The House Courts and Criminal Code Committee heard HB 1401 regarding Medicaid fraud authored by Rep. Washburne and Rep. Bacon. This bill clarifies current law by including knowingly or intentionally making, uttering, presenting, or causing to be presented to the Medicaid program a Medicaid claim that is false or misleading to the definition of Medicaid fraud. Rep. Washburne … [Read more...] about Medicaid fraud
Criminal
Jurisdiction of the attorney general
The House Courts and Criminal Code Committee heard HB 1405 authored by Reps. Slager and Fine on the jurisdiction of the attorney general. The bill establishes the concurrent jurisdiction of the attorney general and the prosecuting attorney when public officers and public servants are accused of committing: official misconduct, bribery, ghost employment, conflict of interest, … [Read more...] about Jurisdiction of the attorney general
Inmate correspondence
The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard Sen. Tomes’ SB 285 on inmate correspondence. This bill provides that the DOC shall provide, without charge, an inmate with a reasonable method and opportunity for correspondence, and shall permit an inmate to purchase additional opportunities for correspondence, such as email. Sen. Tomes testified that more correspondence with f … [Read more...] about Inmate correspondence
Definition of “sexual conduct”
The Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard SB 313 regarding the definition of “sexual conduct” authored by Sen. Head. This bill expands the definition of “sexual conduct” (IC 35-42-4-4(a)(4)) by including the exhibition of a female breast for the purposes of the law on child exploitation and child pornography. Sen. Head testified that this portion of the definition was inadver … [Read more...] about Definition of “sexual conduct”
Child molesting
The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard Sen. Broden’s SB 363, on child molesting. This bill defines "dangerous sexually transmitted disease" and increases the penalty for child molesting from a Level 3 felony to a Level 1 felony if the offense results in the transmission of a dangerous sexually transmitted disease. An amendment adopted by consent denies guardianship t … [Read more...] about Child molesting