The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard SB 302 on indigency determinations for amend and vote. The bill is authored by Sen. Tallian and establishes a procedure for a criminal court to use in determining if a defendant is indigent. The introduced version of this bill was prepared by the interim Committee on Corrections and Criminal Code.
The bill was amended by consent to provide that, if a court has ordered a defendant to pay part of the cost of representation, the court shall inquire at sentencing whether the defendant has paid the required amount. The bill was also amended by consent to specify that a court may prorate fines, fees, and court costs based on the person’s reasonable ability to pay and remove provisions from the bill not directly related to determining indigency prior to the initial hearing. The amended bill passed 7-0.
Read the bill at: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2020/bills/senate/302