Indiana 2025 Regular Session

Indiana House Bill HB1027 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2	Introduced Version
3	3	HOUSE BILL No. 1027
4	4	_____
5	5	DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
6	6	Citations Affected: IC 5-14-3-8.
7	7	Synopsis: County treasurer fees. Provides that the fee approved by a
8	8	county fiscal body to be charged by a county treasurer for providing a
9	9	receipt of a property tax payment made to the county treasurer may not
10	10	exceed the greater of: (1) $1; or (2) the actual cost to the county
11	11	treasurer of copying the document.
12	12	Effective: July 1, 2025.
13	13	Criswell
14	14	January 8, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Local Government.
15	15	2025 IN 1027—LS 6319/DI 116 Introduced
16	16	First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
17	17	PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
18	18	Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
19	19	additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
20	20	Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
21	21	provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the
22	22	word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds
23	23	a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
24	24	Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
25	25	between statutes enacted by the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
26	26	HOUSE BILL No. 1027
27	27	A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning state
28	28	offices and administration.
29	29	Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
30	30	1 SECTION 1. IC 5-14-3-8, AS AMENDED BY P.L.287-2019,
31	31	2 SECTION 1, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
32	32	3 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 8. (a) For the purposes of this section, "state
33	33	4 agency" has the meaning set forth in IC 4-13-1-1.
34	34	5 (b) Except as provided in this section, a public agency may not
35	35	6 charge any fee under this chapter for the following:
36	36	7 (1) To inspect a public record.
37	37	8 (2) This subdivision applies only to a school corporation and a
38	38	9 charter school. This subdivision does not apply to a request for a
39	39	10 search by an exclusive representative (as defined in
40	40	11 IC 20-29-2-9). To search for a record that is in an electronic
41	41	12 format, if the search does not exceed five (5) hours.
42	42	13 (3) Subject to subdivision (2), to search for, examine, or review
43	43	14 a record to determine whether the record may be disclosed.
44	44	15 (4) To provide an electronic copy of a public record by electronic
45	45	16 mail. However, a public agency may charge a fee for a public
46	46	17 record transmitted by electronic mail if the fee for the public
47	47	2025 IN 1027—LS 6319/DI 116 2
48	48	1 record is authorized under:
49	49	2 (A) subsection (f) or (j);
50	50	3 (B) section 6(c) of this chapter; or
51	51	4 (C) IC 36-2-7-10 or IC 36-2-7-10.1 concerning records of the
52	52	5 county recorder.
53	53	6 (c) The Indiana department of administration shall establish a
54	54	7 uniform copying fee for the copying of one (1) page of a standard-sized
55	55	8 document by state agencies. The fee may not exceed the average cost
56	56	9 of copying records by state agencies or ten cents ($0.10) per page,
57	57	10 whichever is greater. A state agency may not collect more than the
58	58	11 uniform copying fee for providing a copy of a public record. However,
59	59	12 a state agency shall establish and collect a reasonable fee for copying
60	60	13 nonstandard-sized documents.
61	61	14 (d) This subsection applies to a public agency that is not a state
62	62	15 agency. The fiscal body (as defined in IC 36-1-2-6) of the public
63	63	16 agency, or the governing body, if there is no fiscal body, shall establish
64	64	17 a fee schedule for the certification or copying of documents. The fee for
65	65	18 certification of documents may not exceed five dollars ($5) per
66	66	19 document. The fee for copying documents may not exceed the greater
67	67	20 of:
68	68	21 (1) either:
69	69	22 (A) for a copy of a receipt of a property tax payment made
70	70	23 to a county treasurer, one dollar ($1); or
71	71	24 (B) for documents not described in clause (A), ten cents
72	72	25 ($0.10) per page for copies that are not color copies or
73	73	26 twenty-five cents ($0.25) per page for color copies; or
74	74	27 (2) the actual cost to the agency of copying the document.
75	75	28 As used in this subsection, "actual cost" means the cost of paper and
76	76	29 the per-page cost for use of copying or facsimile equipment and does
77	77	30 not include labor costs or overhead costs. A fee established under this
78	78	31 subsection must be uniform throughout the public agency and uniform
79	79	32 to all purchasers.
80	80	33 (e) If:
81	81	34 (1) a person is entitled to a copy of a public record under this
82	82	35 chapter; and
83	83	36 (2) the public agency which is in possession of the record has
84	84	37 reasonable access to a machine capable of reproducing the public
85	85	38 record;
86	86	39 the public agency must provide at least one (1) copy of the public
87	87	40 record to the person. However, if a public agency does not have
88	88	41 reasonable access to a machine capable of reproducing the record or if
89	89	42 the person cannot reproduce the record by use of enhanced access
90	90	2025 IN 1027—LS 6319/DI 116 3
91	91	1 under section 3.5 of this chapter, the person is only entitled to inspect
92	92	2 and manually transcribe the record. A public agency may require that
93	93	3 the payment for search and copying costs be made in advance.
94	94	4 (f) Notwithstanding subsection (b), (c), (d), (g), (h), or (i), a public
95	95	5 agency shall collect any certification, copying, facsimile machine
96	96	6 transmission, or search fee that is specified by statute or is ordered by
97	97	7 a court.
98	98	8 (g) Except as provided by subsection (h), for providing a duplicate
99	99	9 of a computer tape, computer disc, microfilm, law enforcement
100	100	10 recording, or similar or analogous record system containing
101	101	11 information owned by the public agency or entrusted to it, a public
102	102	12 agency may charge a fee, uniform to all purchasers, that does not
103	103	13 exceed the sum of the following:
104	104	14 (1) The agency's direct cost of supplying the information in that
105	105	15 form. However, the fee for a copy of a law enforcement recording
106	106	16 may not exceed one hundred fifty dollars ($150).
107	107	17 (2) The standard cost for selling the same information to the
108	108	18 public in the form of a publication if the agency has published the
109	109	19 information and made the publication available for sale.
110	110	20 (3) In the case of the legislative services agency, a reasonable
111	111	21 percentage of the agency's direct cost of maintaining the system
112	112	22 in which the information is stored. However, the amount charged
113	113	23 by the legislative services agency under this subdivision may not
114	114	24 exceed the sum of the amounts it may charge under subdivisions
115	115	25 (1) and (2).
116	116	26 (h) This subsection applies to the fee charged by a public agency for
117	117	27 providing enhanced access to a public record. A public agency may
118	118	28 charge any reasonable fee agreed on in the contract under section 3.5
119	119	29 of this chapter for providing enhanced access to public records.
120	120	30 (i) This subsection applies to the fee charged by a public agency for
121	121	31 permitting a governmental entity to inspect public records by means of
122	122	32 an electronic device. A public agency may charge any reasonable fee
123	123	33 for the inspection of public records under this subsection, or the public
124	124	34 agency may waive any fee for the inspection.
125	125	35 (j) Except as provided in subsection (k), a public agency may charge
126	126	36 a fee, uniform to all purchasers, for providing an electronic map that is
127	127	37 based upon a reasonable percentage of the agency's direct cost of
128	128	38 maintaining, upgrading, and enhancing the electronic map and for the
129	129	39 direct cost of supplying the electronic map in the form requested by the
130	130	40 purchaser. If the public agency is within a political subdivision having
131	131	41 a fiscal body, the fee is subject to the approval of the fiscal body of the
132	132	42 political subdivision.
133	133	2025 IN 1027—LS 6319/DI 116 4
134	134	1 (k) The fee charged by a public agency under subsection (j) to cover
135	135	2 costs for maintaining, upgrading, and enhancing an electronic map may
136	136	3 be waived by the public agency if the electronic map for which the fee
137	137	4 is charged will be used for a noncommercial purpose, including the
138	138	5 following:
139	139	6 (1) Public agency program support.
140	140	7 (2) Nonprofit activities.
141	141	8 (3) Journalism.
142	142	9 (4) Academic research.
143	143	10 (l) This subsection does not apply to a state agency. A fee collected
144	144	11 under subsection (g) for the copying of a law enforcement recording
145	145	12 may be:
146	146	13 (1) retained by the public agency; and
147	147	14 (2) used without appropriation for one (1) or more of the
148	148	15 following purposes:
149	149	16 (A) To purchase cameras and other equipment for use in
150	150	17 connection with the agency's law enforcement recording
151	151	18 program.
152	152	19 (B) For training concerning law enforcement recording.
153	153	20 (C) To defray the expenses of storing, producing, and copying
154	154	21 law enforcement recordings.
155	155	22 Money from a fee described in this subsection does not revert to the
156	156	23 local general fund at the end of a fiscal year.
157	157	24 (m) This subsection applies to a school corporation and a charter
158	158	25 school. For purposes of this subsection, "computer processing time"
159	159	26 means the amount of time a computer takes to process a command or
160	160	27 script to extract or copy electronically stored data that is the subject of
161	161	28 a public records request. A school corporation or charter school may
162	162	29 not charge a fee for the first five (5) hours required to search for
163	163	30 records that are in an electronic format. A school corporation or charter
164	164	31 school may charge a search fee for any time spent searching for records
165	165	32 that are in an electronic format that exceeds five (5) hours. If the school
166	166	33 corporation or charter school charges a search fee, the school
167	167	34 corporation or charter school shall charge an hourly fee that does not
168	168	35 exceed the lesser of:
169	169	36 (1) the hourly rate of the person making the search; or
170	170	37 (2) twenty dollars ($20) per hour.
171	171	38 A school corporation or charter school charging an hourly fee under
172	172	39 this subsection for searching for records that are in an electronic format
173	173	40 may charge only for time that the person making the search actually
174	174	41 spends in searching for the records that are in an electronic format. A
175	175	42 school corporation or charter school may not charge for computer
176	176	2025 IN 1027—LS 6319/DI 116 5
177	177	1 processing time and may not establish a minimum fee for searching for
178	178	2 records that are in an electronic format. A school corporation or charter
179	179	3 school shall make a good faith effort to complete a search for records
180	180	4 that are in an electronic format that is within a reasonable time in order
181	181	5 to minimize the amount of a search fee. The fee must be prorated to
182	182	6 reflect any search time of less than one (1) hour.
183	183	2025 IN 1027—LS 6319/DI 116