Indiana 2025 Regular Session

Indiana House Bill HB1429 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. 1429
4	4	_____
5	5	DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
6	6	Citations Affected: IC 5-8.5.
7	7	Synopsis: Ethics training for local officials. Requires an elected
8	8	county, city, town, or township officer (officer) to complete a two hour
9	9	ethics training course (training course) every two years. Specifies
10	10	training course requirements. Requires the office of the attorney
11	11	general, in coordination with the state board of accounts (SBOA) and
12	12	the public access counselor, to develop an online training course not
13	13	later than February 1, 2026. Requires the training course to be made
14	14	available for viewing on the SBOA website. Allows a third party to
15	15	provide a training course, if the course is approved by the office of the
16	16	attorney general. Requires an officer to certify to the SBOA that the
17	17	officer has completed a training course. Requires the SBOA to publish
18	18	on its website: (1) a list of all officers who have submitted a training
19	19	certification; and (2) lists of all training certifications submitted for
20	20	previous years.
21	21	Effective: July 1, 2025.
22	22	Dant Chesser, Hamilton, Clere
23	23	January 21, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Local Government.
24	24	2025 IN 1429—LS 7560/DI 87 Introduced
25	25	First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
26	26	PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
27	27	Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
28	28	additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
29	29	Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
30	30	provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the
31	31	word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds
32	32	a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
33	33	Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
34	34	between statutes enacted by the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
35	35	HOUSE BILL No. 1429
36	36	A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning local
37	37	government.
38	38	Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
39	39	1 SECTION 1. IC 5-8.5 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A
40	40	2 NEW ARTICLE TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1,
41	41	3 2025]:
42	42	4 ARTICLE 8.5. LOCAL OFFICER ETHICS TRAINING
43	43	5 Chapter 1. Definitions
44	44	6 Sec. 1. The definitions in this chapter apply throughout this
45	45	7 article.
46	46	8 Sec. 2. "City office" means the following:
47	47	9 (1) Mayor.
48	48	10 (2) Clerk or clerk-treasurer.
49	49	11 (3) City-county council member or common council member.
50	50	12 The term includes an individual who assumes and holds an elected
51	51	13 office of a reorganized political subdivision to which the
52	52	14 responsibilities of a city office have been transferred in the plan of
53	53	15 reorganization under IC 36-1.5.
54	54	16 Sec. 3. "County office" means the following:
55	55	17 (1) County assessor.
56	56	2025 IN 1429—LS 7560/DI 87 2
57	57	1 (2) County auditor.
58	58	2 (3) County coroner.
59	59	3 (4) County recorder.
60	60	4 (5) County sheriff.
61	61	5 (6) County surveyor.
62	62	6 (7) County treasurer.
63	63	7 (8) Clerk of the circuit court.
64	64	8 (9) County executive.
65	65	9 (10) County fiscal body.
66	66	10 The term includes an individual who assumes and holds an elected
67	67	11 office of a reorganized political subdivision to which the
68	68	12 responsibilities of a county office have been transferred in the plan
69	69	13 of reorganization under IC 36-1.5.
70	70	14 Sec. 4. (a) "Officer" means an individual who assumes and holds
71	71	15 a county, city, town, or township office by any of the following:
72	72	16 (1) Election.
73	73	17 (2) Selection to fill a vacancy.
74	74	18 (3) Holding over under Article 15, Section 3 of the
75	75	19 Constitution of the State of Indiana.
76	76	20 (b) The term includes an individual who assumes and holds an
77	77	21 elected office:
78	78	22 (1) for a political subdivision that has reorganized under
79	79	23 IC 36-1.5; and
80	80	24 (2) to which the responsibilities of a county, city, town, or
81	81	25 township office have been transferred in the plan of
82	82	26 reorganization.
83	83	27 Sec. 5. "Town office" means the following:
84	84	28 (1) Clerk-treasurer.
85	85	29 (2) Town council member.
86	86	30 The term includes an individual who assumes and holds an elected
87	87	31 office of a reorganized political subdivision to which the
88	88	32 responsibilities of a town office have been transferred in the plan
89	89	33 of reorganization under IC 36-1.5.
90	90	34 Sec. 6. "Township office" means the following:
91	91	35 (1) Township assessor (only in a township referred to in
92	92	36 IC 36-6-5-1(d)).
93	93	37 (2) Township trustee.
94	94	38 (3) Township board member.
95	95	39 (4) Constable of the small claims court.
96	96	40 The term includes an individual who assumes and holds an elected
97	97	41 office of a reorganized political subdivision to which the
98	98	42 responsibilities of a township office have been transferred in the
99	99	2025 IN 1429—LS 7560/DI 87 3
100	100	1 plan of reorganization under IC 36-1.5.
101	101	2 Sec. 7. "Training course" means the ethics training course
102	102	3 required under IC 5-8.5-2-1.
103	103	4 Chapter 2. Ethics Training Course Requirements
104	104	5 Sec. 1. An officer shall complete a two (2) hour training course
105	105	6 once every two (2) years.
106	106	7 Sec. 2. A training course must include discussion of the
107	107	8 following topics:
108	108	9 (1) Laws concerning personal financial gain by public
109	109	10 servants, including:
110	110	11 (A) official misconduct (IC 35-44.1-1-1);
111	111	12 (B) bribery (IC 35-44.1-1-2);
112	112	13 (C) ghost employment (IC 35-44.1-1-3);
113	113	14 (D) profiteering from public service (IC 35-44.1-1-5); and
114	114	15 (E) dual lucrative office (Article 2, Section 9 of the
115	115	16 Constitution of the State of Indiana).
116	116	17 (2) Laws concerning fair processes, including:
117	117	18 (A) conflict of interest (IC 35-44.1-1-4);
118	118	19 (B) nepotism (IC 36-1-20.2); and
119	119	20 (C) contracting with a unit (IC 36-1-21).
120	120	21 (3) Laws concerning government transparency, including:
121	121	22 (A) public meetings (IC 5-14-1.5); and
122	122	23 (B) access to public records (IC 5-14-3).
123	123	24 Sec. 3. A training course must include instruction regarding the
124	124	25 penalties imposed for violation of the law.
125	125	26 Sec. 4. A training course may not require an individual to take
126	126	27 a test.
127	127	28 Chapter 3. Training Course Development
128	128	29 Sec. 1. Not later than February 1, 2026, the office of the attorney
129	129	30 general, in coordination with:
130	130	31 (1) the public access counselor; and
131	131	32 (2) the state board of accounts;
132	132	33 shall develop an online training course and course materials that
133	133	34 satisfy the requirements of this article.
134	134	35 Sec. 2. The training course and training course materials shall
135	135	36 be made available on the website of the state board of accounts.
136	136	37 Chapter 4. Third Party Ethics Training Courses
137	137	38 Sec. 1. An officer may satisfy the requirement under
138	138	39 IC 5-8.5-2-1 by completing a training course that is:
139	139	40 (1) developed and provided by a third party; and
140	140	41 (2) approved by the office of the attorney general.
141	141	42 The attorney general may coordinate with the state board of
142	142	2025 IN 1429—LS 7560/DI 87 4
143	143	1 accounts and the public access counselor to review and approve
144	144	2 portions of the training course that are within the agency's
145	145	3 expertise.
146	146	4 Sec. 2. A training course:
147	147	5 (1) shall include the matters set forth in IC 5-8.5-2; and
148	148	6 (2) may address ethics policies and ordinances of a unit or
149	149	7 office.
150	150	8 Sec. 3. (a) A training course may be provided in person or
151	151	9 online.
152	152	10 (b) A training course that is presented live, whether in person or
153	153	11 online, must be presented by an attorney licensed to practice law
154	154	12 in Indiana.
155	155	13 (c) All online training courses and course materials must be
156	156	14 prepared under the supervision of an attorney licensed to practice
157	157	15 law in Indiana.
158	158	16 Chapter 5. Training Certification Deadlines
159	159	17 Sec. 1. An officer holding a county, city, town, or township office
160	160	18 on January 1, 2026, shall complete an approved training course
161	161	19 and make the certification required under IC 5-8.5-6 not later
162	162	20 than:
163	163	21 (1) December 31, 2027; and
164	164	22 (2) December 31, 2029, if the person still holds the office.
165	165	23 Sec. 2. Except as provided in section 3 of this chapter, an
166	166	24 individual who assumes and holds a county, city, town, or township
167	167	25 office after January 1, 2026, shall complete an approved training
168	168	26 course and make the certification required under IC 5-8.5-6 not
169	169	27 later than:
170	170	28 (1) December 31 of the year the individual assumes office; and
171	171	29 (2) December 31 of every second year thereafter, while the
172	172	30 person holds the office.
173	173	31 Sec. 3. An individual first elected to a county, city, town, or
174	174	32 township office after January 1, 2026, shall complete an approved
175	175	33 training course before the individual first takes the office and shall
176	176	34 make the certification under IC 5-8.5-6 not later than:
177	177	35 (1) December 31 following the election; and
178	178	36 (2) December 31 of every second year thereafter, while the
179	179	37 person holds the office.
180	180	38 Chapter 6. Certification
181	181	39 Sec. 1. On a form created by the state board of accounts, an
182	182	40 officer shall certify both of the following:
183	183	41 (1) The date that the officer received the training required by
184	184	42 this article.
185	185	2025 IN 1429—LS 7560/DI 87 5
186	186	1 (2) The entity that provided the training.
187	187	2 Sec. 2. The officer shall file the certification with the state board
188	188	3 of accounts as provided in IC 5-8.5-5.
189	189	4 Sec. 3. An officer's certification is a public record and subject to
190	190	5 disclosure under IC 5-14-3.
191	191	6 Chapter 7. Compliance List
192	192	7 Sec. 1. Not later than January 15 of a year, the state board of
193	193	8 accounts shall publish on the state board of accounts' website a list
194	194	9 of officers who have submitted a certification by December 31 of
195	195	10 the immediately preceding year.
196	196	11 Sec. 2. The state board of accounts shall publish and maintain
197	197	12 the lists under section 1 of this chapter on the state board of
198	198	13 accounts' website for the current year and all previous years.
199	199	14 Sec. 3. The state board of accounts' website shall note
200	200	15 prominently on the website that officers are required by law to
201	201	16 complete an ethics training course every two (2) years.
202	202	2025 IN 1429—LS 7560/DI 87