Introduced Version
HOUSE BILL No. 1535
_____
DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
Citations Affected: IC 35-38-1-7.1.
Synopsis: Sentencing of aliens unlawfully present. Makes it a
sentencing aggravator that the person is or has been an alien unlawfully
present in the United States.
Effective: July 1, 2025.
Ireland, Commons
January 21, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code.
2025 IN 1535—LS 7323/DI 106 Introduced
First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
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between statutes enacted by the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
HOUSE BILL No. 1535
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
criminal law and procedure.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
1 SECTION 1. IC 35-38-1-7.1, AS AMENDED BY P.L.148-2024,
2 SECTION 21, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
3 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 7.1. (a) In determining what sentence to impose
4 for a crime, the court may consider the following aggravating
5 circumstances:
6 (1) The harm, injury, loss, or damage suffered by the victim of an
7 offense was:
8 (A) significant; and
9 (B) greater than the elements necessary to prove the
10 commission of the offense.
11 (2) The person has a history of criminal or delinquent behavior.
12 (3) The victim of the offense was less than twelve (12) years of
13 age or at least sixty-five (65) years of age at the time the person
14 committed the offense.
15 (4) The person:
16 (A) committed a crime of violence (IC 35-50-1-2); and
17 (B) knowingly committed the offense in the presence or within
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1 hearing of an individual who:
2 (i) was less than eighteen (18) years of age at the time the
3 person committed the offense; and
4 (ii) is not the victim of the offense.
5 (5) The person violated a protective order issued against the
6 person under IC 34-26-5 (or IC 31-1-11.5, IC 34-26-2, or
7 IC 34-4-5.1 before their repeal), a workplace violence restraining
8 order issued against the person under IC 34-26-6, or a no contact
9 order issued against the person.
10 (6) The person has recently violated the conditions of any
11 probation, parole, pardon, community corrections placement, or
12 pretrial release granted to the person.
13 (7) The victim of the offense was:
14 (A) a person with a disability (as defined in IC 27-7-6-12), and
15 the defendant knew or should have known that the victim was
16 a person with a disability; or
17 (B) mentally or physically infirm.
18 (8) The person was in a position having care, custody, or control
19 of the victim of the offense.
20 (9) The injury to or death of the victim of the offense was the
21 result of shaken baby syndrome (as defined in IC 16-41-40-2) or
22 abusive head trauma.
23 (10) The person threatened to harm the victim of the offense or a
24 witness if the victim or witness told anyone about the offense.
25 (11) The person:
26 (A) committed trafficking with an inmate under
27 IC 35-44.1-3-5; and
28 (B) is an employee of the penal facility.
29 (12) The person committed the offense with bias due to the
30 victim's or the group's real or perceived characteristic, trait, belief,
31 practice, association, or other attribute the court chooses to
32 consider, including but not limited to an attribute described in
33 IC 10-13-3-1.
34 (13) The person is or has been an alien (as defined by 8 U.S.C.
35 1101(a)) unlawfully present in the United States. A
36 determination by the United States Department of Homeland
37 Security that an alien has come to, entered, or remained in the
38 United States in violation of law is evidence that the alien is or
39 has been unlawfully present in the United States.
40 (b) The court may consider the following factors as mitigating
41 circumstances or as favoring suspending the sentence and imposing
42 probation:
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1 (1) The crime neither caused nor threatened serious harm to
2 persons or property, or the person did not contemplate that it
3 would do so.
4 (2) The crime was the result of circumstances unlikely to recur.
5 (3) The victim of the crime induced or facilitated the offense.
6 (4) There are substantial grounds tending to excuse or justify the
7 crime, though failing to establish a defense.
8 (5) The person acted under strong provocation.
9 (6) The person has no history of delinquency or criminal activity,
10 or the person has led a law-abiding life for a substantial period
11 before commission of the crime.
12 (7) The person is likely to respond affirmatively to probation or
13 short term imprisonment.
14 (8) The character and attitudes of the person indicate that the
15 person is unlikely to commit another crime.
16 (9) The person has made or will make restitution to the victim of
17 the crime for the injury, damage, or loss sustained.
18 (10) Imprisonment of the person will result in undue hardship to
19 the person or the dependents of the person.
20 (11) The person was convicted of a crime involving the use of
21 force against a person who had repeatedly inflicted physical or
22 sexual abuse upon the convicted person and evidence shows that
23 the convicted person suffered from the effects of battery as a
24 result of the past course of conduct of the individual who is the
25 victim of the crime for which the person was convicted.
26 (12) The person was convicted of a crime relating to a controlled
27 substance and the person's arrest or prosecution was facilitated in
28 part because the person:
29 (A) requested emergency medical assistance; or
30 (B) acted in concert with another person who requested
31 emergency medical assistance;
32 for an individual who reasonably appeared to be in need of
33 medical assistance due to the use of alcohol or a controlled
34 substance.
35 (13) The person has posttraumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain
36 injury, or a postconcussive brain injury.
37 (14) The person is a person described in IC 31-30-1-4(d) who
38 committed the offense while the person was a child but is now at
39 least twenty-one (21) years of age.
40 (c) The criteria listed in subsections (a) and (b) do not limit the
41 matters that the court may consider in determining the sentence.
42 (d) A court may impose any sentence that is:
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1 (1) authorized by statute; and
2 (2) permissible under the Constitution of the State of Indiana;
3 regardless of the presence or absence of aggravating circumstances or
4 mitigating circumstances.
5 (e) If a court suspends a sentence and orders probation for a person
6 described in subsection (b)(13), the court may require the person to
7 receive treatment for the person's injuries.
2025 IN 1535—LS 7323/DI 106