At a prior hearing, the Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard HB 1025 on county policies sponsored by Sen. Glick and Sen. Pol and authored by Rep. Zimmerman. The bill provides that a public defender and an employee of a public defender agency may not be subject to a county residency requirement, unless the residency requirement includes all counties contiguous to the county in which the individual serves.
The Marion County Public Defender Agency and the Indiana Commission on Court Appointed Attorneys previously testified in support of the bill.
On February 10, 2026, the Committee head the bill for amend and vote. The Committee amended the bill by consent to provide that the statutory requirement to appropriate an amount necessary for the operation of a prosecuting attorney’s office does not subject a prosecuting attorney or an employee of a prosecuting attorney’s office to a county policy, specify additional personnel who may not be subject to a county residency requirement, and remove a provision concerning contiguous counties. The amended bill passed 8-1.
Read the bill at https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2026/bills/house/1025