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Committee advances a package of criminal‑code bills; several votes held open for absent members
Summary
The House Courts and Criminal Code Committee moved multiple bills forward on April 8, including measures on expungement, juvenile handgun direct filing, capital‑case intellectual‑disability evaluations, cold‑case DNA testing and a major CSAM overhaul. Several roll calls were held open for members in other committees.
The House Courts and Criminal Code Committee advanced several bills across criminal justice topics on April 8, voting to move measures on expungement, juvenile gun possession, capital case procedure, cold‑case DNA testing and child sexual‑abuse‑material law out of committee.
The committee approved Amendment No. 5 to House Bill 11‑18, a recodification of expungement provisions that adds language requiring completion of a Department of Correction sentence and a five‑year wait before petitioning for expungement. The committee took a motion to pass the bill as amended and recorded an initial roll call that the chair described as 9–1; the vote was held open for absent members.
House Bill 12‑49, which would return certain juvenile unlawful handgun‑carrying felonies to automatic direct filing into adult court for 16‑ and 17‑year‑olds in specified circumstances (school property or prior convictions), passed the committee by roll call 9–4 after extended debate between prosecutors favoring the change and public defenders urging preservation of local judicial discretion. The chair said the vote would be held open to allow absent members to cast ballots when they return.
Representative Bascom's HB 14‑32, as amended, would require automatic intellectual‑disability evaluations in capital cases once a death‑penalty filing occurs and tie filing windows to receipt of expert reports; stakeholders including the Arc of Indiana supported the procedural change as a way to avoid forfeiture of constitutional claims. The committee voted 11–0 “for now” and held the vote open pending returns by absent members.
House Bill 12‑48, authorizing a framework by which qualified nonprofit entities may fund advanced DNA testing for cold cases and coordinate testing with law enforcement, drew emotional testimony from family members of victims. It passed as amended, 11–0 for now, with the chair noting absentee members.
House Bill 13‑03, a reorganization and sentencing overhaul for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) offenses that separates possession, distribution and production and raises penalties in line with suggested federal ranges, drew substantial testimony from law enforcement, survivors and advocates. Multiple technical amendments were adopted; the committee passed the bill 13–0.
Several votes were recorded as "for now" (held open) while members who had left for concurrent committee hearings were given a chance to return and cast ballots before finalizing committee records. The committee adjourned and said it would meet again the following week.
