The Senate heard SB 291 on court security authored by Sen. Baldwin and Sen. Carrasco. The bill repeals current code provisions concerning the Supreme Court sheriff and allows the Supreme Court of Indiana and the Court of Appeals of Indiana to each appoint a court marshal who may then hire deputy court marshals. The bill requires these court marshals to ensure the safety and security of the courts and to carry out certain responsibilities and provides that a court marshal is entitled to qualified immunity for acts performed in the course of official duties and specifies that a court marshal has limited police powers and is required to notify the local law enforcement agency as soon as practicable when a security threat is detected.
On second reading, the bill was amended by voice vote to:
- Establish a procedure to prevent certain personal information of a protected individual from being publicly available by a public agency. A protected individual includes a current or retired judge; current or retired justice, judge, or magistrate of a federal court domiciled in Indiana; and a spouse, child, or dependent who resides in the same household as a current or retired judicial officer,
- Create a civil cause of action against a public agency that fails to remove certain personal information of a protected individual.
- Make it a Class A misdemeanor for unlawfully publishing certain personal information or a Level 6 felony if it results in serious bodily injury to the protected individual.
- Allow the marshal appointed by the Court of Appeals to provide for the safety and security of the tax court.
The amended bill will move to third reading in the Senate next week.
Read the bill at: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2026/bills/senate/291/