Indiana 2024 Regular Session

Indiana Senate Bill SB0136 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2	Introduced Version
3	3	SENATE BILL No. 136
4	4	_____
5	5	DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
6	6	Citations Affected: IC 33-24-6.
7	7	Synopsis: Judicial transparency. Requires the office of judicial
8	8	administration to compile, transmit, and publish the public safety and
9	9	judicial accountability report containing certain information about
10	10	judicial officers who exercise criminal jurisdiction.
11	11	Effective: July 1, 2024.
12	12	Gaskill
13	13	January 8, 2024, read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary.
14	14	2024 IN 136—LS 6106/DI 149 Introduced
15	15	Second Regular Session of the 123rd General Assembly (2024)
16	16	PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
17	17	Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
18	18	additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
19	19	Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
20	20	provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the
21	21	word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds
22	22	a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
23	23	Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
24	24	between statutes enacted by the 2023 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
25	25	SENATE BILL No. 136
26	26	A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
27	27	courts and court officers.
28	28	Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
29	29	1 SECTION 1. IC 33-24-6-3, AS AMENDED BY P.L.205-2023,
30	30	2 SECTION 28, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
31	31	3 JULY 1, 2024]: Sec. 3. (a) The office of judicial administration shall
32	32	4 do the following:
33	33	5 (1) Examine the administrative and business methods and systems
34	34	6 employed in the offices of the clerks of court and other offices
35	35	7 related to and serving the courts and make recommendations for
36	36	8 necessary improvement.
37	37	9 (2) Collect and compile statistical data and other information on
38	38	10 the judicial work of the courts in Indiana. All justices of the
39	39	11 supreme court, judges of the court of appeals, judges of all trial
40	40	12 courts, and any city or town courts, whether having general or
41	41	13 special jurisdiction, court clerks, court reporters, and other
42	42	14 officers and employees of the courts shall, upon notice by the
43	43	15 chief administrative officer and in compliance with procedures
44	44	16 prescribed by the chief administrative officer, furnish the chief
45	45	17 administrative officer the information as is requested concerning
46	46	2024 IN 136—LS 6106/DI 149 2
47	47	1 the nature and volume of judicial business. The information must
48	48	2 include the following:
49	49	3 (A) The volume, condition, and type of business conducted by
50	50	4 the courts.
51	51	5 (B) The methods of procedure in the courts.
52	52	6 (C) The work accomplished by the courts.
53	53	7 (D) The receipt and expenditure of public money by and for
54	54	8 the operation of the courts.
55	55	9 (E) The methods of disposition or termination of cases.
56	56	10 (3) Prepare and publish reports, not less than one (1) or more than
57	57	11 two (2) times per year, on the nature and volume of judicial work
58	58	12 performed by the courts as determined by the information
59	59	13 required in subdivision (2).
60	60	14 (4) Serve the judicial nominating commission and the judicial
61	61	15 qualifications commission in the performance by the commissions
62	62	16 of their statutory and constitutional functions.
63	63	17 (5) Administer the civil legal aid fund as required by IC 33-24-12.
64	64	18 (6) Administer the court technology fund established by section
65	65	19 12 of this chapter.
66	66	20 (7) By December 31, 2013, develop and implement a standard
67	67	21 protocol for sending and receiving court data:
68	68	22 (A) between the protective order registry, established by
69	69	23 IC 5-2-9-5.5, and county court case management systems;
70	70	24 (B) at the option of the county prosecuting attorney, for:
71	71	25 (i) a prosecuting attorney's case management system;
72	72	26 (ii) a county court case management system; and
73	73	27 (iii) a county court case management system developed and
74	74	28 operated by the office of judicial administration;
75	75	29 to interface with the electronic traffic tickets, as defined by
76	76	30 IC 9-30-3-2.5; and
77	77	31 (C) between county court case management systems and the
78	78	32 case management system developed and operated by the office
79	79	33 of judicial administration.
80	80	34 The standard protocol developed and implemented under this
81	81	35 subdivision shall permit private sector vendors, including vendors
82	82	36 providing service to a local system and vendors accessing the
83	83	37 system for information, to send and receive court information on
84	84	38 an equitable basis and at an equitable cost, and for a case
85	85	39 management system developed and operated by the office of
86	86	40 judicial administration, must include a searchable field for the
87	87	41 name and bail agent license number, if applicable, of the bail
88	88	42 agent or a person authorized by the surety that pays bail for an
89	89	2024 IN 136—LS 6106/DI 149 3
90	90	1 individual as described in IC 35-33-8-3.2.
91	91	2 (8) Establish and administer an electronic system for receiving
92	92	3 information that relates to certain individuals who may be
93	93	4 prohibited from possessing a firearm for the purpose of:
94	94	5 (A) transmitting this information to the Federal Bureau of
95	95	6 Investigation for inclusion in the NICS; and
96	96	7 (B) beginning July 1, 2021, compiling and publishing certain
97	97	8 statistics related to the confiscation and retention of firearms
98	98	9 as described under section 14 of this chapter.
99	99	10 (9) Establish and administer an electronic system for receiving
100	100	11 drug related felony conviction information from courts. The office
101	101	12 of judicial administration shall notify NPLEx of each drug related
102	102	13 felony entered after June 30, 2012, and do the following:
103	103	14 (A) Provide NPLEx with the following information:
104	104	15 (i) The convicted individual's full name.
105	105	16 (ii) The convicted individual's date of birth.
106	106	17 (iii) The convicted individual's driver's license number, state
107	107	18 personal identification number, or other unique number, if
108	108	19 available.
109	109	20 (iv) The date the individual was convicted of the felony.
110	110	21 Upon receipt of the information from the office of judicial
111	111	22 administration, a stop sale alert must be generated through
112	112	23 NPLEx for each individual reported under this clause.
113	113	24 (B) Notify NPLEx if the felony of an individual reported under
114	114	25 clause (A) has been:
115	115	26 (i) set aside;
116	116	27 (ii) reversed;
117	117	28 (iii) expunged; or
118	118	29 (iv) vacated.
119	119	30 Upon receipt of information under this clause, NPLEx shall
120	120	31 remove the stop sale alert issued under clause (A) for the
121	121	32 individual.
122	122	33 (10) After July 1, 2018, establish and administer an electronic
123	123	34 system for receiving from courts felony or misdemeanor
124	124	35 conviction information for each felony or misdemeanor described
125	125	36 in IC 20-28-5-8(c). The office of judicial administration shall
126	126	37 notify the department of education at least one (1) time each week
127	127	38 of each felony or misdemeanor described in IC 20-28-5-8(c)
128	128	39 entered after July 1, 2018, and do the following:
129	129	40 (A) Provide the department of education with the following
130	130	41 information:
131	131	42 (i) The convicted individual's full name.
132	132	2024 IN 136—LS 6106/DI 149 4
133	133	1 (ii) The convicted individual's date of birth.
134	134	2 (iii) The convicted individual's driver's license number, state
135	135	3 personal identification number, or other unique number, if
136	136	4 available.
137	137	5 (iv) The date the individual was convicted of the felony or
138	138	6 misdemeanor.
139	139	7 (B) Notify the department of education if the felony or
140	140	8 misdemeanor of an individual reported under clause (A) has
141	141	9 been:
142	142	10 (i) set aside;
143	143	11 (ii) reversed; or
144	144	12 (iii) vacated.
145	145	13 (11) Perform legal and administrative duties for the justices as
146	146	14 determined by the justices.
147	147	15 (12) Provide staff support for the judicial conference of Indiana
148	148	16 established in IC 33-38-9.
149	149	17 (13) Work with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs
150	150	18 to identify and address the needs of veterans in the court system.
151	151	19 (14) If necessary for purposes of IC 35-47-16-1, issue a retired
152	152	20 judicial officer an identification card identifying the retired
153	153	21 judicial officer as a retired judicial officer.
154	154	22 (15) Establish and administer the statewide juvenile justice data
155	155	23 aggregation plan established under section 12.5 of this chapter.
156	156	24 (16) Create and make available an application for detention to be
157	157	25 used in proceedings under IC 12-26-5 (mental health detention,
158	158	26 commitment, and treatment).
159	159	27 (17) Compile, transmit, and publish the public safety and
160	160	28 judicial accountability report in accordance with section 16 of
161	161	29 this chapter.
162	162	30 (b) All forms to be used in gathering data must be approved by the
163	163	31 supreme court and shall be distributed to all judges and clerks before
164	164	32 the start of each period for which reports are required.
165	165	33 (c) The office of judicial administration may adopt rules to
166	166	34 implement this section.
167	167	35 SECTION 2. IC 33-24-6-16 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE
168	168	36 AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY
169	169	37 1, 2024]: Sec. 16. (a) The following definitions apply throughout
170	170	38 this section:
171	171	39 (1) "Criminal action" means a prosecution against a person
172	172	40 alleging the commission of a felony or misdemeanor.
173	173	41 (2) "Office" refers to the office of judicial administration
174	174	42 created by section 1 of this chapter.
175	175	2024 IN 136—LS 6106/DI 149 5
176	176	1 (3) "Report" means the public safety and judicial
177	177	2 accountability report described in subsection (b).
178	178	3 (b) Before November 1, 2024, and before November 1 of every
179	179	4 year thereafter, the office shall compile a public safety and judicial
180	180	5 accountability report. The report must include the following
181	181	6 information for each judicial officer who presides over a criminal
182	182	7 action or any portion of a criminal action in Indiana:
183	183	8 (1) The name of the judicial officer and judicial district in
184	184	9 which the judicial officer serves.
185	185	10 (2) The total number of criminal actions presided over by the
186	186	11 judicial officer, and the number of criminal actions that
187	187	12 resulted in a conviction, for all:
188	188	13 (A) jury trials;
189	189	14 (B) bench trials; and
190	190	15 (C) guilty pleas.
191	191	16 (3) The percentage of criminal actions that resulted in a
192	192	17 conviction, in total and separately for all:
193	193	18 (A) jury trials;
194	194	19 (B) bench trials; and
195	195	20 (C) guilty pleas.
196	196	21 (4) The percentage of defendants described by the following:
197	197	22 (A) Defendants convicted of a misdemeanor who were
198	198	23 sentenced to a term of incarceration.
199	199	24 (B) Defendants convicted of a felony who were sentenced
200	200	25 to a term of incarceration.
201	201	26 (5) The average, mean, and median length of all sentences for
202	202	27 incarceration for:
203	203	28 (A) misdemeanors; and
204	204	29 (B) felonies.
205	205	30 (6) The percentage of defendants sentenced to probation.
206	206	31 (7) The percentage of defendants charged with a new crime
207	207	32 while on probation.
208	208	33 (8) The percentage of defendants whose probation was
209	209	34 revoked.
210	210	35 (9) The percentage of defendants placed on pretrial release
211	211	36 whose conditions of release are described by the following:
212	212	37 (A) Personal recognizance only.
213	213	38 (B) Home detention.
214	214	39 (C) Electronic monitoring.
215	215	40 (D) A bail bond.
216	216	41 (E) Cash bail.
217	217	42 (F) Ten percent (10%) cash bail.
218	218	2024 IN 136—LS 6106/DI 149 6
219	219	1 (10) For defendants required to post a bail bond or cash bail,
220	220	2 the average amount of bail imposed for each:
221	221	3 (A) misdemeanor class; and
222	222	4 (B) felony level.
223	223	5 (11) The percentage of defendants released on bail who were
224	224	6 charged with a new crime while on bail.
225	225	7 (12) The overall failure to appear rate, calculated by dividing
226	226	8 the total number of times a defendant failed to appear when
227	227	9 required, by the total number of appearances required.
228	228	10 (13) The average time to reach disposition for all criminal
229	229	11 actions handled.
230	230	12 (14) Comparative statistics, weighted by the complexity of
231	231	13 each type of case, to allow the performance of a judicial
232	232	14 officer to be compared to other judicial officers.
233	233	15 (15) Any other data or information that may assist the public
234	234	16 in understanding the handling of criminal actions by judicial
235	235	17 officers.
236	236	18 (c) The office shall transmit a copy of the report to the
237	237	19 legislative council before November 1 of each year. The report
238	238	20 must be in an electronic format under IC 5-14-6. In addition, the
239	239	21 office shall publish the report on its website.
240	240	22 (d) At least thirty (30) days before an election in which a judicial
241	241	23 officer whose data is included in the report is on the ballot, the
242	242	24 office shall publish a link to the report on the front page of its
243	243	25 website.
244	244	2024 IN 136—LS 6106/DI 149