Public defenders from across the state came to the Indiana Statehouse Thursday to share their concerns about what they see as crisis in the state’s judiciary – the increasing difficulty their offices face to comply with caseload suggestions as more and more filings hit their desks.
A report to Indiana lawmakers shows the state hasn't seen significant savings from an overhaul of criminal sentencing laws aimed at sending fewer people convicted of nonviolent crimes to prison.
Like many states, Indiana has a problem — mountains of untested rape exam kits in local law enforcement agencies that contain DNA evidence potentially identifying sex offenders. Indiana’s backlog of untested kits is certainly in the thousands. Victim advocates say the question is, how many thousands?
Nearly half the people housed in Indiana jails were there on a low-level felony charge, and in some counties, this population by itself exceeded the capacity of local jails.
Indiana lawmakers will continue their discussions about various topics affecting the legal profession and law enforcement when two interim study committees reconvene next week.
Indiana police officials say a proposal to eliminate the state's handgun carry license requirement for civilians could result in a loss of revenue.
The number of people serving time in local jails instead of the Department of Correction on low-level felony convictions rose 177 percent in the two years since Indiana’s criminal code reform took effect, and 28 percent more were people convicted of the new Level 6 felony compared to the prior Class D felony.
Legislators heard testimony for five hours Tuesday on whether Indiana should do away with the requirement for people to obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun in public.
With a little more than four months until the start of the 2018 Indiana General Assembly, lawmakers are back to work to consider two high-profile issues being closely watched by law enforcement and prosecutors throughout the state: civil forfeiture and constitutional carry — the proposition that people should be able to carry handguns without a license.
Indiana lawmakers will return to the Statehouse Tuesday for the first of three discussions about one of the most controversial issues being considered by a summer study committee this year – constitutional carry, or the belief that a person should be able to carry a handgun without a license.
The Statehouse will again be talking liquor as the Indiana Alcohol Code Revision Commission holds its first hearing Tuesday.
The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus is renouncing the racial hatred and violence that erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend and renewing its push for hate crime legislation in the state.
Court technology and several other court programs got a boost in the latest state biennial budget, including an additional $5.9 million to fund, in part, key initiatives for Hoosiers, such as court appointed special advocate programs.
Indiana lawmakers are preparing to return to the statehouse and consider legal issues such as civil forfeiture and indigent defense services when the Interim Study Committee on Courts and the Judiciary meets for the first time next week.
Officials in Madison County are divided over whether to continue a program that provides clean needles to intravenous drug users.
Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill said Friday he will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that blocks parts of a new state law that would make it tougher for girls under age 18 to get an abortion without their parents’ knowledge.
Former Indiana State Sen. Beverly Gard, R-Greenfield, has been tapped to lead a review of the state’s alcohol laws, Indiana Senate President Pro Tem David Long announced Tuesday.
State Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, on Wednesday announced that he will retire on Sept. 30 after serving Senate District 20 since 1992.
An Indiana sheriff says state lawmakers must address the issue of overcrowded and understaffed county jails.
Indiana’s legislators passed more than250 new laws on topics including e-liquid reform, inheritance tax repeals, and overhaul of uniform business organization laws.