Indiana 2020 Regular Session Status: Enacted Bipartisan · 7 R · 3 D cosponsors

SB 256 — Courts and judicial officers.

Last action — Public Law 138

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Senate
  4. ✓
    Passed House
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 09, 2020. Enacted.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 78% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

High

How often bills like it became law.

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 18 sponsors

    4 primary, 14 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (7 R · 3 D) — cross-party backing.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

Provides that the interim study committee on courts and the judiciary (committee) shall review, consider, and make recommendations concerning requests for new courts, new judicial officers, and changes in jurisdiction of existing courts in each even-numbered year. Specifies the information that must be provided to the committee with such a request. Provides that in each even-numbered year the committee shall: (1) identify each county in which the number of courts or judicial officers exceeds the number used by the county for a particular year; and (2) determine the number of years in which the number of courts or judicial officers in the county has exceeded the number used by the county. Requires the office of judicial administration to post the required information on its Internet web site. Establishes the Clark circuit courts No. 5 and No. 6, beginning January 1, 2025. Provides for the election of the judges of each of these circuit courts at the November 2024 general election. Establishes the Clark superior courts No. 5 and No. 6. Requires the governor to appoint the judge of each of these superior courts. Provides that each of these superior courts converts to Clark circuit courts No. 5 and No. 6 beginning January 1, 2025. Establishes a sixth circuit court in Delaware County. Removes the requirement that Delaware circuit courts No. 4 and No. 5 each have a standard small claims and misdemeanor docket. Establishes a third superior court in Marshall County. Allows the judges of the Gibson superior court and Gibson circuit court to jointly appoint a magistrate to serve the Gibson County courts. Allows the judges of the Hamilton circuit and superior courts to jointly appoint an additional magistrate to serve the Hamilton County courts. Allows the judges of the Jennings circuit and superior courts to jointly appoint a magistrate to serve the Jennings County courts. Requires the Indiana criminal justice institute to: (1) collect data concerning rates of rearrest of defendants released with and without money bail; and (2) submit an annual report containing the information collected to the legislative council. Urges the legislative council to assign to the committee the topic of giving mutual full faith and credit to judgments and orders of a tribal court of a federally recognized Indian tribe.

Bill Text

We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.

Read SB 256 on the official Indiana source →

Action History

  1. Public Law 138

  2. Signed by the Governor

  3. Signed by the President of the Senate

  4. Signed by the Speaker

  5. Signed by the President Pro Tempore

  6. Rules Suspended. Conference Committee Report 1: adopted by the Senate; Roll Call 362: yeas 49, nays 0

  7. Rules Suspended. Conference Committee Report 1: adopted by the House; Roll Call 363: yeas 66, nays 28

  8. CCR # 1 filed in the House

  9. CCR # 1 filed in the Senate

  10. Senate advisors appointed: Garten, Lanane and Mishler

  11. Senate conferees appointed: Koch and Taylor G

  12. House advisors appointed: Hostettler, Mayfield, Engleman, Steuerwald and Klinker

  13. House conferees appointed: McNamara and DeLaney

  14. Returned to the Senate with amendments

  15. Senate dissented from House amendments

  16. Motion to dissent filed

  17. Third reading: passed; Roll Call 283: yeas 91, nays 0

  18. Second reading: ordered engrossed

  19. Representative Jordan added as cosponsor

  20. Rule 105.1 suspended

  21. Representative Klinker added as cosponsor

  22. Committee report: amend do pass, adopted

  23. Referred to the Ways and Means pursuant to House Rule 127

  24. Committee report: amend do pass, adopted

  25. First reading: referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code

  26. Referred to the House

  27. Cosponsors: Representatives Steuerwald and Torr

  28. House sponsor: Representative McNamara

  29. Third reading: passed; Roll Call 80: yeas 47, nays 3

  30. Senator Lanane added as coauthor

  31. Senator Kruse added as coauthor

  32. Second reading: ordered engrossed

  33. Amendment #1 (Taylor G) failed; Roll Call 50: yeas 18, nays 32

  34. Senator Buck added as coauthor

  35. Committee report: amend do pass, adopted

  36. Senator Messmer added as coauthor

  37. Senators Garten, Ruckelshaus, Perfect, Spartz, Ford J.D. added as coauthors

  38. Senator Merritt added as third author

  39. Senator Mishler added as second author

  40. Senator Randolph added as coauthor

  41. Committee report: amend do pass adopted; reassigned to Committee on Appropriations

  42. First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary

  43. Authored by Senator Koch

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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4 sponsors · 14 co-sponsors · 132 not signed on

Sponsors (4)

Co-sponsors (14)

Not signed on (132)

132 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 132 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety elections
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 256 do?
Provides that the interim study committee on courts and the judiciary (committee) shall review, consider, and make recommendations concerning requests for new courts, new judicial officers, and changes in jurisdiction of existing courts in each even-numbered year. Specifies the information that must be provided to the committee with such a request. Provides that in each even-numbered year the committee shall: (1) identify each county in which the number of courts or judicial officers exceeds the number used by the county for a particular year; and (2) determine the number of years in which the number of courts or judicial officers in the county has exceeded the number used by the county. Requires the office of judicial administration to post the required information on its Internet web site. Establishes the Clark circuit courts No. 5 and No. 6, beginning January 1, 2025. Provides for the election of the judges of each of these circuit courts at the November 2024 general election. Establishes the Clark superior courts No. 5 and No. 6. Requires the governor to appoint the judge of each of these superior courts. Provides that each of these superior courts converts to Clark circuit courts No. 5 and No. 6 beginning January 1, 2025. Establishes a sixth circuit court in Delaware County. Removes the requirement that Delaware circuit courts No. 4 and No. 5 each have a standard small claims and misdemeanor docket. Establishes a third superior court in Marshall County. Allows the judges of the Gibson superior court and Gibson circuit court to jointly appoint a magistrate to serve the Gibson County courts. Allows the judges of the Hamilton circuit and superior courts to jointly appoint an additional magistrate to serve the Hamilton County courts. Allows the judges of the Jennings circuit and superior courts to jointly appoint a magistrate to serve the Jennings County courts. Requires the Indiana criminal justice institute to: (1) collect data concerning rates of rearrest of defendants released with and without money bail; and (2) submit an annual report containing the information collected to the legislative council. Urges the legislative council to assign to the committee the topic of giving mutual full faith and credit to judgments and orders of a tribal court of a federally recognized Indian tribe.
Who sponsors SB 256?
SB 256 is sponsored by Jack Jordan (Republican), Sheila Klinker (Democrat), Jerry Torr, Gregory Steuerwald (Republican), Wendy McNamara (Republican), Timothy Lanane, Dennis Kruse, James Buck (Republican), Mark Messmer, J.D. Ford (Democrat), Victoria Spartz, Chip Perfect, John Ruckelshaus, Chris Garten (Republican), Lonnie Randolph (Democrat), James Merritt, Ryan Mishler (Republican), and Eric Koch (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 256?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 09, 2020. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 256?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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