Secured Storage of Evidence of Violent Crimes – This provision
should not affect crime labs if the administrators are complying with current law under IC 35. This provision
resolves a conflict in current law concerning storage of DNA evidence from a violent crime incident. This
section of current law in the health code (IC 16) requires the evidence to be stored until the earlier of: 1) at
least one year or 2) until the victim reports the sex crime to law enforcement and the sample is transported
to the crime lab. This deadline would be changed to the later of either: 1) 20 years from the date of when the
defendant’s conviction becomes final or 2) the period of the defendant’s incarceration. The section in IC 35
has been current law since 2022.
Explanation of Local Revenues:
State Agencies Affected: Department of Correction
Local Agencies Affected: Courts of criminal jurisdiction, prosecuting attorneys, county sheriffs
Information Sources: Indiana Supreme Court Abstracts of Judgment; Juvenile Data maintained by the
Indiana Supreme Court; Department of Correction
Fiscal Analyst: Mark Goodpaster, 317-232-9852.
HB 1240 3