Committee approves amended eviction-sealing bill after hours of testimony from legal-aid clinics

The Judiciary Committee voted to advance an amended version of Senate Bill 142, a measure to expand eviction-sealing protections for tenants. Sponsor Senator Brown and House sponsor Representative Zimmerman said the bill narrows eligibility to cases where an eviction was dismissed, the tenant prevailed, the judgment was satisfied, or seven years have passed and the judgment remains unsatisfied; under the amendment adopted by the committee some sealing remains petition-driven rather than automatic.

The bill’s proponents — law students and clinicians from the Notre Dame eviction clinic, housing advocates from Prosperity Indiana, Indiana Legal Services attorneys and AARP Indiana — described the measure as a way to reduce barriers to housing for people with eviction records. Jared DeFelice, a third-year law student with the Notre Dame eviction clinic, said the bill “promotes numerous principles, including personal accountability by tenants.” Danielle Spizak, a second‑year law student at the Maurer School of Law who works on eviction-sealing clinics, testified: “Most Hoosiers don't know that certain eviction cases are eligible to be sealed from their records.”

Committee consideration included two floor amendments. Amendment 10, presented by Representative Zimmerman, changed the procedure so that cases dismissed or reversed on appeal would be eligible for automatic sealing by the court, while money-judgment cases that are satisfied or where seven years have passed would require a tenant-filed petition. That amendment was adopted by consent. Representative Burton offered Amendment 9, which would have restored broader automatic sealing; the committee debated it and then defeated it by roll call, 2-9.

After roughly an hour of public testimony and committee discussion — including multiple practitioners who said automatic sealing reduces administrative burdens on courts and clinics — the committee voted to pass SB 142 as amended. The roll call recorded one dissent: Representative Prescott voted no; the motion passed 10-1. Committee members noted the statute enacted in 2022 (HEA 1214) created an initial sealing process and that the present bill builds on that framework.

Proponents said the bill would make it easier for tenants who have satisfied judgments or won dismissals to secure housing; several witnesses described sealing clinics that helped thousands of Hoosiers access relief. Andrew Bradley, senior director of policy and strategy for Prosperity Indiana, said the Indiana Office of Court Services reported more than 31,000 successful eviction sealing actions since the 2022 law took effect and that demand is growing.

Opponents did not dominate the hearing; the transcript records a few procedural concerns from committee members about court workload and how courts would track eligible cases, which sponsors addressed by preserving a petition route for some categories. The bill was advanced to the next legislative stage for further consideration.