At a previous hearing, the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee heard SB 9 on victim impact statements at sentencing sponsored by Rep. King and Rep. Morris and authored by Sen. Brown. The bill requires a defendant to be present in the courtroom while a victim makes a statement concerning the crime and the sentence unless the defendant presents a safety risk, causes a significant disruption, or is absent due to the defendant committing the crime of failure to appear or the crime of escape. The bill also specifies that if the defendant was absent due to the commission of failure to appear or escape, the victim may make a statement at the show cause hearing (in the case of failure to appear), or at the sentencing hearing (in the case of escape).
On February 11, 2026, the Committee heard the bill for amend and vote. The Committee amended the bill by consent to specify that a victim who is unable to make a statement at sentencing because the defendant committed escape or failure to appear may make a statement at the defendant’s sentencing hearing for those crimes. The amendment also provides that a defendant may not waive the right to be personally present at the time sentence is pronounced.
Private citizens previously testified in support of the bill. The amended bill passed 13-0.
Read the bill at: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2026/bills/senate/9