The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard HB 1383 sponsored by Sen. M. Young and Sen. Koch regarding judicial officers. The bill provides that a person commits battery on a public safety official if the offense is committed against a current or former public safety official: (1) while the official is engaged in the official’s official duty; or (2) in retaliation for the official having engaged in the official’s official duty. (Under current law, a person commits the offense only if the official is acting in the person’s official duty.) The bill exempts a person who retires from judicial office after at least 20 years of service or because of a disability from the payment of the fee for a license to carry a handgun. The bill also permits a former judicial officer to possess and use a handgun in the same locations as a judicial officer and requires the supreme court to annually issue an identification card to a former judicial officer.
The bill was amended by consent to allow a retired judicial officer to carry a handgun in the same manner as a judicial officer while the retired judicial officer is serving as a judge.
The Indiana Public Defender Council testified in opposition to the bill. The amended bill passed 8-1.
Read the bill at: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2021/bills/house/1383