On January 27, 2021, the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee heard HB 1202 authored by Rep. McNamara and Rep. Morris regarding sentencing. The bill provides that the department of correction shall identify an inmate to the parole board and provide the parole board with the inmate’s offender progress report as soon as practicable after the inmate has been confined to the custody of the department of correction for 15 consecutive years (including educational credit). The bill also provides that, after considering certain factors in determining whether to discharge an inmate who is not a violent criminal to parole or release an inmate who is not a violent criminal to the committing court for probation, the parole board shall discharge the inmate to parole or release the inmate to the committing court for probation if the sentence the inmate has served, including any credit time earned or accrued, for an offense committed before July 1, 2014, is greater than the current maximum sentence for the offense on the date the inmate files for a petition for discharge. In addition, the bill provides that an inmate who is not a violent offender whose petition for discharge was denied by the parole board for an offense that was committed before July 1, 2014, may seek further relief by petitioning the court for a sentence modification. Lastly, if a person who is not a violent offender petitions for a sentence modification for an offense that was committed before July 1, 2014, the court shall do the following: (1) Consider the current maximum sentence for the offense on the date the person files a petition for sentence modification, including the minimum sentence, maximum sentence, and advisory sentence. (2) Grant the person’s petition for sentence modification and modify the person’s sentence if the sentence the person has served or will serve, including any credit time earned or accrued, for an offense committed before July 1, 2014, is greater than the current maximum sentence for the offense on the date the person files for a petition for sentence modification.
The bill was amended by consent to define violent offense, provide the parole board with discretion, and to list eligible the non-violent offenses.
The Indiana State Bar Association and the Indiana Public Defender Council testified in support of the bill. The Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council testified in opposition. The bill was held for further amendment.
On February 3, 2021, the bill was amended by consent to make explicit that the bill only applies to non-violent offenders. The amended bill passed 10-2.
Read the bill at: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2021/bills/house/1202