*HB1369.1*
January 25, 2024
HOUSE BILL No. 1369
_____
DIGEST OF HB 1369 (Updated January 24, 2024 10:38 am - DI 151)
Citations Affected: IC 31-9; IC 31-10; IC 31-34; IC 31-35.
Synopsis: Family and juvenile law matters. Amends the definition for
"act of rape" to include all forms of child molestation and sexual
misconduct with a minor. Provides that the department of child
services or a court shall consider ensuring the child's safety to be the
most important consideration in the determination of a child's best
interests under family and juvenile law. Provides that there is a
rebuttable presumption that a child is a child in need of services if the
state establishes that the child lives in the same household as an adult
who was a perpetrator of a child fatality or near fatality that may have
been the result of abuse, abandonment, or neglect. Adds sexual
misconduct with a minor as an offense that may be alleged in a petition
to terminate the parent-child relationship when a child is conceived as
a result of the offense. Amends the circumstances under which a court
may terminate the parent-child relationship with regard to a child in
need of services.
Effective: Upon passage; July 1, 2024.
McGuire, Jeter, Steuerwald,
Goss-Reaves
January 10, 2024, read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary.
January 25, 2024, amended, reported — Do Pass.
HB 1369—LS 7031/DI 119 January 25, 2024
Second Regular Session of the 123rd General Assembly (2024)
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the
word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds
a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
between statutes enacted by the 2023 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
HOUSE BILL No. 1369
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
family law and juvenile law.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
1 SECTION 1. IC 31-9-2-0.9, AS ADDED BY P.L.64-2016,
2 SECTION 1, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
3 UPON PASSAGE]: Sec. 0.9. "Act of rape", for purposes of
4 IC 31-35-3.5, means an act described in:
5 (1) IC 35-42-4-1; or
6 (2) IC 35-42-4-3(a) that:
7 (A) is committed by using or threatening the use of deadly
8 force or while armed with a deadly weapon;
9 (B) results in serious bodily injury; or
10 (C) is facilitated by furnishing the victim, without the victim's
11 knowledge, with a drug (as defined in IC 16-42-19-2(1)) or a
12 controlled substance (as defined in IC 35-48-1-9) or knowing
13 that the victim was furnished with the drug or controlled
14 substance without the victim's knowledge.
15 (2) IC 35-42-4-3; or
16 (3) IC 35-42-4-9.
17 SECTION 2. IC 31-10-2-1.5 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE
HB 1369—LS 7031/DI 119 2
1 AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY
2 1, 2024]: Sec. 1.5. The department or a court shall consider
3 ensuring the child's safety to be the most important consideration
4 in the determination of a child's best interests under this title.
5 SECTION 3. IC 31-34-12-4.5, AS AMENDED BY P.L.71-2018,
6 SECTION 2, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
7 JULY 1, 2024]: Sec. 4.5. (a) There is a rebuttable presumption that a
8 child is a child in need of services if the state establishes that the child
9 lives in the same household as an adult who:
10 (1) committed an offense described in IC 31-34-1-2,
11 IC 31-34-1-3, or IC 31-34-1-3.5 against a child and the offense
12 resulted in a conviction or a judgment under IC 31-34-11-2; or
13 (2) has been charged with an offense described in IC 31-34-1-2,
14 IC 31-34-1-3, or IC 31-34-1-3.5 against a child and is awaiting
15 trial; or
16 (3) was a perpetrator of a child fatality or near fatality as
17 described by IC 31-33-18-1.5.
18 (b) The following may not be used as grounds to rebut the
19 presumption under subsection (a):
20 (1) The child who is the victim of the offense described in
21 IC 31-34-1-2 or IC 31-34-1-3 is not genetically related to the adult
22 who committed the act, but the child presumed to be the child in
23 need of services under this section is genetically related to the
24 adult who committed the act.
25 (2) The child who is the victim of the offense described in
26 IC 31-34-1-2 or IC 31-34-1-3 differs in age from the child
27 presumed to be the child in need of services under this section.
28 (c) This section does not affect the ability to take a child into
29 custody or emergency custody under IC 31-34-2 if the act of taking the
30 child into custody or emergency custody is not based upon a
31 presumption established under this section. However, if the
32 presumption established under this section is the sole basis for taking
33 a child into custody or emergency custody under IC 31-34-2, the court
34 first must find cause to take the child into custody or emergency
35 custody following a hearing in which the parent, guardian, or custodian
36 of the child is accorded the rights described in IC 31-34-4-6(a)(2)
37 through IC 31-34-4-6(a)(5).
38 SECTION 4. IC 31-35-2-4, AS AMENDED BY P.L.258-2019,
39 SECTION 3, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
40 JULY 1, 2024]: Sec. 4. (a) A petition to terminate the parent-child
41 relationship involving a child adjudicated as a delinquent child or a
42 child in need of services may be signed and filed with the juvenile or
HB 1369—LS 7031/DI 119 3
1 probate court by any of the following:
2 (1) The attorney for the department.
3 (2) The child's court appointed special advocate.
4 (3) The child's guardian ad litem.
5 (b) The A petition must meet the following requirements: filed
6 under subsection (a)
7 (1) The petition must be entitled "In the Matter of the Termination
8 of the Parent-Child Relationship of ___________, a child, and
9 ____________, the child's parent (or parents)".
10 (2) The (c) A petition filed under subsection (a) must allege:
11 (1) the existence of one (1) or more of the circumstances
12 described in subsection (d);
13 (2) that there is a satisfactory plan for care and treatment of
14 the child; and
15 (3) that termination of the parent-child relationship is in the
16 child's best interests.
17 (d) A petition filed under subsection (a) must allege the existence
18 of one (1) or more of the following circumstances:
19 (A) (1) That one (1) of the following is true:
20 (i) The child has been removed from the parent for at least
21 six (6) months under a dispositional decree.
22 (ii) a court has entered a finding under IC 31-34-21-5.6 that
23 reasonable efforts for family preservation or reunification
24 are not required, including a description of the court's
25 finding, the date of the finding, and the manner in which the
26 finding was made.
27 (iii) (2) That:
28 (A) the child has been removed from the parent and has been
29 under the supervision of a local office or probation department
30 for at least fifteen (15) months of the most recent twenty-two
31 (22) months, beginning with the date the child is removed
32 from the home as a result of the child being alleged to be a
33 child in need of services or a delinquent child; and
34 (B) that one (1) of the following is true: despite the
35 department's reasonable efforts to preserve and reunify
36 the child's family under IC 31-34-21-5.5, the parent has
37 been unable to remedy the circumstances that resulted in
38 the child being placed in care outside the parent's home.
39 (i) (3) That there is a reasonable probability that the conditions
40 that resulted in the child's removal or the reasons for placement
41 outside the home of the parents will not be remedied.
42 (ii) (4) That there is a reasonable probability that the continuation
HB 1369—LS 7031/DI 119 4
1 of the parent-child relationship poses a threat to the well-being,
2 safety, physical health, or life of the child.
3 (iii) (5) That the child has, on two (2) separate occasions, been
4 adjudicated a child in need of services.
5 (C) that termination is in the best interests of the child; and
6 (D) that there is a satisfactory plan for the care and treatment
7 of the child.
8 (6) That:
9 (A) at least ninety (90) days have passed since the filing of
10 the petition alleging that the child is a child in need of
11 services; and
12 (B) the identity or location of the parent is unknown
13 despite reasonable efforts having been made to identify or
14 locate the parent.
15 (7) That the parent:
16 (A) failed to substantially comply with the child's
17 dispositional decree for a period of at least twelve (12)
18 months following the child's:
19 (i) removal from the parent's home under IC 31-34-2; or
20 (ii) adjudication as a child in need of services;
21 whichever occurred earlier, unless the parent's failure to
22 substantially comply with the child's dispositional decree
23 was due to the failure of the department to make
24 reasonable efforts to preserve and reunify the child's
25 family under IC 31-34-21-5.5; or
26 (B) is unlikely or unable to substantially comply with the
27 child's dispositional decree.
28 (8) That the parent is incarcerated and one (1) or more of the
29 following is true:
30 (A) The parent is expected to remain incarcerated for a
31 significant portion of the remaining time during which the
32 child is less than eighteen (18) years of age.
33 (B) The parent is a sexually violent predator (as defined by
34 IC 35-38-1-7.5).
35 (9) That the parent:
36 (A) has a history of extensive, abusive, and chronic use of
37 alcohol or a controlled substance that renders the parent
38 incapable of caring for the child; and
39 (B) has refused or failed to complete available treatment
40 for the alcohol or controlled substance use during the two
41 (2) year period immediately preceding the filing date of the
42 petition under subsection (a).
HB 1369—LS 7031/DI 119 5
1 (10) That:
2 (A) a test administered at the child's birth that indicated
3 that the child's blood, urine, or meconium contained any
4 amount of alcohol or a controlled substance, or metabolites
5 of such substances, the presence of which was not the
6 result of medical treatment administered to the mother or
7 the child; and
8 (B) the parent:
9 (i) is the biological mother of at least one (1) other child
10 who was adjudicated a child in need of services after a
11 finding of harm to the child's health or welfare due to
12 exposure to alcohol or a controlled substance; and
13 (ii) had the opportunity to participate in substance abuse
14 treatment following the finding under item (i).
15 (11) That the child was conceived as a result of:
16 (A) an offense under IC 35-42-3.5 (human and sexual
17 trafficking);
18 (B) rape (IC 35-42-4-1);
19 (C) child molestation (IC 35-42-4-3);
20 (D) sexual misconduct with a minor (IC 35-42-4-9); or
21 (E) an offense committed in another jurisdiction the
22 elements of which are substantially similar to the elements
23 of an offense described in clause (A), (B), (C), or (D);
24 committed by the biological parent of the child whose
25 parent-child relationship with the child is the subject of the
26 petition.
27 (12) That the parent is required to register as a sex or violent
28 offender under IC 11-8-8.
29 (3) (e) If the department intends to file a motion to dismiss under
30 section 4.5 of this chapter, the petition must indicate whether at least
31 one (1) of the factors listed in section 4.5(d)(1) through 4.5(d)(4) of this
32 chapter applies and specify each factor that would apply as the basis for
33 filing a motion to dismiss the petition.
34 (c) (f) At the time the petitioner files the verified a petition
35 described in subsection (b) under this section with the juvenile or
36 probate court, the petitioner shall also file a:
37 (1) copy of the order approving the permanency plan under
38 IC 31-34-21-7 for the child; or
39 (2) permanency plan for the child as described by
40 IC 31-34-21-7.5.
41 SECTION 5. An emergency is declared for this act.
HB 1369—LS 7031/DI 119 6
COMMITTEE REPORT
Mr. Speaker: Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred
House Bill 1369, has had the same under consideration and begs leave
to report the same back to the House with the recommendation that said
bill be amended as follows:
Page 1, between the enacting clause and line 1, begin a new
paragraph and insert:
"SECTION 1. IC 31-9-2-0.9, AS ADDED BY P.L.64-2016,
SECTION 1, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
UPON PASSAGE]: Sec. 0.9. "Act of rape", for purposes of
IC 31-35-3.5, means an act described in:
(1) IC 35-42-4-1; or
(2) IC 35-42-4-3(a) that:
(A) is committed by using or threatening the use of deadly
force or while armed with a deadly weapon;
(B) results in serious bodily injury; or
(C) is facilitated by furnishing the victim, without the victim's
knowledge, with a drug (as defined in IC 16-42-19-2(1)) or a
controlled substance (as defined in IC 35-48-1-9) or knowing
that the victim was furnished with the drug or controlled
substance without the victim's knowledge.
(2) IC 35-42-4-3; or
(3) IC 35-42-4-9.".
Page 5, line 3, delete "or".
Page 5, between lines 3 and 4, begin a new line double block
indented and insert:
"(D) sexual misconduct with a minor (IC 35-42-4-9); or".
Page 5, line 4, delete "(D)" and insert "(E)".
Page 5, line 6, delete "or (C);" and insert "(C), or (D);".
Page 5, after line 23, begin a new paragraph and insert:
"SECTION 5. An emergency is declared for this act.".
Renumber all SECTIONS consecutively.
and when so amended that said bill do pass.
(Reference is to HB 1369 as introduced.)
JETER
Committee Vote: yeas 11, nays 0.
HB 1369—LS 7031/DI 119