he Veterans Affairs and The Military Committee heard HB 1402 sponsored by Sen. Boots on veterans matters. This bill originally required the Indiana Department of Veterans’ Affairs to perform an electronic query of the records maintained in Odyssey on a weekly basis to obtain arrestee information and cross reference the names obtained with the names of individuals in the U.S. Department of Defense data base whose military service qualifies the individual for veterans benefits and national guard registries. The bill additionally allows the information to be shared with county prosecutors and veterans courts to benefit veterans in the court system.
This bill was amended by consent to urge the legislative council to assign the task of studying the feasibility of establishing and administering an electronic system to provide the Indiana Department of Veterans’ Affairs with criminal case information to the appropriate interim study committee. The amended bill passed 8-0.
Read the bill at: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2018/bills/house/1402