The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard HB 1287 on home detention sponsored by Sen. Koch.The author, Rep. Meltzer,introduced the bill which allows a court to place a person convicted of certain crimes directly in a community corrections program, repeals the offense of unauthorized absence from home detention, a Class A misdemeanor, and repeals a provision that requires the court to suspend a period of an individual’s sentence if placed in a community corrections program. The bill provides that if a person on home detention knowingly and intentionally: (1) leaves the person’s home; (2) remains outside of the person’s home; or (3) travels to an unauthorized location; in violation of the home detention order and without written permission commits escape, a Level 6 felony. The bill also provides that the court may not suspend the minimum sentence for a Level 3 felony if the person has a juvenile adjudication for certain offenses committed within three years of the commission of the Level 3 felony.
The Indiana Judges Association, Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, and the Indiana Public Defender Council testified in support of the bill. The bill passed 6-0.
Read the bill at: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/bills/house/1287