The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard HB 1240 concerning criminal law issues sponsored by Sen. Freeman. The bill makes numerous changes to criminal law, including:
- changing references from “county prosecuting attorney” to “prosecuting attorney” of the appropriate judicial district;
- specifying the membership of county school safety commissions;
- removing and replacing the organized theft statute and increasing the penalty to a Level 4 felony if the loss was at least $100,000, the pecuniary loss is at least fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) and the victim is an endangered adult (as defined in Ind. Code § 12-10-3-2(a)); or less than eighteen (18) years of age; or the victim was a financial institution;
- increasing the penalty for battery to a Level 5 felony when the defendant has a previous conviction for strangulation against the same victim; and,
- defining “abusive head trauma” and permits it to be used as an aggravating circumstance.
The Indiana Public Defender Council testified on concerns about the bill; representatives from the Marion County Public Defender’s Office and Children’s Policy and Law Initiative of Indiana testified against the bill citing those same concerns. The Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council testified in support of the bill.
On February 19, 2024, the bill was called for amend and vote only. The bill was amended by consent to delete a duplicate enhancement concerning financial institutions. The amended bill passed 7-0.
Read the bill at: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2024/bills/house/1240